Sufi groups in Europe and the USA differ greatly in terms of practice, beliefs, membership profile and organization. Research usually categorises these groups by placing them on a spectrum from New Age groups with no connection to Islam on the one side to the actual "Islamic" and traditional groups on the other.
Based on a recent research project on Sufi authorities in Europe, this lecture will analyze the teachings of contemporary Sufi authorities in Europe and interpret them as products of a globally entangled history of religions. The question of criteria for categorizing practices and concepts as belonging to either Islam or the "New Age" will then be taken as a starting point for questioning these categories. Finally, the practice of discussing Sufi groups based on their "Islamicity" is abandoned in favor of a more complex approach that considers overlaps at different levels.
About the author : Ricarda Stegmann is a lecturer in the Study of Religions at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. She worked on the Grand Mosque of Paris from the perspective of colonial entanglements in her Ph.D. and is currently researching Sufi teachings in Europe. Her main research interests are Islam in Europe, Islamic law, Sufism, Orientalism, discourse analysis and postcolonial studies' perspectives with a focus on history of religions as a global history of entanglements.
This event is co-sponsored by the IKOS Religion and Politics group.
All are welcome!