Abyssinian mystics in Western Arabia : tracing the spread of Sufism across the Red Sea (7th-9th/13th-15th centuries)
- Author
- Zacharie Mochtari de Pierrepont (UGent)
- Organization
- Abstract
- This article reconsiders the spread of Sufism in Islamic Abyssinia by shifting from a late, Yemen-centred diffusion model to the concrete trajectories of “Abyssinia-related” mystics active in western Arabia between the 7th/13th and 9th/15th centuries. It adopts a decentralized approach based on Ḥijāzī and Yemeni sources to trace Abyssinians, their descendants (notably those bearing the nisba al-Ǧabartī), and other figures linked to Abyssinia through mobility, following their movements between the Horn of Africa, Yemen, Mecca and Medina. Set against the rise of Ifāt, the Rasulid takeover of Yemen, the emergence of Zabīd as a Sufi centre, and the consolidation of the Banū Qaṭāda emirate in Mecca, the study argues that Abyssinian engagement with Sufi milieus in western Arabia began in the 7th/13th century, became more visible in the 8th/14th, and by the early 9th/15th century left traces of institutionalization in Yemeni and Meccan urban settings. Rather than a belated reception of Sufism “from Yemen to Ethiopia,” it reconstructs a denser field of exchanges in which Abyssinian scholars participated in shared devotional and doctrinal currents across the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, inviting a revision of their place in the intellectual and mystical history of the late medieval Islamic world.
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Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-01KAXGE131SPDWQ4SA0B5MJ4JW
- MLA
- Mochtari de Pierrepont, Zacharie. “Abyssinian Mystics in Western Arabia : Tracing the Spread of Sufism across the Red Sea (7th-9th/13th-15th Centuries).” Ethiopians Abroad in the Middle Ages, edited by Martina Ambu et al., Ecole française de Rome, 2026.
- APA
- Mochtari de Pierrepont, Z. (2026). Abyssinian mystics in Western Arabia : tracing the spread of Sufism across the Red Sea (7th-9th/13th-15th centuries). In M. Ambu, J. Loiseau, & S. Dorsot (Eds.), Ethiopians abroad in the Middle Ages. Rome: Ecole française de Rome.
- Chicago author-date
- Mochtari de Pierrepont, Zacharie. 2026. “Abyssinian Mystics in Western Arabia : Tracing the Spread of Sufism across the Red Sea (7th-9th/13th-15th Centuries).” In Ethiopians Abroad in the Middle Ages, edited by Martina Ambu, Julien Loiseau, and Simon Dorsot. Rome: Ecole française de Rome.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Mochtari de Pierrepont, Zacharie. 2026. “Abyssinian Mystics in Western Arabia : Tracing the Spread of Sufism across the Red Sea (7th-9th/13th-15th Centuries).” In Ethiopians Abroad in the Middle Ages, ed by. Martina Ambu, Julien Loiseau, and Simon Dorsot. Rome: Ecole française de Rome.
- Vancouver
- 1.Mochtari de Pierrepont Z. Abyssinian mystics in Western Arabia : tracing the spread of Sufism across the Red Sea (7th-9th/13th-15th centuries). In: Ambu M, Loiseau J, Dorsot S, editors. Ethiopians abroad in the Middle Ages. Rome: Ecole française de Rome; 2026.
- IEEE
- [1]Z. Mochtari de Pierrepont, “Abyssinian mystics in Western Arabia : tracing the spread of Sufism across the Red Sea (7th-9th/13th-15th centuries),” in Ethiopians abroad in the Middle Ages, M. Ambu, J. Loiseau, and S. Dorsot, Eds. Rome: Ecole française de Rome, 2026.
@incollection{01KAXGE131SPDWQ4SA0B5MJ4JW,
abstract = {{This article reconsiders the spread of Sufism in Islamic Abyssinia by shifting from a late, Yemen-centred diffusion model to the concrete trajectories of “Abyssinia-related” mystics active in western Arabia between the 7th/13th and 9th/15th centuries. It adopts a decentralized approach based on Ḥijāzī and Yemeni sources to trace Abyssinians, their descendants (notably those bearing the nisba al-Ǧabartī), and other figures linked to Abyssinia through mobility, following their movements between the Horn of Africa, Yemen, Mecca and Medina. Set against the rise of Ifāt, the Rasulid takeover of Yemen, the emergence of Zabīd as a Sufi centre, and the consolidation of the Banū Qaṭāda emirate in Mecca, the study argues that Abyssinian engagement with Sufi milieus in western Arabia began in the 7th/13th century, became more visible in the 8th/14th, and by the early 9th/15th century left traces of institutionalization in Yemeni and Meccan urban settings. Rather than a belated reception of Sufism “from Yemen to Ethiopia,” it reconstructs a denser field of exchanges in which Abyssinian scholars participated in shared devotional and doctrinal currents across the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, inviting a revision of their place in the intellectual and mystical history of the late medieval Islamic world.}},
author = {{Mochtari de Pierrepont, Zacharie}},
booktitle = {{Ethiopians abroad in the Middle Ages}},
editor = {{Ambu, Martina and Loiseau, Julien and Dorsot, Simon}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{30}},
publisher = {{Ecole française de Rome}},
series = {{Collection de l’Ecole française de Rome}},
title = {{Abyssinian mystics in Western Arabia : tracing the spread of Sufism across the Red Sea (7th-9th/13th-15th centuries)}},
year = {{2026}},
}