Sufis in Western Society

Contributors to the volume, Raudvere and Gaši, skillfully note that “cherished, unfamiliar or rejected—attitudes of Sufism are seldom neutral” (163). If one traces the evolution of Sufism to Western lands, this aneutrality is accentuated. Thus, Sufism in the West is understandably a growing if unde...

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Autor principal: Elliott Bazzano
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Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: International Institute of Islamic Thought 2011
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:4dcfdb7fe4ef451198cfc4ece85dfe912021-12-02T19:23:14ZSufis in Western Society10.35632/ajis.v28i1.12722690-37332690-3741https://doaj.org/article/4dcfdb7fe4ef451198cfc4ece85dfe912011-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ajis.org/index.php/ajiss/article/view/1272https://doaj.org/toc/2690-3733https://doaj.org/toc/2690-3741 Contributors to the volume, Raudvere and Gaši, skillfully note that “cherished, unfamiliar or rejected—attitudes of Sufism are seldom neutral” (163). If one traces the evolution of Sufism to Western lands, this aneutrality is accentuated. Thus, Sufism in the West is understandably a growing if understudied field. There is a dearth of surveys on the topic, and this makes additional attention to global networking and locality especially welcome. The authors seek to challenge the romantic and literary biases of Orientalist scholarship, and the eleven chapters rise to the occasion because most focus on particular living Sufi communities. The opening chapters set the methodological tone. In the Introduction, the editors emphasize “Sufism as a lived religion” and they rightly acknowledge that Sufism often acts “as a bridge between Eastern and Western spiritual or mystical philosophy” (4). In Chapter 2, Peter Beyer uses the term glocalization while arguing that “as globalized structures, religions are no longer . . . regional affairs which can be understood primarily with reference to a particular core region” (13). He narrates a story of two Canadian Muslim women who might experience different kinds of belief and practice on a spectrum of religiosity. Strangely, however, only once in the article does he mention “Sufism,” and the false dichotomy “Sufi/ scriptural,” which contrasts with the major concepts in the book, such as the primacy of the Qur’an for many Sufis ... Elliott BazzanoInternational Institute of Islamic ThoughtarticleIslamBP1-253ENAmerican Journal of Islam and Society, Vol 28, Iss 1 (2011)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic Islam
BP1-253
spellingShingle Islam
BP1-253
Elliott Bazzano
Sufis in Western Society
description Contributors to the volume, Raudvere and Gaši, skillfully note that “cherished, unfamiliar or rejected—attitudes of Sufism are seldom neutral” (163). If one traces the evolution of Sufism to Western lands, this aneutrality is accentuated. Thus, Sufism in the West is understandably a growing if understudied field. There is a dearth of surveys on the topic, and this makes additional attention to global networking and locality especially welcome. The authors seek to challenge the romantic and literary biases of Orientalist scholarship, and the eleven chapters rise to the occasion because most focus on particular living Sufi communities. The opening chapters set the methodological tone. In the Introduction, the editors emphasize “Sufism as a lived religion” and they rightly acknowledge that Sufism often acts “as a bridge between Eastern and Western spiritual or mystical philosophy” (4). In Chapter 2, Peter Beyer uses the term glocalization while arguing that “as globalized structures, religions are no longer . . . regional affairs which can be understood primarily with reference to a particular core region” (13). He narrates a story of two Canadian Muslim women who might experience different kinds of belief and practice on a spectrum of religiosity. Strangely, however, only once in the article does he mention “Sufism,” and the false dichotomy “Sufi/ scriptural,” which contrasts with the major concepts in the book, such as the primacy of the Qur’an for many Sufis ...
format article
author Elliott Bazzano
author_facet Elliott Bazzano
author_sort Elliott Bazzano
title Sufis in Western Society
title_short Sufis in Western Society
title_full Sufis in Western Society
title_fullStr Sufis in Western Society
title_full_unstemmed Sufis in Western Society
title_sort sufis in western society
publisher International Institute of Islamic Thought
publishDate 2011
url https://doaj.org/article/4dcfdb7fe4ef451198cfc4ece85dfe91
work_keys_str_mv AT elliottbazzano sufisinwesternsociety
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