{"id":35530,"date":"2026-02-13T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pluriel.fuce.eu\/videos\/spiritual-eroticism-and-erotic-spirituality-in-sufi-mystical-thought\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T08:11:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T07:11:15","slug":"spiritual-eroticism-and-erotic-spirituality-in-sufi-mystical-thought","status":"publish","type":"videos","link":"https:\/\/pluriel.fuce.eu\/en\/videos\/spiritual-eroticism-and-erotic-spirituality-in-sufi-mystical-thought\/","title":{"rendered":"Spiritual eroticism and erotic spirituality in Sufi mystical thought"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paper presented at the 5th international congress of the University Platform for Research on Islam (Pluriel)<\/a>, held in Cordoba from 10 to 14 February 2026 on the theme “Ethics and Aesthetics in Islam”. Salma Rouyett<\/strong> (Mohammed V University, Rabat) spoke as part of Strand 3, Aesthetic and ethical legacies: tensions, dialogues and hospitality.<\/em><\/p>\n

Summary of the paper<\/h3>\n

In the Sufi tradition, the mystical moment stands at the summit of human experience: a point of incandescence where the self, overflowing itself, opens to the invisible, beyond forms and beyond the sayable. Eroticism, too, is a crossing, but through the body. Two experiences that everything seems to oppose meet in their intensity and their power of transfiguration.<\/p>\n

This paper reflects on erotic-mystical thought as it appears in Sufi texts, reading in them an aesthetics of continuity in which carnal love and divine love extend into and seek one another. Unity is not given: it is lived in ecstasy, in fusion, in loss, to the point of effacement. Through the figures of Abu Nuwas, al-Hallaj, Rabi’a al-‘Adawiyya, Ibn ‘Arabi and other forgotten or contested authors, whose verses, often marginalised for their boldness, are nonetheless traversed by the divine presence, the paper offers a poetic and philosophical reading of what it calls a spiritual eroticism. For eroticism and spirituality are two poles of a single desire: to go beyond the limits of the self and to open to the other, and to the Other, without partition or judgement, as al-Hallaj testifies: “I am the one I love, and the one I love is I. We are two souls fused in a single body.”<\/p>\n

\nRead the panel synthesis by Silvia Trifogli<\/summary>\n
\n

This synthesis was written in the aftermath of the congress by Silvia Trifogli<\/strong>, under the Pluriel student-fellowship programme. It covers all three papers of the panel.<\/em><\/p>\n

Aesthetics of alterity and the encounter with the divine: body, hospitality, eros<\/h4>\n

Held on Friday 13 February 2026 at 9:30 am in Hall 1, chaired by Michel Youn\u00e8s (Catholic University of Lyon), this panel gathered three papers: Jean Patrick Nkolo Fanga (Al Mowafaqa Ecumenical Institute, Rabat) on dances, spiritualities and religions in the construction of interreligious dialogue in contemporary Africa; Raja Sakrani (University of Bonn) on the aesthetics of living together and the visualisation of an Islamic ethics of the other in al-Andalus; and Salma Rouyett (Mohammed V University, Rabat) on spiritual eroticism and erotic spirituality in Sufi mystical thought. The panel explored how aesthetics \u2014 expressed through bodily movement, social harmony or even amorous desire \u2014 can be the primary vehicle of an ethics of alterity and of the encounter with the divine.<\/p>\n

The first presentation spoke about the human body within the liturgy, presenting it not merely as an obstacle, but rather as a “third space” capable of dissolving the body-soul dichotomy. This perspective can be directly connected to the third presentation, where the Sufi body is no longer something that is denied, but becomes “porous” and the whole anatomical structure is offered to the divine. The second presentation spoke about the case of al-Andalus and demonstrated that the convivencia<\/em> \u2014 the Spanish word for “living together” \u2014 was not a theoretical concept but a daily practice and a pragmatic aesthetics. R. Sakrani spoke about a form of “normative flexibility”, for example recognising diverse dietary laws as valid. Thus we have a visual hospitality illustrated by the hybridisation of architecture, alphabets and culinary habits. This “ethics of hospitality” aligns with Nkolo Fanga’s idea of dance as a vehicle of solidarity, for example during funerals or interreligious celebrations in Africa, since in this case liturgical innovation maintains family and social cohesion.<\/p>\n

A strong point was made regarding the capacity for “reception.” S. Rouyett highlighted Ibn Arabi’s intuition that the feminine is a spiritual point of receptivity, essential for letting the divine happen without attempting to possess it. This idea of non-possession and openness is the foundation of the ethics mentioned by R. Sakrani, allowing one to “lay down one’s own language to borrow the language of the other”. In this way, the Sufi language is crucial: through concepts like fan\u0101’<\/em> and intoxication, Sufism enables us to understand that encountering the Other requires total surrender.<\/p>\n

The papers did not overlook the challenges and resistances. Whether regarding the dances in Senegal and in Morocco, or the eroticism of certain mystical texts, the speakers noted a constant tension between “literalism” and the creative freedom of spiritual aesthetics. There was also a discussion on the “female presence” in these discourses, whose retrieval often fades because of the prominence of male voices. S. Rouyett advocated for a greater inclusion of female voices without any mediation by men \u2014 a process leading towards real gender equality. Regarding the Andalusian case, R. Sakrani reminded the audience that we must not romanticise this historical period, since this aesthetics of coexistence did not prevent the cruelty of the Inquisition, highlighting the historical limits of a model that did not survive the disappearance of its political will. It was said that we must address and analyse the power structures and what has been called the “sociology of domination”, which often existed beneath the surface of coexistence.<\/p>\n

These abuses of power were a great point of discussion, but at the same time the three panellists agreed that we must co-construct celebrations and rituals that prioritise sensitivity and personal experience. That is because this ensures that hospitality is not just a theoretical philosophy, but rather a pragmatic daily art of inhabiting the presence of the Other.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/details>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"date_tournage":"","lieu":"","nature_evenement":"","vt_type":"Conf\u00e9rence","vt_yt_views":244},"video_collection":[854],"class_list":["post-35530","videos","type-videos","status-publish","hentry","video_collection-congres-de-cordoue-2026"],"date_tournage":"","yoast_head":"\nSpiritual eroticism and erotic spirituality in Sufi mystical thought - Pluriel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pluriel.fuce.eu\/en\/videos\/spiritual-eroticism-and-erotic-spirituality-in-sufi-mystical-thought\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Spiritual eroticism and erotic spirituality in Sufi mystical thought - Pluriel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Paper presented at the 5th international congress of the University Platform for Research on Islam (Pluriel), held in Cordoba from 10 to 14 February 2026 on the theme “Ethics and Aesthetics in Islam”. 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