The Position of Women in Sufism: A Critique of Patriarchal Thinking

The historical study of the role of women in different classes of society, including the Sufi class, will provide a comprehensive and accurate understanding of them. Trying to understand this role considering the dominance of the patriarchal view is actually a way to analyze and criticize this ruling view. Numerous pieces of historical evidence testify to the concept of transsexualism in Sufism, which makes the historical neglect of women in such an attitude incomprehensible. In a patriarchal society where women have fewer opportunities than men to participate in the social, economic, religious, and political arenas and are usually marginalized from the text, naturally, women's entry into the ranks of mystics and during the stages of mystical perfection has faced many difficulties. This study examines the history of Sufi women and how they entered the mystical path and concludes that several factors have been important in guiding women to the mystical path, the most important of which is the kinship relationship that has been ignored by the patriarchal view, and this is one of the most important critiques of the patriarchal attitude towards the flow of behavior and Sufism.