التصوف في الجزائر المعاصرة: من الانزواء إلى المشاركة الإيجابية: مقاربة انثروبولوجية للتحول في وظائف الزوايا الصوفية بالجزائر: زوايا منطقة الزيبان ببسكرة انموذجا

Abstract EN

The springboard of the current study of Sufism in the Algerian society is the wish to investigate the attitudes of Algerians from different walks of life toward the roles of the Sufi Zaouias in the Ziban region of Biskra.

the data collection tool was an unstructured interview, which revealed once the data were analyzed that most of the interviewee did not see the Sufi Zaouias in a favorable light.

these negative attitudes that range from considering the Sufi Zaouias as nests of corruption of the Islamic faith and a breach of ethics at worse and synonymous of superstition and heresy at best.

it seems that the interviewees confuse Sufism and asceticism and monasticism, which are regarded by Islam as unacceptable.

regardless of the fieldwork findings, the Zaouias played a quintessential role in the colonial period when they preserved Islam by perpetuating the recitation of Qor'an and its related sciences along the teaching of Arabic and its arts.

thus, the Zaouias preserved both the faith and the cultural heritage (viz, identity).

on score of that this study attempts to address the following questions: what are the reasons behind such negative attitudes? what are the new roles incumbent upon the Zaouias to meet the socio-political as well as socio-economic challenges in modern times?.