Rending Garments, from the Ancient World to Sufi Hospice.

This article explores the Sufi tradition of rending garments and compares it with similar practices in Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Judaism, as well as in some ancient Arab, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian cultures. The first section gives a brief introduction to the Sufi custom and highlights the striking similarities between this symbolic gesture in Islamic mysticism and the tradition of stripping in some ancient religions and cultures, mainly rooted in the Near East. Broadly, all of the contexts, in which the act of rending garments is performed, indicate deep anxieties and intense feelings. Older instances show that the main triggers include the death of loved ones and the dreadful consequences of cardinal sins such as blasphemy and sacrilege. These meanings can be found in Jewish, Christian and Islamic literature and can also be found in Sufism. In addition to these meanings, Sufism has reinterpreted the ancient tradition, giving it new meanings aligned with its fundamental concepts to introduce it as a Sufi tradition. Lastly, the article's final section explains this tradition's formation and evolution, presenting two different theories on its origins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]