The Light that Emerged from the Essence of the Cloud: Islamic Metaphysics, Sufi Rituals, and the Nabi Musa Festival

Focusing on a performance by members of the Rifa'iyya Sufi order at the 1997 mawsim (festival) of Nabi Musa, this article explores the metaphysical dimension of the Palestinian rituals that used to take place during the mawsim.Drawing on the writings of the wali (Muslim "saint") and philosopher Muhyiddin ibn 'Arabi (1165-1240 CE), it examines how Islamic metaphysics has been integrated into Palestinian religious practice.In particular, it explores the parallels in how a Rifa'iyya litany performed at the 1997 mawsim and Ibn 'Arabi approach the issue of human suffering and its relation to epistemology.The author argues that in both the Rifa'iyya litany and Ibn 'Arabi's writings, suffering represents a state of distance from the divine that is overcome through the return to an allencompassing origin (God) in a journey that endows those who embark upon it with proximity, healing, and knowledge.Highlighting this philosophical aspect of Palestinian ritual practices, such as those of the Rifa'iyya at the mawsim of Nabi Musa, stresses the interrelation of Islamic intellectual history and religious practice, revealing yet another dimension of the social, cultural, and epistemic loss incurred with mass displacement of Palestinians by Zionist forces in the 1948 Nakba.