Institutional Sufism In Contemporary Pakistan: Theorizing Gender Through Practice

Abstract

Sufism is a mystical thread of Islam works as cultural system creating the Sufi culture that is considered significantly/fundamentally different from other forms of Islamic traditions known as “orthodox,” “high church” of Islam. Sufism is embedded within local cultural contexts impacting local norms and traditions and in return assimilating indigenous cultural values. This article aims to investigate the themes, perspective(s), paradigm(s), and worldview(s) that have not only incepted within the literature produced on the theme of gender and Sufism but also how this dynamic point of views (different vantage points) enabled understanding about the diversity within Sufi thought and praxis. The literature produced on the subject of gender and Sufism over the last several years have focused explicitly on the question of gender within the thought and practice of Islamic mysticism. Sufism’s approach towards gender constituted the basis of understanding of how imagination about men, women, and Trans individuals surfaced over the period. However, there has been a lack of theoretical understanding of the question that how gender(s) (especially women) have been envisioned within the broader framework of Sufi thought and practice? Therefore the present work aims to toil towards the formulation of any theoretical perceptive that could assist in explanation, description, and prediction of the issue at hand. Based on an ethnographic case study of a woman Sufi (Mai Sahiba) and her shrine (Sahi Sharif) in Punjab (Pakistan), this article also highlights the implications of Sufi-gender worldview(s) and paradigm(s) on women’s position and authority within Sufi culture of Pakistan. Mai Sahiba challenged the stereotypical imagination of women within Sufism through her thoughts and actions, but couldn’t overcome the conventional notions of piety associated with women. Her life presents an interesting case study where she presented a radical imagination of being a Sufi woman (herself), and after her death, she is celebrated openly by the society challenging the traditional notions of Islamic womanhood through Sufism.