<小特集 スーフィズム・タリーカ・聖者信仰複合現象の解明に向けて>イスラーム聖者信仰研究とその周辺 --四つの対比から--

Abstract

The paper discusses four contrasts in order to highlight some points that should be paid attention to in order to develop the study of Islamic saint veneration in an interdisciplinary manner, taking into account its relationship with Sufism and ṭarīqa. The four contrasts are “God and saints, ” “prophets and saints, ” “saints and holy relics, ” and “saints and grace.” In “God and saints, ” we see the opposition and complementarity between the two, which can be explained in the contrasting terms of “worship” and “veneration.” “Prophets and saints” examines the difference between “revelation” and “miracle” as the medium between God and man. In “saints and holy relics, ” I focus on the connection to the recently developed anthropology of objects, and call attention to the potentially blurred boundaries between humans and objects. The final section, “saints and grace, ” discusses holiness in terms of its visibility and invisibility. In conclusion, while acknowledging that the saint is a concept of Christian origin, I point out that it does not matter as it is very normal for many other analytic concepts; what is important is to determine the validity and limitations of the “saint” as an analytic concept. In addition, I will argue the importance of advancing the study of saint veneration through a circuitous process of individual case studies and general attempts at theorizing, with the aim of using analogous concepts to enable interdisciplinary inquiry and broaden theoretical perspectives.