This heartfelt introduction to modern Western Sufism is a highly accessible and practical guide to the teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan, the renowned Indian musician and Sufi mystic who brought Universal Sufism to the Western world in 1910. Inayat Khan's teachings, frequently prescient of modern science and the stresses and challenges facing us today, offer compassionate guidance and relevant inspiration for spiritual growth and daily life. Chapters about Inayat Khan's upbringing, his years in India, and his life in Europe allow a unique glimpse of his personal life, and illuminate the influences that shaped his message of Universal Sufism. Inayat Khan's own words, Sufi poetry, and teachings from many of the world's great religions bring each chapter to life. Topics include the philosophy and mysticism of Sufism, the relationship to God from a Sufi perspective, the mysticism of sound, and teachings on health and healing. Universal Sufism offers a comprehensive history of Sufism beginning with its pre-Islamic roots, the influence of poetry and music, its arrival in India, to its emerging role in unifying Eastern and Western spiritual thought.

From Rumi poetry and Sufi dancing or whirling, to expressions of Africanicity and the forging of transnational bonds to remote locations in Senegal, Sri Lanka, and Turkey, Varieties of American Sufism immerses the reader in diverse expressions of contemporary Sufi religiosity in the United States. It spans more than a century of political, cultural, and embodied relationships with Islam and Muslims. American encounters with mystical Islam were initiated by a romantic quest for Oriental wisdom, flourished in the embrace of Eastern teachings during the countercultural era of New Age religion, were concretized due to late twentieth-century possibilities of travel and immigration to and from Muslim societies, and are now diffused through an explosion of cyber religion in an age of globalization. This collection of in-depth, participant-observation-based studies challenges expectations of uniformity and continuity while provoking stimulating reflection on a range of issues relevant to contemporary Islamic Studies, American religions, multireligious belonging, and new religious movements.

Sufism, the mystical or aesthetic doctrine in Islam, has occupied a very specific place in the Islamic tradition, with its own history, literature and devotional practices. Its development began in the seventh century and spread throughout the Islamic world. The Cambridge Companion to Sufism traces its evolution from the formative period to the present, addressing specific themes along the way within the context of the times. In a section discussing the early period, the devotional practices of the earliest Sufis are considered. The section on the medieval period, when Sufism was at its height, examines Sufi doctrines, different forms of mysticism and the antinomian expressions of Sufism. The section on the modern period explains the controversies that surrounded Sufism, the changes that took place in the colonial period and how Sufism transformed into a transnational movement in the twentieth century. This inimitable volume sheds light on a multifaceted and alternative aspect of Islamic history and religion.

Sufism is a growing and global phenomenon, far from the declining relic it was once thought to be. This book brings together the work of fourteen leading experts to explore systematically the key themes of Sufism's new global presence, from Yemen to Senegal via Chicago and Sweden. The contributors look at the global spread and stance of such major actors as the Ba 'Alawiyya, the 'Afropolitan' Tijaniyya, and the Gülen Movement. They map global Sufi culture, from Rumi to rap, and ask how global Sufism accommodates different and contradictory gender practices. They examine the contested and shifting relationship between the Islamic and the universal: is Sufism the timeless and universal essence of all religions, the key to tolerance and co-existence between Muslims and non-Muslims? Or is it the purely Islamic heart of traditional and authentic practice and belief? Finally, the book turns to politics. States and political actors in the West and in the Muslim world are using the mantle and language of Sufism to promote their objectives, while Sufis are building alliances with them against common enemies. This raises the difficult question of whether Sufis are defending Islam against extremism, supporting despotism against democracy, or perhaps doing both.

In this book, Mark Sedgwick shows that Western Sufism is not a recent phenomenon of the "new age" but rather is rooted in a series of intercultural transfers between the Muslim world and the West starting in the Middle Ages, and in centuries of later Western intellectual history.

Exploring how the medieval mystic Ibn 'Arabi has been read as an inclusive universalist through the interpretative field of Perennial Philosophy, this book shows how his metaphysics is inseparably intertwined with Islamic supersessionism. Ibn 'Arabi's universalist reception is thus traced to lineages of Eurocentrism, revealing how Perennialism is itself exclusionary.

Sufism is a growing and global phenomenon, far from the declining relic it was once thought to be. This book brings together the work of fourteen leading experts to explore systematically the key themes of Sufism's new global presence, from Yemen to Senegal via Chicago and Sweden. The contributors look at the global spread and stance of such major actors as the Ba 'Alawiyya, the 'Afropolitan' Tijaniyya, and the Gülen Movement. They map global Sufi culture, from Rumi to rap, and ask how global Sufism accommodates different and contradictory gender practices. They examine the contested and shifting relationship between the Islamic and the universal: is Sufism the timeless and universal essence of all religions, the key to tolerance and co-existence between Muslims and non-Muslims? Or is it the purely Islamic heart of traditional and authentic practice and belief? Finally, the book turns to politics. States and political actors in the West and in the Muslim world are using the mantle and language of Sufism to promote their objectives, while Sufis are building alliances with them against common enemies. This raises the difficult question of whether Sufis are defending Islam against extremism, supporting despotism against democracy, or perhaps doing both.

With the increasing Muslim diaspora in post-modern Western societies, Sufism – intellectually as well as sociologically – may eventually become Islam itself due to its versatile potential. Although Sufism has always provoked considerable interest in the West, no volume has so far been written which discusses this aspect of Islam in terms of how it is practised in Western societies. Bringing together leading international authorities to survey the history of Islamic mysticism in North America and Europe, this book elaborates the ideas and institutions which organize Sufism and folk-religious practices. The chapters cover: the orders and movements their social base organization and institutionalization recruitment-patterns in new environments channels of disseminating ideas, such as ritual, charisma, and organization reasons for their popularity among certain social groups the nature of their affiliation with the countries of their origin. Providing a fascinating insight into how Sufism operates within different spheres of society, Sufism in the West is essential reading for students and academics with research interests in Islam, Islamic history and social anthropology.

Sufism in America sheds light on spiritual, mystical Islam in America. The Sufi path focuses on developing a personal relationship with God, doing what is beautiful in the sight of God, and struggling against the lower self to reach loving submission. Up to this point, very little has been written about the Sufi orders in America and those who participate in them. This study focuses on the Alami Tariqa in Waterport, New York, which was started in the 1970s by a shaykh from the Balkans. The Alami Tariqa strives to uphold sharia while adapting to the Western setting. Its membership is diverse, consisting mostly of American-born participants from Christian and Jewish backgrounds, in addition to a few Muslim immigrants from South Asia. This study explores how this order has acculturated to the American setting, why individuals choose to join the tariqa, and what it means to pursue spiritual goals in a modern, Western society. Conclusions are drawn from interviews, a survey, and observations of teachings, plus the author’s experience working with this community for over ten years. The book interweaves personal stories and insider views with academic insight to provide a compelling and detailed picture of Sufism as a living and dynamic tradition in America.

This volume provides an objective analysis of current trends and developments in the beliefs and practices of Sufis in Britain. Sufism is a dynamic and substantial presence within British Muslim communities and is influencing both religious and political discourses concerning the formation of Islam in Britain. In the 21st century Sufis have re-positioned themselves to represent the views of a 'Traditional Islam', a non-violent 'other Islam', able to combat the discourses of radical movements. Major transformations have taken place in Sufism that illuminate debates over authenticity, legitimacy, and authority within Islam, and religion more generally. Through examining the theory and history involved, as well as a series of case studies, Sufism in Britain charts the processes of change and offers a significant contribution to the political and religious re-organisation of the Muslim presence in Britain, and the West.