Sufi Glimpses in the Representation of Tolstoy’s Hadji Murat

Abstract

Literature, not infrequently, provides a starting point to learn about the cultural framework of specific historical events. It is the case of Tolstoy’s novel Hadji Murat (published posthumously in 1912). By analysing this work, we can catch a Sufi dimension in the author’s representation of the Caucasian resistance movement, so the novel can be seen as a tool that brings out the hidden Sufi heritage of the Caucasian society. As a matter of fact, the words Sufi or Sufism are never mentioned in the novel, even though, from a peculiar historical prospective, the Sufi characterization of this resistance movement is a well-known fact. Yet, the religious practices of the main characters of the Caucasian resistance described by Tolstoy, as well as some specific Arabic terms related to them, represent a clear, albeit unaware, echo of a Sufi imprinting, through Sufism’s peculiar institutions and religious rituals, on the 19th century Caucasian society.