Afterword: on the relation between the understanding of Sufism and the ‘modern’ self: mysticism, secularity and identity

The article links up several important developments in the western history of religion. Firstly, it brings out the relation between an increasing secularisation of Western societies and the formation of an abstract phenomenon of mysticism as a trans-confessional counterpart. Second, there is the dis...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Klinkhammer, Gritt 1965- (Author)
Format: Electronic/Print Article
Language:English
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Published: Taylor & Francis [2017]
In: Culture and religion
Year: 2017, Volume: 18, Issue: 2, Pages: 181-190
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Sufism / Mysticism / Secularism / Identity
IxTheo Classification:BJ Islam
Further subjects:B Western mysticism
B Religious Identity
B Sufism
B Secularism
Online Access: Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:The article links up several important developments in the western history of religion. Firstly, it brings out the relation between an increasing secularisation of Western societies and the formation of an abstract phenomenon of mysticism as a trans-confessional counterpart. Second, there is the discovery of ‘foreign religions’ at the end of the nineteenth century, which fostered the search for the origin and the essence of religion in a similar way as the development of secularisation. The so-called mystical traditions within several religions could count as such. This gave rise to linkages, especially the western perception and observance of Sufism as an idea which is related to an inner self as in western notions. As the author argues, it is important to be aware of those links and to be cautious in analysing ‘Sufism’ as a tradition of this western idea of ‘mysticism’.
ISSN:1475-5610
Contains:Enthalten in: Culture and religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/14755610.2017.1326695