Mystical metaphors: ritual, symbols and self in Syrian Sufism

Abstract

This paper focuses on the role of ritual symbols in the process of constitution of moral selves in the context of Sufi religious practices of the zawiya al-Badinjkiyya in pre-civil war Aleppo, Syria. The experiences elicited in the dhikr aim to create an emotional and embodied connection to the transcendent realm of the divine reality and truth, constituting a performative arena where the individual insertion in the Sufi community is constantly affirmed, disputed and negotiated through the public expression and evaluation of the religious subjectivities. This inquiry into the forms of constitution, communication and legitimisation of religious experience allows a more complex understanding of the processes of inscription of Sufi principles as constitutive parts of the self. The ethnographic data analysed here were collected during fieldwork in the zawiya al-Badinjkiyya, in Aleppo, between 1999 and 2001 and in shorter yearly fieldwork periods between 2002 and 2010.