Sufi and New Age Sensibilities in Post-Revolutionary Egypt

This paper investigates the growing interest in Sufism among young Egyptians after the 2011 uprising. It is based on 63 interviews with middle-class Muslim Egyptians in 2018 and 2019 and ethnographic research from 2021 to 2023. Most interlocutors believed that the revolution failed to bring about the political and socioeconomic goals they hoped to achieve. Despair became the norm amongst these youth. As a result, while some started questioning religious authorities and practices and others turned to nonbelief, several interviewees turned to Sufism to maintain a relationship with God that was not reliant on external markers of piety that others can judge. Some followed a traditional Sufi path, while others followed practitioners who incorporated teachings from Eastern wisdoms and New Age teachings. This paper explores how religious sensibilities change due to political upheaval, with Sufism being seen, by some, as a last recourse before losing faith in God or Islam.