Digital Museum of Sufi Stories and Art by Children and Families

Welcome to the Digital Museum of Sufi Stories and Art by Children and Families; a growing, living archive of stories inspired by Sufism, crafted by children, young people, and parents.

Banner for the Digital Museum of Sufi Stories and Art by Children and Families

The Sufi Storytelling Project

The ‘Sufi Storytelling Project’ also referred to as ‘Storytelling and Imaginal in Sufism: Narratives of Islamic Environmental Ethics from Children and Parents in Sufi Families,’ & ‘Construction of Islamic Environmental Ethics through Sufi Narrative Traditions in Family Life’ is part of a postdoctoral research project conducted by Dr Hamide Elif Üzümcü, IASH–Alwaleed Postdoctoral Research Fellow (2024-2025) & Nominated Fellow (2026) at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities, and TÜBİTAK 2219 International Postdoctoral Fellow & Associate Fellow (2026) at the Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World at the University of Edinburgh.

The project explores the Sufi perspectives on morals of socio-ecological interactions through narrative interviews with children and their parents in the UK. Sufism (tasawwuf), a mystical and esoteric Islam, offers an ‘ethics of the environment’ that considers the environment as a reflection of the Oneness of Being (tawhid). This holistic view of the environment is often negotiated by Sufi families and children through the Islamic culture of storytelling.

The Digital Museum of Sufi Stories and Art by Children and Families is a public engagement exhibition emerging from the Sufi Storytelling Project. It documents and archives contemporary Islamic environmental anecdotes and sayings, from Hadith and Quranic parables to centuries-old Sufi literary heritage, exploring the contexts in which this oral culture is involved in everyday child-parent relationships in Sufi families. It contributes to making visible the intangible, living cultural heritage of Sufism in a contemporary Western context.

The Digital Museum of Sufi Stories and Art by Children and Families website presents two display sections:

  1. The Children’s Digital Museum of Sufi Stories and Art comprises curated digital exhibitions of creative artworks produced by children and young people within Story Design workshops.
  2. The Family Archive of Sufi Narratives presents recorded oral narratives shared within family contexts.

Together, these two components offer complementary perspectives on how storytelling, imagination, and ethics are expressed across generations.

The researcher is registered with the Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme in compliance with Scottish Government requirements for working with children. Ethical approval for the research was granted by the Ethics Committee of the Department of Literatures, Languages and Cultures (LLC) at the University of Edinburgh. Informed consent was obtained from all participating children and their parents/carers.

Contribute Your Story

As a parent, if you are based in the UK, engage with Sufi-related practices or are part of a Sufi order, and have at least one child aged 12–15, you and your child are eligible to take part in this project.

To participate or learn more, please contact Dr Hamide Elif Üzümcü, hamideelif.uzumcu@ed.ac.uk


Fyler with information for parents
Fyler with information for young people

Explore publications from the Sufi Storytelling Project below:

 

Üzümcü, H. E. (2025). [Research Briefing] Stories of Decolonisation: Experiences from Children and Young People.

Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities Institute Occasional Papers Number 31; Centre for Research on Families and Relationships Research Briefing Number 99,

University of Edinburgh. ISSN 2041-8817 (Print). ISSN 2634-7342 (Online). http://doi.org/10.7488/era/6547

Download PDF version here.


For any queries about the research project or the Digital Museum of Sufi Stories and Art by Children and Families, or if you are interested in taking part, please contact Dr Hamide Elif Üzümcü at: hamideelif.uzumcu@ed.ac.uk

Dr Hamide Elif Üzümcü is a TÜBİTAK 2219 International Postdoctoral Fellow and an Associate Fellow at the Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World at the University of Edinburgh. Elif is also an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at the Social Sciences University of Ankara in Türkiye.

During her current research stay for the Sufi Storytelling Project, she is a Nominated Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) at the University of Edinburgh. She was previously based there as an IASH–Alwaleed Postdoctoral Fellow. Elif’s research interests include Islamic environmental ethics, Sufi narrative and cultural heritage, childhood studies, intra- and intergenerational family relationships. She is currently researching Sufi perspectives on the morals of socio-ecological interactions shared through the Sufi storytelling tradition within family relationships in the UK.

 


Dr Hamide Elif Üzümcü

This research project is funded by the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) and the Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World at the University of Edinburgh and TÜBİTAK 2219 International Postdoctoral Fellowship by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye. The project mentor is Dr Kholoud Al-Ajarma, Alwaleed Lecturer in the Globalised Muslim World and Deputy Director of the Alwaleed Centre. The project is conducted by Dr Hamide Elif Üzümcü who warmly thanks the participating parents, children, and young people for their time, active engagement, and meaningful contributions. Special thanks to Dr Ben Fletcher-Watson, Deputy Director of IASH, for developing this museum on the IASH website.


Four logos for the project partners

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