Sufism in the West

Abstract

This edited volume, along with David Westerlund’s edited Sufism in Europe and North America (RoutledgeCurzon: 2004), are pioneering works, since the systematic study of this topic is still in its infancy. Its introduction and nine chapters bring together anthropological, historical, Islamicist, and sociological perspectives on questions of identity as regards Sufism’s double marginalization within a non-Muslim majority environment and within the broader Islamic discourse. The Sufis’ need to position themselves against and reconcile themselves with a variety of others causes western Sufis to employ a fascinating kaleidoscope of strategies ranging from assimilation to confrontation and appropriation. Jamal Malik’s introduction surveys Islamic mysticism and the “major themes of diasporic Sufism” (pp. 20-25). He presents the complex interrelatedness of ethnic, cultural, religious, and generational identities and addresses important issues concerning representation, knowledge production, and adaptation. His conclusion that “Sufism – intellectually as well as sociologically – may eventually become mainstream Islam itself due to its versatile potential, especially in the wake of what has been called the failure of political Islam worldwide” (p. 25), however, is rather bold. Nevertheless, as Ron Geaves shows, one has to acknowledge that, at least in Great Britain and the United States, Sufis have begun to confront anti- Sufi rhetoric more openly. He describes Sufi-Muslim attempts to monopolize the term ahl al-sunnah wa al-jam`ah (people of the tradition and the ...