Ali Jan Damani reviews a book on Sufism in Sindh
Boivin rightly argues that though it is not incorrect to look at Ṣūfīsm in Sindh from a broad lens of classical Ṣūfīsm, however, the greatest appreciation of the former can come only when it is understood in the regional and/or local contexts in which it has evolved over centuries. Hence, the entries in the dictionary have been documented with respect to both classical Ṣūfī and Ṣindhī Ṣūfī Weltanschauung, thereby retaining peculiarities and imbrications from both. In this fashion, readers are allowed to escape, as much as possible, the fallacy of limiting Ṣūfīsm within certain kinds of rigid boundaries. Boivin’s work liberates the meaning of Ṣūfīsm. He rightly mentions that Ṣūfīsm is not like a systematic phenomenon having definite starting or ending point. Rather, it is a complex reality in its own right.
Ali Jan Damani recently penned a book review titled, Sufism in Sindh: A critical review of “Historical Dictionary of the Sufi Culture of Sindh in Pakistan and India”, published in the Journal of the Society of South Asian Archeology. Authored by a published writer and editor, Michel Boivin, the book “Historical Dictionary of the Sufi Culture of Sindh in Pakistan and India”, was first published in 2015 by Oxford University Press in Karachi, Pakistan. It is a publication of ‘Centre of Social Studies in Karachi series’, developed by the ‘Centre of Social Sciences in Karachi (CSSK)’.
The book explores the complex social, religious, political and cultural contexts in which Ṣūfīsm thrived in Sindh.
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