I Traveled Around Sudan Exploring, And Photographing The Country’s Thriving Sufi Community (40 Pics)

In the spring of 2017, I traveled around Sudan exploring the country’s thriving Sufi community. I attended massive Sufi gatherings, multi-day-long festivals, and Sufism’s holy sites, as well as private Sufi meet-ups in villages and people’s backyards. What I discovered were majestic locations, soulful songs, passionate dances, and most importantly kind and generous people, who welcomed me as if I was one of their own. Before long, I was singing and dancing with them.

Sufis, known as Tasawwuf in the Arabic-speaking world, are the mystics of Islam. They believe in reincarnation and a mysterious world between heaven and earth, which can be visited through deep meditation and the performance of “Zikr”. Sufis believe that their Sheikhs (religious leaders of Sufism) and saints are immortal and can hear their songs and music even in their graves, therefore, Sufi rituals usually take place in or around cemeteries. Sufism is spread out in virtually every Islamic country, however, it compiles only about 5% of the world's Muslim population. Sudan boasts a particularly strong and influential Sufi community which is said to be the largest in the world. A popular Sudanese saying only confirms their strong presence in the country - "If there is a family in Sudan, of which at least one member is not a Sufi, they are not Sudanese".

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