Demystifying Sufism | Waleed Ziad
Waleed Ziad — author of "Hidden Caliphate: Sufi Saints beyond the Oxus and Indus" — joins us on the afikra podcast to demystify Sufism. Ziad explains the mystical and scientific aspects of Sufism and its far-reaching geographies that surpass today's "securitized" borders and colonial conceptions of South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East as "reified zones". We also learn about the concept of sovereignty in the Islamic world and how modern-day understandings of Sufism and abandonment of meditative practices differ from the realities of the pre-20th century Muslim world.
Waleed Ziad is an associate professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the author of Hidden Caliphate: Sufi Saints beyond the Oxus and Indus" which won the Albert Hourani Prize. His research concerns the historical and philosophical foundations of Muslim revivalism and revivalist responses to internal political fragmentation and colonialism in the "Persiante" world.
THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK
The afikra Podcast is our flagship series featuring experts from academia, art, media, and beyond who are helping document and/or shape the histories and cultures of the Arab world through their work. Our hope is that by having the guest share their expertise and story, the community walks away with a new found curiosity and maybe some good recommendations about new nerdy rabbit holes to dive into head first.
