Project description
Shedding light on Islamic mysticism
In a Europe grappling with multicultural and multifaith dynamics, understanding the nuances of Islamic mysticism is important. Yet, accessing ancient texts that delve into these depths poses a challenge. The richness of early Sufi sources remains obscured by linguistic barriers, historical distance, and cultural divides. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme, the SEMENSUF project explores the intersection of philology, intellectual history, and digital humanities. It is dedicated to unlocking the secrets of the oldest extant encyclopaedia of Islamic Mysticism: the Book of Flashes by Abū Nasr al-Sarrāj. Beyond academia, SEMENSUF envisions a broader impact on European societies, fostering inclusivity and dialogue through the shared spirituality of mysticism.
Objective
SEMENSUF is an interdisciplinary and collaborative project at the crossroads of philology, intellectual history, and material culture that adopts basic tools of digital humanities for Arabic literary and religious studies. It aims at providing an open-access scholarly edition and lucid, knowledge-sharing English annotated translation of the oldest extant encyclopaedia of Islamic Mysticism, the Book of Flashes in Sufism by Abū Nasr al-Sarrāj (d. 988). Through its innovative method, SEMENSUF aims at laying the foundations for a new historical and textual approach to the editing of early Sufi sources: the philological atomization of the work in textual units, the study of the manuscript transmission and material culture, and the digitization of later related sources are critical for shedding light on channels of knowledge transmission, centers of learning, and scholarly networks in early Sufism and more broadly in Islamic culture.
SEMENSUF strongly believes that editing and translating a 1000-year-old work of mysticism can have a major impact on European multicultural and multifaith societies. In fact, the Book of Flashes tackles several intra- and extra Islamic issues that are still very much relevant to today’s Europe: it highlights how mysticism is and should be considered a genuinely component of Islam, invalidating most contemporary Neo-Salafi claims to the contrary; more importantly, the Book of Flashes reflects a strong concern for and appraisal of heterogeneity and pluralism within Islam. It is a hymn to diversity and to coexistence of different practices and sensibilities which collaborate rather than compete, resulting in a shared spirituality. SEMENSUF thus aims at having an impact on European pluralistic society by making available, to a wide audience, a universal text which will stimulate a reflection on mysticism as a safe space for intercultural and interfaith pluralism, dialogue, and inclusivity.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities history and archaeology history
- humanities philosophy, ethics and religion religions islam
- humanities languages and literature literature studies history of literature
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
20123 MILANO
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.