The Qadiriyya Sufi Order : Saints, Shrines and Politics in 21st Century Iraq and Beyond

The Qadiriyya Sufi Order: Saints, Shrines and Politics in 21st Century Iraq offers the first comprehensive, field-based examination of contemporary Iraqi Sufism through the lens of one of Islam's most influential mystical brotherhoods.Based on extensive ethnographic research conducted between 2021 and 2023, this groundbreaking study illuminates the resilience and adaptation of Sufi traditions across Iraq's turbulent post-2003 landscape, revealing complex intersections of religion, identity, and political power.Through immersive case studies centered on the shrine of Abd al-Qadir al-Gilani and associated Qadiriyya networks, Philippon meticulously documents how Sufi communities reinvent their religious identity through public rituals, pilgrimages, and saint veneration practices.The book explores how sacred spaces function as dynamic sites where personal belief systems encounter broader power relations, examining how religious festivals serve as tools of territorial identity formation and