Panel: POST-TARIQA SUFISM AND CHALLENGES OF MODERNITY



27.3 - POST-TARIQA SUFISM IN CONTEMPORARY KAZAKHSTAN: THE CASE STUDY OF JAHRIYYA

AUTHORS:
Rajola Pescarini A. (Italian Doctoral School of Religious Studies (DREST) & University of Naples "L'Orientale" ~ Naples ~ Italy)
Text:
"Post-Tariqa" Sufism has emerged in both Muslim-majority societies and Western societies as a new category needed to analyse and understand the new trends and patterns undergone by contemporary Sufi communities. Rejected the established hierarchies and communal ties of the traditional ṭuruq, the role of the shaykh as necessary mediator between the physical and the spiritual worlds, and the customary way of transmitting religious knowledge, the communities included in this category have enriched their understanding of Sufism through an eclectic and modern approach. Influenced by New Age, Traditionalism/Perennialism, and other esoteric currents - self-realisation, health practices, psychotherapy, social and civic activity have become some of the new tools for spiritual quest. One example of this kind of "post-Tariqa" Sufi community is currently active in Kazakhstan, a Muslim-majority country in Central Asia. The community has no official name, but scholars have called it "Jahriyya". Founded by the pir Ismatulla Maqsum, this community recovered the ancient customs and practices of the Sufi tradition related to the most popular Kazakh saint - Khwaja Ahmad Yasawi. The main feature of Jahriyya is particularly the Sufi practice of dhikr, performed as in the tradition of Yasawiyya in vocal form (jahrī), therefore defined Jahriyya. This community played an important role in the re-Islamization of society and in its re-Kazakhization, attempting to reconcile Kazakhs with their own language and culture by disseminating Kazakh Islamic and secular literature through its own publishing house. Despite the arrest of its leader and his current inactivity, the community is still active with a new focus on psychology manifesting itself as a clear example of this new trend. The paper presented aims to introduce the religious and social reality of this Sufi community and to analyse its characteristics that make it fall into the category of "post-Tariqa" Sufism.