Report of the 6th CNRS-KIAS-SIAS Joint Seminar "Sufism, Sufi orders and Saints from Africa to Asia: New Researches in Japan and in France" (March 2nd, 2019)
The 6th CNRS-KIAS-SIAS Joint Seminar was held in Paris, France, on March 2, 2019. Selected researchers and graduate students from co-organizers presented their updated studies and exchanged opinions and comments. Here is a report by Fumiya Kondo, Ph.D. candidate at Sophia University who participated in the Seminar and presented his own recent research results.
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【Seminar Information】
【Seminar Title】 "Sufism, Sufi orders and Saints from Africa to Asia: New Researchers in Japan and in France"
Date: Saturday March 2nd 2019 – 9:00 to 17:00 - Amphi 3
Venue: INALCO – Pole des langues orientales, BULAC
65 rue des Grands Moulins - F-75013 PARIS
Opening :
TONAGA Yasushi and Pierre-Jean LUIZARD
1. Sufi Orders in the Indian subcontient
NINOMIYA Ayako (Aoyama Gakuin University), Tension, Emotion and Devotion: Master-Disciple Relationships and Consolidation of Tariqa in Medieval India
Discussant: Alexandre Papas (CNRS-CETOBAC/EHESS-PSL)
Muhammad TOUSEEF (CNRS-GSRL-EPHE/EHESS/CETOBAC-PSL), The Sufi ritual of Samāʿ: A New Perspective by the Chishtī Master Khwāja ʿUbaydullāh Multānī (d. 1888)
Discussant: NINOMIYA Ayako
Coffee break
2. Sufism and reformism
YAMAZAKI Satoru (Kyoto University), Between Secrecy and Orthodoxy: Tradition and Reform among Contemporary ‘Alawis
Discussant: Thierry Zarcone
Ayse AKYÜREK (CNRS-GSRL/EPHE-PSL), The reinventions of the mevlevi sema (ou dance?) from 1954 to the present day
Discussant: TONAGA Yasushi
Lunch
3. Saint veneration in Turkey and in the Middle East
Samuel VERLEY (CNRS-CETOBAC/EHESS-PSL), Al-Khidr in the Turkish Alawi cult of the saints
Discussant: TONAGA Yasushi
KONDO Fumiya (Sophia University), The Mawlid of Abu al-Hajjaj and other Mawlids: A Comparative Analysis (tentative)
Discussant: Pierre-Jean Luizard (CNRS-GSRL/EPHE-PSL)
Coffee break
MADONO Kotoko (Kyoto University), Niyâzî-i Mıṣrî’s Time Theory Based on the Unity of Existence
Discussant: Thierry Zarcone
Questions:
Closing :
NINOMIYA Ayako; Alexandre PAPAS; Thierry ZARCONE
Diner
Report by Fumiya Kondo:
Kondo made a presentation on a comparative study of “mawlid” that refers to festivities in honor of the prophet and saints in Egypt.
First, he indicated that comparative studies of mawlids thus far rarely exist and compared major three Egyptian mawlids: Sayyda Nafisa in Cairo, Ahmad al-Badawi in Tanta, and Abu al-Hajjaj in Luxor.
From his observations, some curious facts were observed. First, during the Sayyda Nafisa mawlid, there were two double security gates in each road toward the mosque. It created more lively festival atmosphere than ever and other mawlids.
Second, it was noticed that, during the Abu al-Hajjaj mawlid, removal work after the festival was completed much faster than other mawlids. He interpreted this within a context of its location: this mawlid was organized nearby the Luxor mosque, one of the most visited touristic sites in Egypt. Local government must have thought that the “order” needed to be restored promptly, Kondo interprets.
Finally, for advancing this study in the future, he suggested that not only theoretical studies but also ethnographic studies should be conducted, together with a possibility of collaborative research.
