Sufism: The inner dimension of Islam

pages: 129-147

Abstract

The first part of this article is a short introduction into Sufism, seen as a unique mode of expressing the internal, mystical dimension of Islam. In this section, the history, doctrine and ritual practice of the main dervish communities have been considered. In the second part, predominantly based on the author's preliminary field study of the extant dervish communities in Bosnia-Herzegovina, more attention has been dedicated to the revival of Islamic mysticism in a contemporary context. In terms of sociology of religion, the revitalization of Sufism in Bosnia-Herzegovina could be understood within the broader framework of the revival of classical religiosity in the Balkans. After World War Two, the activities of the dervish orders in Bosnia were prohibited, mainly due to the modernist Islamic community supported by the ruling structures. This, of course, should be taken into consideration when discussing the issue of Islamic orthodoxy versus mysticism. A complete renewal of Sufism has taken place in the 1990s, after the dissolution of Yugoslavia and completion of the war. Therefore, one is dealing here with the renewal of classical religiosity, because Sufism had been developed within Orthodox Islam in Bosnia since the Ottoman period. Keywords: Sufism, Islam, Bosnia-Herzegovina, tekkes, dhikr