Dr. Saeed Zarrabi-Zadeh
Gastwissenschaftler/ Research Fellow
Unser Institut freut sich, Dr. Saeed Zarrabi-Zadeh als Gastwissenschaftler im SoSe 2021 und im WS 2021/22 begrüßen zu dürfen. Dr. Zarrabi-Zadehs Forschungsschwerpunkte sind Islamische Mystik (Sufismus), mystische Theologie, Ideengeschichte, Kulturtransfer und Persische Literatur. Zu seinen Veröffentlichungen gehören Practical Mysticism in Islam and Christianity (Routledge, 2016), Sufism East and West (Brill, 2019, Hg. mit Jamal Malik) und Sufism in Western Contexts (Brill, forthcoming 2021, Hg. mit Marcia Hermansen). Er ist Mitherausgeber von Mawlana Rumi Review (Brill).
Lehrveranstaltungen von Dr. Zarrabi-Zadeh (Link folgt)
E-Mail: saeed.zarrabi-zadeh@uni-erfurt.de
Forschungsprojekt: Sufism and “Modern” Culture
Since the advent of the modern era, Sufism—often understood as the main mystical trend of Islam—has become the target of a multifaceted critique in the Muslim World, while at the same time a new arena has been opened for its activity. Starting from the late eighteenth century, literary forms of Islamic mysticism began to arrive in the West, a space that later became a scene of a vibrant presence for Sufi-inspired teachers and ṭarīqa members. In this new abode, Sufism has been associated with several Western movements that have been engaged in a self-critique of “modern” culture. Romanticist thinkers denouncing principles of the Enlightenment, for instance, were fascinated by mystical Islam and translated Sufi texts into European languages. Sufism has also been an integral part of “counter-culture” trends such as the Traditionalist School, which has announced the crisis of the modern world (René Guénon) and the necessity of a revolt against it (Julius Evola). The very establishment of “alternative” discourses in the modern West has, therefore, been inspired by Islamic mysticism.
The current research seeks to problematize the relationship between Sufism and “modern” culture in the Euro-American context. It argues that, despite the association of mystical Islam with counter-modern movements, the concept of “Sufi-ism,” which was (re)constructed in the West, incorporates several elements that are in fact harmonious with the “modern” Weltanschauung. The relationship between Sufism and the “modern” is thus not one of exclusion, rather it is a hybrid connection of “integrejection.”
Lebenslauf und Publikationen