Fourteenth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

This paper draws from ethnographic research conducted in London, England amongst Muslim women who engage in Mevlevi Sufism that includes the spiritual practices of sohbet (sacred discourse), dhikr (silent and vocalised remembrance of God) and Turning (whirling) as a platform for female expression of selfhood and spiritual devotion. Traditional understanding of mystical experience concerns transcendence of the ‘self’ and one’s corporeality in pursuit of the divine. This outlook overlooks the significance of the embodied experience found Mevlevi spiritual practices. Through field observation and dialogical narrative analysis of semi-structured interviews with Muslim women, I explore how embodied and somatic spiritual practices of the Mevlevi tariqa influence Muslim women’s conceptualisation of their bodies, their selfhood and their Islamic faith. I posit that Islamic spiritual practices, that directly engage the body in devotion and reverence for the Divine, represents a powerful platform for Muslim women to express their agency and selfhood. The research highlights how contemporary Muslim women in London utilise and experience ancient Islamic spiritual practices for spiritual healing and the formation of a selfhood that speaks to the divine feminine in Islam.