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Tekke Sufi Jerrahi in Genova

Tekke Sufi Jerrahi in Genova

vico del Fornaro, 1-3/R Genova - ITALY

RELIGIONS Islam

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELIGIOUS SITE

DESCRIPTION
Sufism is mystical Islamic belief and practice in which Muslims seek to find the truth of divine love and knowledge through direct personal experience of God. It consists of a variety of mystical paths that are designed to ascertain the nature of humanity and of God and to facilitate the experience of the presence of divine love and wisdom in the world. Sufis belong to different confraternities - (tarīqa) communities formed around a teacher (shaikh) - who gather in named meeting places, according to their geographical position, zawiya, khanqa or tekke. The tekke of Genoa was founded by Gabriele Mandel, shaikh naqschbandy and later khalifa (vicar) general of the Sufi order Jerrahi Halveti, in 2005 with the ancient Afghan rite of the naqsc. Gabriele Mandel had also founded the tekke of Milan (as a mother house or dergha) in 2000 that he led until 2010, the year of his death.
HISTORICAL RELEVANCE
Genoa during its secular history of maritime republic had flourishing commercial relations with the Islamic people especially with the Turks. In Istanbul, the Genoese district still exists today (Galata, the name of the ancient Genoese colony in Constantinople, the same name to which the Maritime Museum of Genoa is called) and the tower that they also built to control traffic is proudly displayed. marine from above. This explains the richness of Arabic terminology in the Genoese dialect both for internal mixing and for commercial relations. It is the case of mandillo (mandīl, piece of cloth), carega (chair), camalli (hamal, unloader), nababbo (naib, noble), gabibbo (habib, loved, then used to designate immigrants), zimino (samin , fat), musciamme (mušamma, dry) and scapeccio (sikbag, marinade). The same word darsena (dock, a central point of the port) comes from the Arabic dâr-as-sinâ'ah, translatable into "home of work". Just at the dock of Genoa, there is news of the presence of one (or perhaps two) mosques around the sixteenth century, when the traffics between the Ligurian maritime republic were particularly intense with North Africa and the Middle East, and there were numerous sailors of Arab, Turkish and Muslim descent. Of this ancient building, also equipped with a high minaret, remains a column at the current Faculty of Economics, in the port of the city, but several documents remain, which testify to the presence of a large Muslim community stable at least until the eighteenth century with a just imam; they also attest to expansion projects and the availability of land used as a cemetery and next to the beach.
INTER-RELIGIOUS RELEVANCE
The tekke of Genoa, inspired by its founder Gabriele Mandel, the first khalifa in Italy of the Sufi order Jerrahi Halveti, promotes inter-religious dialogue also through art. "If religion" preaches "peace, art" is "peace. So much so that the greatest enemy of art is war, which destroys works of art ". Consequently, the Sufis, being art lovers or even creators of works of art, are opposed to the war and openly say so. And they do not get tired of repeating one of the Prophet's most beautiful sayings: "Înna Âllâh jamîl, îuhibbu âlJamâl": "Of course, God is beautiful and loves beauty". Interestingly, from an intercultural point of view, the attention also brought by the Muslim community of Genoa to the permanent exhibition set up on the third floor of the Galata Museo del Mare. It is "Mem, memory and migration", an exhibition dedicated to Italian emigration and foreign immigration, which traces a picture of the migratory processes of the past and of the current ones.
RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE
In our country the Sufi of the Jerrahi-Halveti confraternity are little more than a thousand, but they have a not small influence in the Islamic world: educated, creative and mystical, they embody the rejection of dogmatism in the search for the divine.
HOW TO USE WITH THE STUDENTS
- Classroom activity:
Deepening on Sufism
Comparison between Sufi spirituality, Christianity and Buddhism
Details about the Sufi Master Gabriele Mandel Khan
Activity of verification of the acquired knowledge and skills

VIDEOS

  • Innamorati figli di Allah
    Article appeared on an important Catholic monthly, which describes the collective dhikr (the "remembrance" of God) celebrated in the tekke of Milan.morati sons of Allah
  • Music and spirituality - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - Battiato, Ovadia and Branduardi
    Audiovisual of the book Music and spirituality, taken from the intercultural conference "Music and spirituality" - Itinerary through the musical traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, in which Franco Battiato, Moni Ovadia, Angelo Branduardi, Paolo Branca, Elio Franzini, Gabriele Mandel Khan
  • Tekke of Genova
    Video about the ancient Afghan naqaschbandi rite tekke-di-Genova

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This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This web site reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.