Sufis and Saints' Bodies - (Islamic Civilization and Muslim Networks) by Scott Kugle (Paperback)

About the Book

Sufis and Saints' Bodies: Mysticism, Corporeality, and Sacred Power in Islam

Book Synopsis

Islam is often described as abstract, ascetic, and uniquely disengaged from the human body. Scott Kugle refutes this assertion in the first full study of Islamic mysticism as it relates to the human body. Examining Sufi conceptions of the body in religious writings from the late fifteenth through the nineteenth century, Kugle demonstrates that literature from this era often treated saints' physical bodies as sites of sacred power.

Sufis and Saints' Bodies focuses on six important saints from Sufi communities in North Africa and South Asia. Kugle singles out a specific part of the body to which each saint is frequently associated in religious literature. The saints' bodies, Kugle argues, are treated as symbolic resources for generating religious meaning, communal solidarity, and the experience of sacred power. In each chapter, Kugle also features a particular theoretical problem, drawing methodologically from religious studies, anthropology, studies of gender and sexuality, theology, feminism, and philosophy. Bringing a new perspective to Islamic studies, Kugle shows how an important Islamic tradition integrated myriad understandings of the body in its nurturing role in the material, social, and spiritual realms.

Review Quotes

"[An] intriguing, well-researched book. . . . Highly recommended." -- CHOICE

"A brilliant and important book." -- Elixir

"A superb scholarly work which is animated by a passionate sympathy for the world it studies." -- Muslim World Book Review

"Glistening with the author's immense learning and passion for the material and his clear linguistic and historical expertise in the Muslim literatures of the pre- and early modern Arab and Indo-Persian worlds. . . . This book is truly a joy to read. . . . Essential reading for scholars of premodern and contemporary Islam alike." -- Journal of Religion

"Groundbreaking and sets a high standard for any future work on the topic. . . . A milestone in the comparative study of Sufi traditions and a major contribution to the field of religion and the body." -- Journal of the American Academy of Religion

About the Author

Scott Kugle is author of Rebel between Spirit and Law: Ahmad Zarruq and Juridical Sainthood in North Africa. He lives in India.