Discursive and aesthetic dimensions of pain and suffering Naqshbandîs and Qadirîs in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Sufi dhikr rituals often involve an intense and transgressive sensory experience of the sacral, in particular when they include acts of bodily mutilation. This performative use of sacred pain evokes complex aesthetic sensations in the participants, as well as strong reactions from outside observers. In general, dhikr rituals are performed in closed and restricted spaces rather than in public; but, as a result of the increasing opportunities for visibility created by social media, they can be seen by wider audiences and can be, and have been, fiercely contested. Over the years, these practices have been condemned in various circles as vulgar and ostentatious, as primitive and unbecoming of modern and civilized nations, and as un-Islamic. I will explore these ritual performances and the intense synesthetic experiences they evoke in both participants and outside observers in the light of current discussions in post- and decolonial critique. These tend to suffer from a somewhat narrow conception of colonialism that focuses on modern and early modern (Western) European colonizing forces; arguably, they stand to gain from including a wider geographical area and a greater temporal depth. After some theoretical discussion, I will discuss Sufi practices in the contemporary Kurdistan Region of Iraq. I will argue, first, that these experiences are based on specific discursive and non-discursive disciplining practices, and hence involve complex forms of domination; this raises the question of where exactly the boundary of ‘coloniality’ (and thus of decolonization) should be drawn. I will then zoom in on contemporary polemics surrounding the religious and aesthetic practices of Kurdish Sufis in post-Saddam Iraq. Contemporary polemics surrounding this particular form of Sufi practice suggest that local practicing Sufis today must reposition themselves not only in relation to secular Kurdish nationalism, Arab domination, and Salafist political Islam, but also in relation to issues of gender and sexuality.