Paper short abstract:

This paper analyzes how both secrecy and revelation, which are central to the mystical tradition of Sufism, are constructed and enacted in the process of initiation (tarbiya) into the mystical path in two Sufi zawiyas (ritual lodge) in Aleppo.The analysis will compare these two zawiyas in order to show the points in common and the differences.

Paper long abstract:

This paper analyzes how both secrecy and revelation, which are central to the mystical tradition of Sufism, are constructed and enacted in the process of initiation (tarbiya) into the mystical path in two Sufi zawiyas (ritual lodge) in Aleppo. One is led by shaykh Badinjki, who is linked to the tariqa (Sufi order) Qadiriyya, and the other is led by shaykh Nadim, who is linked to the tariqa Shadhiliyya. The analysis will compare the process of initiation in these two zawiyas in order to show the points in common and the differences in their construction of the tension between the need to pass esoteric knowledge to the disciples and the necessity of, immediately, adding extra layers of secrecy to it in order to maintain its mystical value. In each zawiya the epistemology of secrecy is played and enacted differently. Shaykh Nadim uses the force of paradox as a disciplinary mechanism aimed to reconfigure the nafs (self) of his disciples, which are often faced with senseless or humiliating tasks as part of their process of initiation. Shaykh Badinjki emphasizes less the paradox of a revelation that announces new secrets than the metaphorical aspect of truth, which is only fully grasped when it ceases to be intellectually constructed and becomes experientially grounded. In both cases the initiation works through a set of experiences, which are mobilized to unsettle and reconfigure the sense of self of the disciples or to gradually individualize the disciple and reposition his self in the world.