Sufism and transnational spirituality

The PhD project is part of the SATS research group (Sufism and Transnational Spirituality) that endeavours to look into the reasons and character of the rise and transformation of certain transnational Sufi brotherhoods in Late Modernity. The revivification of traditionally inspired Islamic spirituality within the context of the contemporary age follows a centuries-long period of continuous decline and crisis for the Sufi brotherhoods, which culminated in scientific predictions of complete extinction of the orders just 40 to 50 years ago.

What are the reasons for the renewed global appeal of certain of these orders? What has happened to the definitions and understanding of Islamic spirituality as the brotherhoods transformed into multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-linguistic transnational communities – often mass-communicating and moving across physical and virtual borders on a daily basis within the landscapes of late modern global reality? How are norms, practices, knowledge, authority-structures and spirituality construed and shared within these brotherhoods, which are often established and functioning on all six continents simultaneously? These are only some of the questions that arise within the general context of the SATS-project.

The Ba’alawiyya-order of Hadramawt in Eastern Yemen, the specific focus of the PhD, is one such brotherhood that has proved extremely successful in living up to the communicative and organisational standards of Late Modernity while, at the same time, providing an authentic type of religiousness and spirituality that is apparently in tune with the needs, aspirations and values of numerous contemporary Muslim individuals across the world. While in earlier times being well-known and held in high regard as religious scholars and Sufi masters across the Indian Ocean, the adherents to the way (tariqa) of the prophetic descendants (banu ‘Alawi, i.e. Ba’alawi) under the contemporary charismatic leadership and guidance of al-Habib Umar bin Hafiz are increasingly establishing themselves as a leading global authority in terms of (a) education, (b) Islamic activism, defining normative Islamic discourses, and (c) influence on and presence in global media.

The project studies the Ba’alawi-murids’ (sufi-novices’) understanding and experience of spiritual development, specific elements of the religious practice and irshad (spiritual guidance), within the general transnational and multi-cultural context of the SATS-project. The project includes extensive fieldwork in Yemen and Europe and possibly Singapore.