Social Mysticism in the Transition to Modernity: Assessing the Social Role of Sufi Orders in the Qajar Period (With Particular Emphasis on the Safi Ali Shah Order and the Anjuman-i Ukhuwwat)

Waezzadeh, Faezeh

doi:10.22052/se.2026.257411.1302

Social Mysticism in the Transition to Modernity: Assessing the Social Role of Sufi Orders in the Qajar Period (With Particular Emphasis on the Safi Ali Shah Order and the Anjuman-i Ukhuwwat)

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Faezeh Waezzadeh

Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature, Al-Zahra University.

10.22052/se.2026.257411.1302

Abstract

Islamic mysticism, as it can be divided theoretically and practically, can also be categorized into individual and social mysticism. In individual mysticism, the discussion is about the purification and training of the soul through discovery and intuition, but social mysticism also considers the interaction of humans, which has led to the construction of different discourses. The present study has examined the social mysticism of the Qajar period using a descriptive-analytical method. The results of the study of the performance of mystical and Sufi movements show that all Sufi sects have benefited more or less from the developments of this period. However, in some Sufi branches, including Munis Alishahi, Safi Alishahi, and the Brotherhood Association, the social mysticism branch has found a much more prominent appearance. On the eve of Iran's entry into modernity, they have adopted more progressive approaches, while maintaining the identity and teachings of classical mysticism, in accordance with the needs of society, and have had extensive and significant activities in providing new areas of education, awakening, empathy, and social participation. The most important example of these actions has been in aligning with intellectual and freedom-loving currents, through the formation of parties, the publication of modern-style publications, the establishment of new schools, and the like.

Keywords

Sufism

Mysticism

Social Mysticism

Qajar Mysticism and Sufism