POSTSECULAR NARRATIVES OF FAITH AND LOVE: DICHOTOMY OF MYSTICISM AND SECULARISM IN SHAFAK'S THE FORTY RULES OF LOVE

Abstract

This research examines Elif Shafak’s The Forty Rules of Love (2011) through the lens of postsecular theory to explore the interrelationship between spirituality, love, and personal transformation in a contemporary literary context. Challenging the rigid binaries of religion versus secularism, the study argues that Shafak’s novel presents spirituality as an inclusive, inward, and experiential force that transcends institutional boundaries and cultural divisions. By analyzing the parallel narratives of Rumi and Shams in the thirteenth century and Ella Rubinstein in the modern world, the research highlights how true spiritual transformation requires breaking away from societal norms, rational constraints, and fixed identities. The novel portrays love as the central pathway to divine truth, emphasizing compassion, self-awareness, and inner awakening over dogma and ritual. Drawing on postsecular thought, this study demonstrates how Shafak harmonizes mystical Sufi traditions with modern secular sensibilities, offering a hybrid spiritual vision that responds to contemporary crises of meaning, alienation, and religious intolerance. Through close textual analysis, the research reveals that mysticism in the novel does not reject reason but complements it, suggesting that human fulfillment emerges from the coexistence of emotional depth, ethical responsibility, and spiritual openness. This study positions The Forty Rules of Love as a significant postsecular text that redefines faith as a universal, transformative experience rooted in love and inner change, rather than institutional allegiance.