Beyond the Mosque (2009)

Undergraduate: Hannah Highfill

Faculty Advisor: Banu Gokariksel
Department: Interdisciplinary Studies

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When the Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923 the Kemalist state launched a ‘modernizing’ project with secularism as its cornerstone. This project extended to religious and secular spaces in an effort to create a western-style Turkish Republic both at home and in public. Part of the efforts to secularize the country traditional lodges, dress and titles of Sufism, or Mystical Islam were banned and strict restrictions were imposed on public expression of religion. Islamic authority and sacred spaces were brought under the auspices of the state. To examine how modern Sufi groups practice their faith under these limitations I will use original ethnographic research focusing on a female-led Rifâî tarikat in Istanbul that is significant because they function as both a spiritual community and an NGO. Based on my research in 2008 and 2009, I argue that this group moves fluidly across pre-defined limits of sacred space and state secularism to practice their faith and conduct the business of their NGO. I use the framework of the New Geography of Religion examine how the ritual of sohbet, or spiritual conversation between teacher and student, allows the group to create sacred space outside of officially religious spaces such as mosques and shrines. Additionally, the practice binds the group together around their teacher and enables the group to move fluidly across secular and religious, official and unofficial spaces as they traverse the urban, secular landscapes of Istanbul, Turkey.