This chapter explores the relevance that the sunna takes in the disciplinary and socializing practices of one contemporary offshoot of the Nur movement, the Suffa community, in contemporary Turkey. Contrary to widespread journalistic views portraying the imitation of the sunna as the exclusive trait of “Salafi” groups, it relies on the community’s main text, the Risale-i Nur (The Epistles of Light) and ethnographic materials gathered between 2009 and 2010 to investigate the way ḥadīth narratives shaped the life and conduct of this Sufi-inspired, yet inner-worldly oriented, community. First, the chapter illustrates the role that the figure of the Prophet Muḥammad plays in the path of knowledge promoted in the Risale. Then, it moves to investigate how the imitation of the sunna is at the centre of the daily practices and sociability forms that shape Muslim life within the Suffa community. Particular attention will be given to the way conforming to the sunna intersects with Muslim norms of virtuous behaviour (adab). Finally, the chapter sheds light on the collective dimension of Prophetic piety by illustrating how both the sunna and adab are embedded in the ideal of brotherhood for how the latter is actualised in daily life within the community.

Living the Sunna, Cultivating the Brotherhood: Following the Prophet Muḥammad in a Sufi-inspired Reformist Community in Contemporary Turkey

Fabio Vicini
2023-01-01

Abstract

This chapter explores the relevance that the sunna takes in the disciplinary and socializing practices of one contemporary offshoot of the Nur movement, the Suffa community, in contemporary Turkey. Contrary to widespread journalistic views portraying the imitation of the sunna as the exclusive trait of “Salafi” groups, it relies on the community’s main text, the Risale-i Nur (The Epistles of Light) and ethnographic materials gathered between 2009 and 2010 to investigate the way ḥadīth narratives shaped the life and conduct of this Sufi-inspired, yet inner-worldly oriented, community. First, the chapter illustrates the role that the figure of the Prophet Muḥammad plays in the path of knowledge promoted in the Risale. Then, it moves to investigate how the imitation of the sunna is at the centre of the daily practices and sociability forms that shape Muslim life within the Suffa community. Particular attention will be given to the way conforming to the sunna intersects with Muslim norms of virtuous behaviour (adab). Finally, the chapter sheds light on the collective dimension of Prophetic piety by illustrating how both the sunna and adab are embedded in the ideal of brotherhood for how the latter is actualised in daily life within the community.
2023
978-90-04-52261-9
Turkey, Islam, Sunna, Brotherhood, Adab
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11562/1081731
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