Between the Tariqa and the Shari’a: The Making of the Female Self

Abstract

Abstract This essay discusses the ways Muslim women have configured their spirituality within the Sufi tradition of Islam. While it agrees with previous studies that argue that Sufism allows for a much more individualistic spiritual growth than mainstream religious teachings, the essay attempts to problematize these mainly phenomenological views of Sufi inclusiveness that do not take into consideration the historical complexities associated with the emergence and development of the Sufi path. The essay argues that Sufi practices have always been in a dialectical relationship with the dominant religious discourse and, as such, have reflected many of its social ambiguities and practices, including those concerned with gender relations. Therefore, Sufi women’s participation in the mystical path has never been a simple one: rather, it has been predicated on their ability to navigate through the social constructions-Sufi and non—Sufi alike—of gender and public/private space. In that process, women mystics have left a powerful legacy that adds to the Sufi path a new metaphoric depth and a great symbolic diversity yet does not effect in any transformative way Muslim women’s social status.