Abstract
This paper aims to reveal some modern aspects of the criticism of ṭarīqas in nineteenth-century Egypt, by illustrating the abolition of dawsa, one of the most Well-known Sufi rituals in nineteenth-century Egypt, in 1881. The abolition was actually a unilateral measure taken by Khedive Tawfīq with the support of the Europeans, who had repeatedly criticized it as a barbarous and inhuman ritual. While this harsh criticism of dawsa was obviously based on modern Western concepts such as humanism, enlightenment, and laicism, an analysis of the official circular announcing the abolition of dawsa proves that these concepts were also shared by the Egyptian authority. On the contrary, the majority of ordinary Egyptian Muslims had long appreciated dawsa as the manifestation of a miracle; therefore, they were naturally dismayed at its sudden abolition. However, it must be noted that a few Muslim intellectuals supported this measure, and the most well-known among them was Muḥammad ‘Abduh. In his articles on the dawsa issue, ‘Abduh justified its abolition by claiming that it was irreligious in nature and harmful to human dignity. Further, he expressed his conviction that its abolition was a marked occasion for the Egyptian society to get rid of superstitions and to advance into the stage of enlightenment. ‘Abduh’s reasoning indicates that he also shared the Western concepts mentioned above in his criticism, and in this regard, we may locate the modern aspects in the criticism of ṭarīqas in this period. However, this does not indicate that ‘Abduh’s criticism was a mere reflection of the Europeans’ concepts. Actually, he had derived these modern concepts from his own reinterpretation of Islam, and in this respect, we can safely conclude that Islam was the ultimate basis for his criticism.
