Old Wine in a New Chalice: A Case Study of Gender in a Living Sufi Tradition

Abstract

From the medieval era to modern times, a vast body of knowledge and scholarly work has been produced on various aspects of Sufism. However, an overwhelming focus on medieval and classical Sufi texts has left a huge gap for studying Sufism in the contemporary era. Moreover, where some studies focused on Sufi women, they suggested lack of a strong or leadership role of women in current times’ Sufi traditions outside the Western world – a misconception that merits attention. The study, therefore, investigates women’s active role in Sufism in current times by studying a living Sufi tradition in Jhang, Punjab (Pakistan), selected purposively to understand the current roles and trends for women’s participation in the Sufi world. The study also explores in depth the role of the head and spiritual leader of the tradition and traces historical influences of key Sufi personalities to understand the worldview of the tradition. Alongside an analysis of factors behind women’s role and status in Sufi circles, a discussion of the universal feminine principle discoursed by eminent Sufis and the gender definition provided by the Holy Prophet Muhammad ,صلى الله عليه وسلم the study also explores how the latter were adopted by a current Sufi tradition of the 21st century. The study describes the experiential side of women’s role in the select silsilah by using narrative inquiry to collect insiders’ views and anecdotal accounts of select women. It provides case studies of unique journeys of prominent Sufi women in the Silsilah. The study adds to the Sufi malfuzat (discourses) literature and historical research on Sufi silsilahs in the contemporary world by bringing to light to date unpublished events and teachings of contemporary Sufi personalities of Pakistan. The research also contributes to Sufi and gender literature by elucidating a new perspective about gender and contributing a new term, i.e. supra-gender that has never been used in Sufi or gender literature so far. The gender definitions, roles, perceptions and transformations, alongside the personal and experiential aspects of women’s spiritual journeys in a living Sufi tradition are the focus of this research, whereby it tries to fill the scholarship gap on this important subject.