The 'Alawiyyah Tariqah': Some Problems in the Sociology of Religion

Abstract

This study begins with the assumption that the study of religion, as it had developed in the West, presents certain problems as far as the study of Islam in concerned. This is because the conceptual vocabulary informing much of such studies, particularly in the history and sociology of religion, tends to originate from Christianity. Without doubting the relevance of these studies, I suggest here an alternative conceptual framework for the study of Islam, one that is derived from the Islamic tradition itself. This framework is founded upon the concepts of i`tiqad (belief) and `amal (practice), and zahir (outer forms) and batin (inner meanings). This conceptual framework is applied to the study of the `Alawiyyah tariqah, a Sufi-trade diaspora that established itself in various parts of the Indian Ocean. The theoretical results of this conceptual scheme are also discussed and include the presentation of a preliminary typology of the zahir and batin, a discussion of the study of Islam as culture and civilization, and of rationality among Muslims.