The Transformation of Dhikr in Modern Egypt: Reform, Agency, and Digital Mediation

This paper explores the transformation of dhikr in modern Egypt, moving beyond its traditional spiritual and communal significance to examine how it has been contested, reformed, and digitally mediated. Using Talal Asad’s concept of agency and Kathryn Gin Lum’s framework of heathenization, a process of racialized delegitimization, the study analyzes reformist critiques of Sufi dhikr during Egypt’s modernization in the 19th and 20th centuries. Reformists condemned certain dhikr rituals as backward, reinforcing colonial narratives that framed indigenous practices as primitive. Despite these challenges, Sufi orders adapted dhikr to maintain their relevance, asserting agency amid reformist and colonial pressures. In the digital age, dhikr is further reshaped as social media and online discourse redefine religious authority, making devotional practices more public and contested. This paper situates dhikr at the intersection of modernity, religious reform, racialized critique, and digital mediation, offering a fresh perspective on its evolving role in contemporary Islam.