Daheshism, a religious movement for golden-age Beirut

Religion and Mobility in Late Ottoman and Modern Middle Eastern History: Seminar 4

Thursday 22 February, 11:15am. Tea and Coffee available from 11am.
Old Common Room, Balliol College, Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BJ

Dr Raphael Cormack (University of Durham)

raphael cormack 1

In 1942, the mysterious and charismatic holy man, Dr Dahesh, started a new religion that aimed to unite Christian, Judaism and Islam the banner of Daheshism. The talk looks at the cultural and intellectual roots of this unusual movement – the spread of new ideas like Spiritualism, Hypnotism and Fakirism across the Middle East. Dr Dahesh and his spiritual acolytes are the logical conclusion of one strand of Arabic Nahda.