Our speakers for this forum will be Professors Robert Rozehnal (Lehigh) and Jawid Mojaddedi (Rutgers):
March 1, 2012 * 7:30-9:00 p.m. * Cook Campus Center, Multi Purpose Room
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"MUSIC AS MEDITATION: PIETY AND PERFORMANCE IN A PAKISTANI SUFI ORDER"
by
Professor Robert Rozehnal,
Associate Professor in the Department of Religion Studies
and Director of the Center for Global Islamic Studies at
Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA.
Qawwali is a distinctly South Asian variation of sama', the Sufi ritual performance of ecstatic poetry accompanied by music. This unique genre integrates love poetry, devotional imagery, musical rhythms and melodies, as well as gesture and dance, to spur moments of spiritual rapture and mystical vision. Cultivated in particular by the Chishti Sufi order since the thirteenth century, this meditative practice continues to inspire poets, spiritual seekers, and popular audiences alike. At the same time, it frequently invokes criticism from detractors that question its Islamic credentials. Drawing on both textual analysis and ethnographic fieldwork, this paper explores the piety, performance and polemics of sama' within the contemporary Chishti Sabiri order of Pakistan.
BIO:
Robert Rozehnal is an Associate Professor in the Department of Religion Studies and the Director of the Center for Global Islamic Studies at Lehigh University (Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA). He holds a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from Duke University, and an M.A. in South Asian Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has traveled widely in the Muslim world, with extended periods of study and fieldwork research in India, Pakistan, Egypt, Iran, Turkey and Malaysia. In addition to the history and practice of Sufism in South Asia, his research interests include ritual studies, postcolonial theory, religious nationalism, cyberspace religion, and globalization. He is the author of numerous articles and a recent monograph, Islamic Sufism Unbound: Politics and Piety in Twenty-First Century Pakistan (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007/2009). His current research project focuses on Internet Islam, with a forthcoming book entitled, Cyber Sufis: Virtual Expressions of the American Muslim Experience.
"Rumi, the Whirling Dervishes and the Contemplative Practices of Muslims"
by
Professor Jawid Mojaddedi
Associate Professor, Department of Religion
Rutgers University
New Brunswick, NJ
Jalal al-Din Rumi (d. 1273) has been the best-selling poet in North America since 
1996, and has become widely-known for his mystical teachings through his poetry. However, he is usually seen in isolation rather than as a representative of mysticism among Muslims. At the same time, the whirling dance of the Mevlevi Sufi order that was formed on the basis of his teachings has won many new admirers, even receiving recognition as a protected cultural treasure by the United Nations. However, its significance as an example of the contemplative practices of Muslim mystics is often overlooked. This lecture will highlight the place of contemplative practices in Rumi’s world-view and demonstrate how the dance of the Whirling Dervishes, though established after his passing, relates to that perspective and can serve as an ideal introduction to understanding the contemplative practices of Muslims in general.
BIO:
Jawid Mojaddedi is Associate Professor of Religion at Rutgers University. He is the prize-winning translator of the first two books of Rumi’s Masnavi, the longest single-authored mystical poem ever written. His translation of Book Three is due to be published in 2013 in the same Oxford World’s Classics series as the previous volumes. In addition to his translations, he has also published several other books, which include The Biographical Tradition in Sufism (RoutledgeCurzon, 2001), and Classical Islam: A Sourcebook of Religious Literature (Routledge, 2003), the second edition of which is due to be published in Fall 2012. His latest monograph, Beyond Dogma: Rumi’s Teachings on Friendship with God and Early Sufi Theories, is due to be published by Oxford University Press in April 2012.
Moderated by Joseph W. Williams, Rutgers
This year’s forum series on Contemplative Traditions has received generous support from the Office of Vice President for Undergraduate Education.
Free and Open to the public
Refreshments at 7:00 p.m.
