Removing Pain: The Reflection of a Mythological Ritual in the Mystical Texts of Naqshbandiyah

One of the thaumaturgical powers that can be found in Sufi texts is healing, which has manifested itself in different ways. It seems that "removing pain" is a remnant of a mythological ritual that mythologists have referred to it as “apotropaic magic” or scapegoating. The mythological scapegoats were mainly aimed at driving away disease, effects of sin, calamity, famine and drought, and, in general, any evil. One of the uses of these scapegoatings was to drive the disease out of the patient. Accordingly, the scapegoat transmits the disease to himself/herself and thus heals the sick person. In some Sufi texts, this form of healing is seen as a miracle performed by a mystic. By using analytical-descriptive method, the present research examines the miracle of "removing pain" in the mystical texts of Naqshbandiyah and compares it with mythological rituals, and then some examples of the ritual are introduced. The results indicate that the texts of the Naqshbandiyah are more influenced by this mythological belief than other Sufi texts.