By: TARA SHEEMAR, KHURSHID ALAM
This paper explores the pivotal role of women in Islamic mysticism and their presence in the urban landscape of modern Islamic practice. Drawing from fieldwork conducted between October 2018 and May 2022 at various Sufi tomb-shrines affiliated with the Chisti order, it investigates the reverence of women who have been posthumously recognized as ‘saints’ in contemporary Sufi communities. This interdisciplinary study, which merges history, social anthropology, and gender studies, aimed to explore the notions of barakāh (blessings) and karāmāt (miracles) linked to the dargahs (tomb-shrines) of female Sufi ‘saints.’ The research focuses on two revered figures: Bibi Zulekha, mother of Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya, and Bibi Fatima Sam, held in high esteem within the Chisti Sufi tradition. Their legacies are traced through Sufi hagiographies (taẕkirāt) and memoirs (malfūz̤āt) compiled over time. The study extends to the cultural and religious practices at their tomb-shrines in Delhi’s contemporary urban setting. Video documentation of the dargahs’ mise-en-scène and the collection of oral histories were conducted, culminating in an audio-visual archive and a documentary film. The paper incorporates this visual material by providing online links where appropriate.
