f Sufism through the body: Symbolism, selfhood expression and somatic process in embodying hadra ritual practice

This article is based on an ethnographic study conducted among the female members of the Naqshbandi Tariqa in Cape Town, South Africa, and their home base in Lefke, Cyprus. It examines how Sufi knowledge influences women’s notions of the body in daily life and in ritual practice. This article discusses the topics of the body and the soul, and body movement representation in hadra and analyses the embodied symbolic meaning of the ritual as described by Sufi women. It argues that hadra is a platform that enables women to encounter that space, re-creating and making sense of their embodied self.