Sufi Tradition Research Articles

U-7 Utilization of the Thoughts of Chishti Sufis in Monastic System

The ancient path of Chishti Sufi as it is known in the Indo-Pak, is the inward dimension of Islam, essentially Islamic mysticism. Chishti order practitioners seek to find the truth of divine love and knowledge through direct personal experience of the Beloved. The teaching of Chishti order is the way to God via spirituality rather than through reason, and it celebrates the intimate relationship of the seeker with Allah. The Chishti order teachings and practices of the Sufis have great relevance for seekers today, and can help you to deepen your spiritual practice . The Chishti Sufis say that the reason of the whole creation is that the perfect Being wished to know Himself, and did so by awakening the love of His nature and creating out of it His object of love. The Chishti Sufi responds with loving-kindness and harmony towards those who harm them, for they see everything in themselves and themselves in everything, and because of this it is said that the highest form of human love is ‘God love’. The Chishti Sufi traditions have a well-developed philosophical psychology, which includes dream interpretation. Chishti Sufi’s stand above all of us in their deeds and actions. Chishtisufis spent their whole life span in loving almighty and sharing their love with us.For restoring peace,harmony,love and brotherhood across the universe and religions, we all must follow Chishti Sufi ways unquestionably.

Şevâhidü’n-Nübüvve Adlı Eseri Bağlamında Abdurrahman Câmi’nin Ehl-İ Beyt Tasavvuru Ve Ehl-İ Beyt’in Emeviler’le İlişkilerine Dair Bazı Görüşleri

Abdurrahman Câmî (ö. 898/1492) İslam düşünce geleneğinin önemli simalarından biri olarak kabul edilmektedir. Kelam, felsefe, Arap grameri ve menkıbeler üzere telif ettiği eserler ile birlikte, Arapça ve Farça mesnevilerden oluşan Dîvân’ı, İslam düşüncesinin vazgeçilmez klasikleri arasına girmeyi başarmıştır. Aldığı klasik eğitimin yanı sıra İbn Arabî düşüncesi ile Nakşiliği benimsemiş olması, eserlerinde kelâmî, felsefî ve dilsel yaklaşımlarla beraber tasavvufî geleneğin izlerinin görülmesini sağlamıştır. Bu bağlamda Câmî, Eş’arî geleneğin içinde Ekberî ve Nakşî anlayışın bir sentezini yapmaya çalışmış bir âlim olarak dikkat çekmektedir. Bu çalışma Sünni bir mütekellim ve şair olan Câmî’nin Ehl-i Beyt hakkındaki tasavvurunu ve Emeviler dönemi siyasi ilişkilerini Şevahidü’n-Nübüvveadlı eserinden hareketle ortaya koymayı hedeflemektedir. Özellikle Câmi’nin yaşadığı dönem Timurlar dönemi iktidarının Sünnilik ve Şiilik arasında din politikalarının değişkenlik gösterdiği bir dönemdir. Bu bağlamda iktidarın farklı din politikaları izlemesi, mezhepsel gerginlikleri yatıştıramamış, toplumsal tartışmaları ve yaşanan kavgaları önleyememiştir. Özellikle Şiî grupların Ehl-i Beyt’in manevi otoritesi üzerinden “imamet” ve “kutsal hanedanlık” teorisini inşâ etmeyi istemesi, bu tartışmaları Ehl-i Beyt tasavvuru merkezine çekmiştir. Şiîlerin “ismet” ve” vasiyet” kavramları ekseninde ortaya koydukları “Ehl-i Beyt” tasavvuru, zamanla politik ve dini bir argümana dönüşmüş; Hulefâ-i Râşidîn başta olmak üzere sahabenin çoğunluğunu dışlayan bir tarih tasavvuru oluşturmuştur. Bu iddialara karşı Câmî, Ehl-i Beyt’in fazilet ve menkıbelerini, Şiiler’in iddialarının aksine yeni bir yoruma tabi tutmayı denemiş, iki mezhep arasında ortak bir “Ehl-i Beyt” tasavvuru ortaya koyma imkânını aramıştır.

Islamic Educational Tradition: Rebuilding Sufi Traditions in Nahdlatul Wathan Madrasas

This article discusses Sufi tradition as an Islamic educational tradition in the Nahdlatul Wathan (NW) madrassas. The article was examined through a literature review supported by interviews and analyzed through a sociological approach. We put the document as primary data, while the results of the interview as secondary data. These documents are works of Shaykh Zainuddin, founder of the NW organization, which houses around 1600 madrassas throughout Indonesia. In addition, we also used documents written by his students. As for the interviews, we carried out with three key informants. We concluded that Sufi rituals as the educational traditions in the NW madrassas are the original traditions of the Sufis which were rebuilt and modified both in terms of practice and material. The emergence of these traditions in two ways. Some of it arises through the bottom, which was traditions that occurred spontaneously, and partly arise through the above, namely a tradition that occurs utilizing being planned, promoted, and emphasized. The process of changing the old Sufi tradition into the NW version is in line with the formulation of the sociologist, Piotr Sztompka. He argues that changing tradition is a necessity, and human psychology always wants to realize its ideas. Besides, the clash between one tradition with another encourages changes in a tradition.

Rethinking efficacy: People’s perception of ritual healing and trance religious practices at shrines in Pakistan

Ritual healing is one of the core topics in anthropology and is also important in psychology. The key aim of this study is to investigate and explore the understanding of religious perspectives of ritual healing and trance practices in Muslim shrines in Pakistan. Several studies have been conducted to highlight the shrines in Muslim countries to demonstrate the Sufi tradition in Islam, where the followers seek healing and use the Sufi saints as intermediaries for the fulfillment of their desires. In Pakistan, the shrine of Hazrat Lal Shahbaz Qalandar provides a vital cultural, religious, psychological, and social resource where people get involved in religious rituals and trances. A sample of 70 devotees was randomly interviewed with the help of qualitative research methods such as semi-structured and in-depth interviewed, key informants included observation were used for data collection. The major focus of this study is on the religious rituals of healing and the overall assumption that people engage in this practice according to their socio-cultural needs, and followers of the shrine in the living community seek healing rituals to address their social ailments as well as physical and emotional problems. They engage in different types of rituals, including trances, with different objectives. The research goal is to discover the chief motive of devotees who visit the shrine for the rituals and religious practices. These findings of this study propose that shrine ritual healing is powerful not so much because of the specific practice of exorcist rituals, but because the practice is associated with sacred activities and religious rituals performed by thousands of people throughout the years.

Sufism in Central Asia: New Perspectives on Sufi Traditions, 15th–21st Centuries Edited by Devin DeWeese and Jo-Ann Gross

Sufism in Central Asia: New Perspectives on Sufi Traditions, 15th–21st Centuries Edited by Devin DeWeese and Jo-Ann Gross

Peculiarities of the Transfer of Hidden Knowledge in Classical Islam on the Example of al-Qushayriya Tradition (According to the Materials of the System-Communication Analysis of «al-Risala» by Abu ’l-Qasim al-Qushayri, «Salvat al- ‘arifi n» by Abu Khalaf at-Tabari and «Rayhan al-haqa’iq» by Abu Bakr al-Darbandi)

The article is dedicated to the analysis of the continuity of hidden knowledge in classical Islam on the basis of the system-communication approach that draws the attention of the researcher to specifi c forms and models of communication. As an example, the author refers to the origin and development of the famous Sufi tradition of al-Qushayriya, which goes back to Abu ’l-Qasim al-Qushayri (d. 477/1072). The development and creative enrichment of the tradition is associated with the names of Abu Khalaf al-Tabari, a student of al-Qushayri, and Abu Bakr al-Darbandi, a student of Abu Khalaf al-Tabari. The sources of the study were three encyclopedic dictionaries of key Sufi terms of the 11–12th centuries, used as practical manuals for beginner Sufi s. These are “ar-Risala” by al-Qushayri, “Salvat al-‘arifi n” by al-Tabari and “Rayhan al-haqa’iq” by al-Darbandi. The selection of special terms and formulas, related to specifi c ways of information transfer, allows us to separate tradition and innovation for the system-communication analysis in each of the writings.The author declares that there is no conflict of interest.

Sufi traditions in the later poetic works of Dzhaminat Kerimova

The subject of this research is the artistic specificities of the poetic texts of religious-philosophical content of the modern Kumyk poetess of the late XX – early XXI century Dzhaminat Kerimova. The object of this research is her later poetic works. Relevance of this topic is substantiated by the need for creating a holistic picture of the final period of creative path of the poetess, which marks prevalence of the religious-philosophical aspects. Based on philological analysis of the poems, the author determines the religious-philosophical motifs; as well as explores the problem of person’s stance on religion, material world, and children’s view of their parents. The main conclusions consist in revelation of the religious-ethical motifs in later period of poetry (1990-2000). The author’s special contribution to this research lies in the analysis of language peculiarities of Kerimova’s poetic texts of religious-philosophical nature that give insight into the specificity of Sufi factor. The author was able to determine that the theme of religion, which most vividly depicts the specificities of the use and functionality of Sufi lexicon, is dominant in the later poetic texts. The scientific novelty consists in reference to the later period of poetry of Dzhaminat Kerimova, as her literary heritage and religious texts in particular, remain insufficiently studied in the context of religious literatures of the peoples of Dagestan. The author believes that the research of this topic would allow filling the gap in the modern Kumyk poetry, and thus, enrich not only Kumyk, but also Dagestani literature.

АПОФАТИЧЕСКАЯ РЕАЛЬНОСТЬ В «СКАЗКЕ О ЗОЛОТОМ ПЕТУШКЕ» А. С. ПУШКИНА И ПОЭМЕ «ШАМАН И ВЕНЕРА» В. ХЛЕБНИКОВА: КУЛЬТУРОЛОГИЧЕСКИЙ И ОНТОЛОГИЧЕСКИЙ АСПЕКТЫ

The object of the article is presented by two works – The Tale of the Golden Cockerel by A. S. Pushkin and the poem Shaman and Venus by V. Khlebnikov. The subject of the article is an apophatic tradition in these works. To identify apophatic reality in the texts, the authors use the analysis of spatiotemporal models, oppositions: morning–evening, male–female, north–east. In this regard, at a typological level, the eastern Sufi tradition, which was most likely familiar to the futurist poet, was also considered. In Sufism, the phenomenon of “illuminated man” is associated with the Black Light, the image of the midnight sun, which is typologically close to the image of the Black Sun from Russian literature – all these images indicate an apophatic tradition.

GENÇLİK, TERÖRİZM VE TASAVVUF

Its youth and spiritual values are among the most important visions and synergies of a society. It has been observed that the youth, who are the actors of change, have deeply affected the whole world in the course globalization because of their perception of religion with its constants. Young people have a great influence on the mention of Islam, which has established civilization, together with terrorism in recent years. Because their dynamism can be used as the ready energy of violence and war as in the past. Although Islam, the religion of peace and tranquility, is fundamentally opposed to the methods used by terrorist organizations today, it should be questioned that how they can attract young people to their side. Despite many opportunities, especially education, it has been observed that there are serious problems in personality and happiness perceptions of young people. With the religion that matures in adolescence, the young person is expected to first recognize himself, his environment materially and spiritually, and then realize himself. However, with the life philosophy encouraged by the egoist and hedonist motives of secular life, young people experience individual and social victimization contrary to expectations. Young people's victimization; it is seen that the desire for change, which they carry dynamically, has evolved into violence and terror by combining it with a strong and legitimizing element such as religion. Sufism, which is the basic interpretation of Anatolian Islam, made significant contributions to individual and social life by sacrificing sincerity and tolerance with divine love. It is possible to manage the causes and consequences of terrorism, in which young people are actively used, by using the past practices of the Sufi tradition. In this study, it is mentioned how young people can benefit from Sufism tradition in order to prevent violence and terrorism fed by false or defective perceptions of religion.

ANTALYA'DA BİR İLİM VE İRFAN MERKEZİ: ELMALI

It is crucial for a place to have important personalities grown in the region and the unearthed cultural heritage to become a science and wisdom centre since they are considered as fundamental features. The present study aims to determine the value of Elmali district by examining the historical adventure of the district regarding education, science, culture and literature, and revealing its transformation process to the science and wisdom centre. Elmali district remained in the Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, Principalities and Ottoman periods, bearing traces from many civilizations, and was an important neighbourhood that influenced Anatolia with its foundations, madrasahs, lodges and zawiyahs, a strong Khalwatiyya and Bektashi Sufi tradition. In this tradition, many significant poets, who conveyed the intangible cultural heritage of their time and maintained the style of Yunus Emre, were trained. Elmali has become an important science and culture centre that constitutes the Turkish-Islamic thought and influences Anatolia with the important personalities it cultivates. Another factor that makes the district a science and wisdom centre is education. Based on the books contained in the Libraries, which are among the important shreds of evidence showing the educational level of the region, an individual can know the information sources of the country, the fields of science, how the information is used, what views are dominant in the country, how the works are classified, the world view, the aesthetic value of the arts used in the volumes and pages, the importance of the country to the book, the economic and cultural level of the region. In this study, the history of the ancient Elmali district of Antalya was briefly mentioned at first and then the information was provided about the scientists grew up in the region. Besides, the library heritage it had were handled from different perspectives, the books were examined, it was tried to determine the topics they contain, the languages they have written and the number of writing books to understand the culture and civilization of Elmali.

Traditions of Sufi Dhikr in the Musical-Poetical Culture of Tatar Muslims

The subject of the dhikr remains one of the unexplored areas of the Tatar religious culture today. The ‘Tatar dhikr’ has received adequate attention from researchers neither as part of the normative liturgical ritual, nor in the context of the Sufi culture that existed in the past. To some degree, it can be explained by the influence of the atheistic campaign of the Soviet decades, which caused a decline in the existence of, as well as competence in, ritual practices. At the present time, together with the return of many religious rituals to the life of the Tatar-Muslims, the dhikr has been re-introuced into the practice of normative service. Much less is known about the Sufi dhikr in the Tatar milieu, where the Yasawiya and the Naqshbandiya traditions were the most widespread. The handwritten and printed sources in Arabic script of the past are still waiting for special studies. Against this background, the materials recorded by Tatar ethnomusicologists in the last decades of the 20th century seem to be especially important: there are texts that reflect the importance of the Sufi dhikr for Muslims and show its structural features. Towards the end of the 20th century, such texts entered the repertoire of Tatar folk monajats and were recited in the style of the monajats. To a certain extent, the study of such samples provides an idea of the forms of the dhikr in the Tatar culture of the past; particularly it shows their connection with the Yasawiya tradition, and as a whole, proves the persistence of Sufi traditions in the folk culture. This paper is based on the survey of little-studied religious and historical sources, recordings, and interviews made during field trips in the 1990-2000s on the territory of the Republic of Tatarstan (Russia).

Arabic influence on metre in Somali Sufi religious poetry

Abstract It has generally been assumed that there has not been any direct influence on Somali poetic metre from the metrical forms of Arabic. For the most part, this certainly seems to hold, but this article presents a poem which is of a type on which, it is argued, Arabic influence can be seen. The poem, ‘Taaj Awliyo’ by Sheekh Caaqib Cabdullaahi Jaamac (ca. 1922-?) is presented in detail and, although it has been described as being in the jiifto metre, it is demonstrated that this description of the metre is incorrect. It actually follows a previously undocumented metrical pattern which is the equivalent of four maqalaay warlaay lines. The article also shows how the metrical pattern can be seen as a Somalized analogue of the Arabic kāmil metre in its majzūʾ or dimetric form. Evidence is given both from comparison of the line structure itself and from brief comments on reports of what the poet himself had said. The poem considered in detail is part of the Qaadiriya Sufi tradition in which poetry composed in Arabic plays an important role including poems in the kāmil metre.

Sufism and the Muslim Brotherhood: Ḥasan al-Bannā’s wird and the Transformation of Sufi Traditions in Modern Islamic Activism

Abstract Scholarship on the Muslim Brotherhood has often commented on its initial connection with Sufism. However, the question of how and why Sufism matters in the fully established Muslim Brotherhood movement has so far gone unanswered. This article gives a detailed account of the Sufi elements adopted into Muslim Brotherhood activism by its founder, Ḥasan al-Bannā (1906-1949). It analyses their function, especially their important role in the education of recruits as they become members of a hierarchical organisation based on the ‘family system’. Among the Sufi practices and ideas relevant in the Muslim Brotherhood tradition are the heart-bond (rābiṭah) prayer and self-examination, as well as concepts such as the spiritual path and ‘friendship of God’. Their incorporation into an Islamic project focused on activism and politics radically altered the meaning of these Sufi elements. Beyond al-Bannā and Egypt, the article follows this development within the Muslim Brotherhood movement across the Arab world from the 1950s until the present day.

Front and Back Covers, Volume 35, Number 5. October 2019

Front and back cover caption, volume 35 issue 5Front coverThis installation was part of the ‘Hurray Menstruation’ protest organized by gender activists during the Sabarimala pilgrimage of 2018–19. This protest was supported by the Kerala government as part of its ‘Renaissance’ campaign against the BJP’ s (Bharatiya Janata Party) provocative assertion of traditional Hindu values. The installation is a condensed symbol in Victor Turner's sense, with many layers of meaning. The major elements are a vulva, alongside an image of the Constitution of India, centrally mediated by a woman blowing a trumpet ‐ an expression of freedom from repressive and oppressive moral values espoused by the dominant middle class. The installation draws attention to oppressive rules in Hindu religiosity and ritual practice that target women as polluting due to biological processes particular to them. By contrast, the installation attributes positive values to these ‘polluting’ processes instead.Back coverTHE PARABLE OF THE FOOTBRIDGEA footbridge in the wetlands. Where will it lead? ‘The between’ is a powerful theme in ritual and mythical traditions the world over. However, different traditions will express ‘the between’ in different ways. As described by Paul Stoller in this issue, Sufi traditions hold the bridge as a major symbol for barzakh, a space that links two distinct domains ‐ a place that is between things, a space that separates the known from the unknown, the comprehensible from the incomprehensible, a nebulous space that compels the imagination.The footbridge is the epitome of ‘the between’, of being neither here nor there, of being liminal. On the footbridge, you may not know your front from your back or your past from your present. In this neither space, uncertainty seeps into your being. Where will your steps take you? If you make it to the other side, will things be different? Will you be the same person? The existential crisis of ‘the between’ that one finds on the footbridge can bring disruption, turbulence and stress.Amid this risky and unstable state of ‘negative capability’, the mind is sometimes cleared of clutter as one enters a space of imagination, creativity, innovation and invention. Are contemporary anthropologists ready to risk disruption and invention so we can follow the sinuous path to the anthropological future? If we move forward, what will we find on the other side of the footbridge?

From Rangdāri Tax to Rangrezi: Chromatic Landscape of the Post-colonial

Rangrez and Rangdār are two commonly used words in north India. ‘Rangrez’ is a painter/dyer, and in Sufi tradition is also a word for Allah. ‘Rangdāri’ is an illegal extortion tax, and the person who collects this tax is called the ‘Rangdār’. In all likelihood, ‘Rangdāri tax’ originates from the geo-political landscape of coal and mining regions of India (in districts which are now in the state of Jharkhand). The term is closely linked with the rise of mafia/gangsters in the region for usurping coal contracts and for effective/extra-legal management of coal workers from the mid-1940s and in the 1950s. The figure who collects this tax is called ‘Rangdār’. Both terms Rangrez and Rangd a-ri centre upon ‘rang’, which largely means colour across the South Asian milieu. Engaging with different terrains occupied by these terms, this article ventures into a less traversed domain of colours in the South Asian context. It uses this occasion to disentangle some of the knots present in the dark abyss of post-colonial political practices while looking back to the roots of the word ‘rang’ (colour). While tracking the historically changing meanings of the word ‘rang’, the article stumbles upon Sufi tradition and argues that this tradition has decisively structured the association of ‘rang’ with colour in South Asian context. Creatively mobilizing the darkness embedded in the word ‘Rangdāri’ tax, I extend my analytical frame to a larger question of addressing hierarchies which go into the making up of the post-colonial chromatic landscape. It is at this level, the figure of the ‘Rangrez’, shrouded in Sufi mystery, appears laden with a number of possibilities and creative tensions.

The Izala effect: unintended consequences of Salafi radicalism in Indonesia and Nigeria

Salafism is a revivalist current in Sunni Islam rooted in the teachings of the fourteenth century Hanbalite jurist Taqi ad-Din Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah and the eighteenth century Arabian reformer Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab. Salafis condemn Sufism (Islamic Mysticism) and most forms of popular Muslim piety, including music, as shirk (polytheism) and unbelief. The Wahhabi variant of Salafism is the only form of Islam permissible in Saudi Arabia and the ideology underlying ISIS and other violent extremist movements. This essay shows that despite the expenditure of vast sums by the Saudi and Kuwaiti governments and NGOs efforts to promote Salafi teachings and armed struggles by ISIS and others to impose them, Salafism has a very limited popular appeal. It is based on textual, ethnographic and survey data from two of the most populous Muslim countries, Indonesia and Nigeria. It also shows that efforts to promote Salafism have led to a resurgence of traditional Sufi oriented piety, especially devotional music traditions.

Black Muslimness Mobilized

The Mustafawi Tariqa is a transnational Sufi Order that was initiated in 1966 by the late Cheikh Mustafa Gueye Haydara (d. 1989) in Thiès, Senegal. Yet, only since 1994 has this specific Sufi network reached westward across the water, bringing American Muslims—many of whom are converts—into the larger network. In the United States, the majority of students who have entered the Tariqa and have declared allegiance (bayah) to Shaykh Arona Rashid Faye Al-Faqir are African-Americans who have inserted themselves religiously, culturally, and pedagogically into a West African Sufi tradition which emphasizes religious study and the practice of dhikr (remembrance of God). Shaykh Arona Faye is a Senegalese religious leader who relocated to the southeastern region of the United States from West Africa to spread the religion of Islam and expose American Muslims to the rich West African tradition of spiritual purification and Islamic piety. At the same time, many of those who are African-American members of this tradition have made it a point to travel to Senegal themselves to strengthen transatlantic ties with West African compatriots and visit sacred burial sites in the small city of Thiès. I examine how two sites of pilgrimage for the Mustafawi—Moncks Corner, South Carolina and Thiès, Senegal—play a part in the infrastructure of Black Atlantic Sufi network. Moncks Corner is the central site in which access to the Tariqa’s most charismatic living shaykh, Shaykh Arona Faye, has worked for the past two decades teaching and mentoring those on the Path. On the other hand, Thiès is the location where the Tariqa’s founder is buried and travelers visit the town in order to pay homage to his memory. I show how these sites catalyze mobility and operate as spaces of spiritual refuge for visitors in both local and regional contexts by looking at how a local zawiyah produces movement in relation to a broader tariqa. By looking at pilgrimage and knowledge transmission, I argue that the manner in which esoteric approaches to spiritual care and the embodiment of higher Islamic ethics via the West African Sufi methodology of the Mustafawi informs the manner in which Muslims of varying African descent inhabit a broader diasporic identification of “Black Muslimness.”

Il ḏikr nella ṭarīqa Burhāniyya secondo l’insegnamento di Muḥammad ‘Uṯmān ‘Abduhu al-Burhānī

Abstract The ḏikr, the remembrance of God, is a Sufi ritual that is common to many Sufi orders and is performed by each of them in accordance to precise rules. While the rules may differ in its practice, the final aim is the same: coming near God through the repetition of His beautiful names. My paper is focused on the method introduced by šayḫ Muḥammad ‘Uṯmān ‘Abduhu al-Burhānī, a Sudanese Sufi master who lived and spread his teachings during the 20th century. Collective ḏikr is also an important element of the procedure of ḥaḍra, a traditional sufi ceremony which is performed regularly by the disciples of Burhāniyya once a week, as well as on important occasions, such as the mawlid in commemoration of the birth of the Prophet and of Sufi saints. Today the participation in this ritual has a crucial meaning for the Burhāniyya adherents, as it represents the affirmation of their Sufi identity within contemporary Muslim world.

Introduction: The Religious Structure of Phenomena—A Phenomenological Investigation

Introduction: The Religious Structure of Phenomena—A Phenomenological Investigation

THE LONGING FOR THE BELOVED: MYSTICAL JOURNEY BEHIND THE HOMECOMING TRADITION ON EID AL-FITR IN INDONESIA AND SONGKRAN INTHAILAND

On the day of Eid al-Fitr and Songkran celebration, massive exodus from big cities such as Jakarta and Bangkok to rural areas in Indonesia and Thailand takes place as people wish to celebrate the tradition with the loved ones at home. Hence, this mass departure turns the capital into a temporary desolate city. This paper aimed at unveiling the symbolic meaning behind the largest annual homecoming of family reunion in Indonesia and Thailand to observe Eid al-Fitr and Songkran feast. This qualitative research examined the symbolisms in these two most-celebrated festivals in Indonesia and Thailand calendar that breathe similarity with Sufi (Islamic mysticism) imagery. By applying hermeneutic approach specifically of Paul Ricouer as theoretical concept, the finding shows that the main symbolism in Eid al-Fitr and Songkran, the homecoming, demonstrates the core symbolism in Sufi tradition. This symbol is a metaphor of union or invitation for union with the beloved as the ultimate point in Sufi tradition.DOI:10.24071/ijhs.2019.020203