Sufism and the Sacred Feminine in Lombok, Indonesia: Situating Spirit Queen Dewi Anjani and Female Saints in Nahdlatul Wathan
Religions August 26, 2021 Bianca J. Smith
On Lombok, Indonesia, indigenous notions of a sacred feminine shape Sufi practice. Through long-term fieldwork, the author shows how Dewi Anjani, a spirit queen and holy saint ruling from Mount Rinjani, along with a living female saint and Murshida, influence the Sufi praxis of the largest local Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Wathan, and its Sufi order. From a Sufi feminist standpoint, the integration of indigeneity into mystical experience gives meaning to the sacred feminine in both complementary and hierarchical ways, without challenging Islamic gender constructs that reproduce patriarchal expressions of Sufism and Islam.