Sufi Bodies: Religion and Society in Medieval Islam

Record summary

Leor Halevi’s work on Sufi bodies and related scholarship on medieval Islamic practice provide a research lead for examining fasting, bodily discipline, miracle narratives, saintly power, and the social construction of sanctity. Although its primary period is medieval rather than contemporary, the scholarship was influential during the requested date range and helps prevent anachronistic comparisons between Islamic devotional practices and alchemical or occult transformation claims. Specific narratives require checking their original hagiographic sources, institutional settings, and later editorial histories. The lead is about historical representation, not verification of supernatural abilities.