The roots of the cultural deviation of Sufism in the ancient Turkic nomadic culture
IntroductionThis study investigates the integration of Sufism into medieval Turkic nomadic culture, analyzing how Sufi rituals, saintly authority, and scholarly networks reshaped social structures and collective identity on the Eurasian steppe.MethodsWe assembled a multidisciplinary corpus, includin...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Communication |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1591725/full |
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| author | Akaidar Kurmanbek Yeldos Osserbayev Almasbek Shagyrbay Bekzhan Azhimov Bekzhan D. Kossalbayev |
| author_facet | Akaidar Kurmanbek Yeldos Osserbayev Almasbek Shagyrbay Bekzhan Azhimov Bekzhan D. Kossalbayev |
| author_sort | Akaidar Kurmanbek |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionThis study investigates the integration of Sufism into medieval Turkic nomadic culture, analyzing how Sufi rituals, saintly authority, and scholarly networks reshaped social structures and collective identity on the Eurasian steppe.MethodsWe assembled a multidisciplinary corpus, including Divan‑i Ḥikmet verses, 12th-14th‑century hagiographies, waqf endowments, archaeological surveys, and secondary literature, and applied hermeneutic coding in NVivo to identify ritual motifs and symbolic continuities. Ragin’s comparative method organized data across four dimensions: ritual form, institutional patterns, symbolic vocabulary, and succession mechanisms, with intercoder reliability ensured through author reviews.ResultsWe found that communal dhikr ceremonies and whirling dances generated Durkheimian collective effervescence that amplified indigenous circle‑based traditions and accelerated Sufi adoption; that charismatic saints such as Khoja Aḥmad Yasawi transcended tribal loyalties through reputed miracles and moral prestige, founding khanqahs and neutral mazars to facilitate peaceful Islamization; and that Qurʾānic literacy, mastery of Sufi poetry, and formal ijāzas functioned as new forms of cultural capital enabling social mobility. Comparative analysis of South Asian, Anatolian, and North African cases confirms Sufism’s role as a cultural mediator adapting to local cosmologies.DiscussionOur findings show how Sufism simultaneously preserved pre‑Islamic values and transformed Turkic society, revealing the explanatory limits of Durkheim, Weber, and Bourdieu when applied in isolation and highlighting the value of a complementary theoretical approach. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6265e704625c4b6cbd2cfc1d81f9b67d |
| institution | Kabale University |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Communication |
| spelling | doaj-art-6265e704625c4b6cbd2cfc1d81f9b67d2025-08-20T03:58:18ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Communication2297-900X2025-08-011010.3389/fcomm.2025.15917251591725The roots of the cultural deviation of Sufism in the ancient Turkic nomadic cultureAkaidar Kurmanbek0Yeldos Osserbayev1Almasbek Shagyrbay2Bekzhan Azhimov3Bekzhan D. Kossalbayev4Faculty of Philosophy and Political Science, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, KazakhstanFaculty of Philosophy and Political Science, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, KazakhstanInstitute of Philosophy, Political Science and Religious Studies by the Committee of Science of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Almaty, KazakhstanDepartment of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Islamic Studies, Egyptian University of Islamic Culture Nur-Mubarak, Almaty, KazakhstanDepartment of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Institute of Geology and Oil-Gas Business Institute named after K. Turyssov, Satbayev University, Almaty, KazakhstanIntroductionThis study investigates the integration of Sufism into medieval Turkic nomadic culture, analyzing how Sufi rituals, saintly authority, and scholarly networks reshaped social structures and collective identity on the Eurasian steppe.MethodsWe assembled a multidisciplinary corpus, including Divan‑i Ḥikmet verses, 12th-14th‑century hagiographies, waqf endowments, archaeological surveys, and secondary literature, and applied hermeneutic coding in NVivo to identify ritual motifs and symbolic continuities. Ragin’s comparative method organized data across four dimensions: ritual form, institutional patterns, symbolic vocabulary, and succession mechanisms, with intercoder reliability ensured through author reviews.ResultsWe found that communal dhikr ceremonies and whirling dances generated Durkheimian collective effervescence that amplified indigenous circle‑based traditions and accelerated Sufi adoption; that charismatic saints such as Khoja Aḥmad Yasawi transcended tribal loyalties through reputed miracles and moral prestige, founding khanqahs and neutral mazars to facilitate peaceful Islamization; and that Qurʾānic literacy, mastery of Sufi poetry, and formal ijāzas functioned as new forms of cultural capital enabling social mobility. Comparative analysis of South Asian, Anatolian, and North African cases confirms Sufism’s role as a cultural mediator adapting to local cosmologies.DiscussionOur findings show how Sufism simultaneously preserved pre‑Islamic values and transformed Turkic society, revealing the explanatory limits of Durkheim, Weber, and Bourdieu when applied in isolation and highlighting the value of a complementary theoretical approach.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1591725/fullcultural deviationSufismcharismatic authoritycultural capitalidentity formation |
| spellingShingle | Akaidar Kurmanbek Yeldos Osserbayev Almasbek Shagyrbay Bekzhan Azhimov Bekzhan D. Kossalbayev The roots of the cultural deviation of Sufism in the ancient Turkic nomadic culture Frontiers in Communication cultural deviation Sufism charismatic authority cultural capital identity formation |
| title | The roots of the cultural deviation of Sufism in the ancient Turkic nomadic culture |
| title_full | The roots of the cultural deviation of Sufism in the ancient Turkic nomadic culture |
| title_fullStr | The roots of the cultural deviation of Sufism in the ancient Turkic nomadic culture |
| title_full_unstemmed | The roots of the cultural deviation of Sufism in the ancient Turkic nomadic culture |
| title_short | The roots of the cultural deviation of Sufism in the ancient Turkic nomadic culture |
| title_sort | roots of the cultural deviation of sufism in the ancient turkic nomadic culture |
| topic | cultural deviation Sufism charismatic authority cultural capital identity formation |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1591725/full |
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