Edited by: Feyza Burak-Adli, Merin Shobhana Xavier e Francesco Piraino

The present moment invites us to further challenge how we can think of Sufism and gender through a rigorous reflection not only on the ways in which gender and religious identities intersect but also, more importantly, on how this nexus is shaped by the larger shifting socio-political realities, agendas, and anxieties of a multiplicity of social actors. To that end, this special issue offers a fresh perspective through several case studies of how Sufism and gender are deeply imbricated with national and global politics. It aims for a deeper understanding of the dynamic and contested roles that women play within Sufi traditions, offering new insights into the ongoing evolution of Sufism in the contemporary world. Paying close attention to the spatial and temporal sites of entanglement of Sufi tradition with racial, gendered, and classed social imaginaries, this special issue of Culture and Religion delves into the multifaceted intersections of Sufism, gender, and politics, and it offers a rich exploration of how these dynamics unfold across different historical and cultural contexts.

Table of contents:

-Editorial

Genderless souls?: Sufi women in sociopolitical contexts
Feyza Burak-Adli, Merin Shobhana Xavier and Francesco Piraino

–Putting out the candle: Sufism and the orgy libel in late Ottoman and modern Turkey
M. Brett Wilson

–Agent of change or guardian of tradition?: Sufism, gender, and nationalism in Cold War Turkey
Feyza Burak-Adli

–Revisiting the tesettür question in Muslim West Africa: racial and affective topography of the veil in Turkish discourses
Ezgi Güner

–A female imam in Paris: Islam, gender, and secular normativity
Francesco Piraino

–A Sufi pedagogy of community-engaged self-cultivation: contemporary approaches to training, accountability, and religious abuse in Sufism
Rose Deighton-Mohammed

Link to the special issue “Genderless Soul?: Sufi Women in Sociopolitical Contexts“, in Culture and Religion, volume 24, issue 2 (2024).

This publication is the result of the conference Sufism and Gender: Female Religious Authorities in Contemporary Societies, held on December 3-4, 2021 at the Giorgio Cini Foundation.