Zensunni
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Zensunni in Frank Herbert's Dune universe is a syncretic religious belief that is a hybrid of principles of Zen Buddhism and Sunni Islam. In the fictional far future of human civilization portrayed in the series, various ethnic and political groups adhere to this worldview, including the Fremen, originally the "Zensunni Wanderers."
In Terminology of the Imperium, the glossary of the novel Dune, Frank Herbert provides the following definition:
ZENSUNNI: followers of a schismatic sect that broke away from the teachings of Maometh (the so-called "Third Muhammed") about 1381 B.G. The Zensunni religion is noted chiefly for its emphasis on the mystical and a reversion to "the ways of the fathers." Most scholars name Ali Ben Ohashi as leader of the original schism but there is some evidence that Ohashi may have been merely the male spokesman for his second wife, Nisai.
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[edit] History
According to Terminology of the Imperium in Dune, the planet Poritrin is "considered by many Zensunni Wanderers as their planet of origin, although clues in their language and mythology show far more ancient planetary roots"[1]. The former Imperial capital (and later prison world) Salusa Secundus was "the second stopping point in migrations of the Wandering Zensunni. Fremen tradition says they were slaves on S.S. for nine generations[2]. The "third stopping place" is noted as Bela Tegeuse[3], and Harmonthep was the "sixth stop"[4].
In the Legends of Dune prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, before and during the Butlerian Jihad the Zensunnis were brought as slaves from their homeworlds (like Harmonthep) to places like Poritrin. After the slave revolt on Poritrin, many Zensunnis escaped to Arrakis; these Zensunni wanderers would become the first Fremen.
[edit] Facts
The ascension of Paul Atreides as Emperor in Dune and the expansion of Fremen influence throughout the Imperium widely popularized the study of Zensunni beliefs. It is noted in Terminology of the Imperium that the Orange Catholic Bible, one of the most important religious texts in the Dune universe, "contains elements of most ancient religions, including ... Zensunni Catholicism." The glossary also defines several Zensunni terms:
AULIYA: In the Zensunni Wanderers' religion, the female at the left hand of God; God's handmaiden.
FIQH: knowledge, religious law; one of the half-legendary origins of the Zensunni Wanderers' religion.
ILM: theology; science of religious tradition; one of the half-legendary origins of the Zensunni Wanderers' faith.
MISR: the historical Zensunni(Fremen) term for themselves: "The People."
SHAH-NAMA: the half-legendary First Book of the Zensunni Wanderers.
ULEMA: a Zensunni doctor of theology.
