CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2022
| Author | Pantic, Nikola |
|---|---|
| Title | Networks of the Holy: Religion and Magic in eighteenth-century Ottoman Province of Damascus |
| Summary | This dissertation studies beliefs of the common people, the elites, and the religious authorities in eighteenth-century Ottoman Syria. It traces the popular belief in baraka, often interpreted by the ulamaic circles as Allah’s grace. Through the analysis of baraka as a historical, social, and anthropological fact of the Syrian eighteenth century, this dissertation looks deeply into the thaumaturgical beliefs and practices of both common people and the religious elites in the region. The beliefs in baraka, which interconnected people and places, allow for the reconstruction of the Syrian eighteenth-century networks of the holy. This vast system of networks included those individuals whose baraka was popularly believed in. Muslim saints, both dead and alive, attracted cults of believers throughout the Middle East and North Africa (and beyond) over the course of time. The networks of Muslim shrines committed to saints and the prophets, as well as of enchanted natural phenomena such as caves, trees, or rocks, formed an integral part of these networks of the holy, that represented a fundamental element for early modern Ottoman Sunnism. This dissertation offers discussions about these networks’ important nodes, highlighting their relationship in the popular imaginary to interpret with more clarity the history of religion in eighteenth-century Ottoman Province of Damascus. On the case of eighteenth-century Ottoman Syria, this dissertation furthermore aims to present arguments for defining a Muslim priestly sodality, identified through a considerable overlap between the Sufi and ulamaic functions within the Province (and beyond) represented by religious authorities who often received official state appointments. This dissertation hopes to demonstrate that Sufism and its thaumaturgical beliefs and practices were therefore integral to eighteenth-century Ottoman Sunnism, and that most prominent Sufi masters and their disciples formed a part of the institutionalized priestly sodality networks that were present in the region. The Ottoman priestly sodalities over time made doctrinal and social distinctions between their own thaumaturgical beliefs and practices, and those commonly interpreted as magic. Although conceptually and anthropologically congruent, thaumaturgy and magic retained their distinctive character during the eighteenth century, allowing for a contribution to the contemporary socio-anthropological discussions about the relationships between religion and magic in history, which represent another of this dissertation’s main points. |
| Supervisor | Al-Azmeh, Aziz |
| Department | History PhD |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2022/pantic_nikola.pdf |
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