Islamic groups: Sufis Books

Book SynopsisEstablishes the existence of an important school of Sufi thought developed by Ibn ?Arab?Trade Review"Samer Dajani tackles one of the most controversial issues in Islamic intellectual history, the relationship between Sufism and Islamic law. Where others have found tension, he finds creative engagement over a period stretching from the formation of Islamic legal theory down to modern times. This learned and deeply researched book deserves a wide readership." -Adam Sabra, University of California

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Book SynopsisReveals the sophisticated design of Rumi's Mathnawi, showing that this seemingly unstructured work both describes and functions as spiritual training.

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Book SynopsisRenowned scholar William C. Chittick explores the worldview of Islam in a series of essays written over thirty-six years.In Search of the Lost Heart brings together twenty-six essays by William C. Chittick, renowned scholar of Sufism and Islamic philosophy. Written between 1975 and 2011, most of these essays are not readily available in Chittick''s own books. Although this is a collection, its editors have crafted it to be a book "sufficient unto itself, which, when taken as a whole, can be said to explore the underlying worldview of Islam."Chittick draws upon the writings of towering figures such as Ibn al-''Arabi, Rumi, and Mulla ?adra, as well as other important, but lesser-known thinkers, as he engages with a wide variety of topics, such as the nature of being and knowledge, the relationship between love and scriptural hermeneutics, the practical and theoretical dimensions of Islamic mysticism, the phenomenon of religious diversity, and the ecological crisis.

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Book SynopsisExamines the impact of Persian poetry in the work of Ralph Waldo Emerson.Emerson in Iran is the first full-length study of Persian influence in the work of the seminal American poet, philosopher, and translator, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Extending the current trend in transnational studies back to the figural origins of both the United States and Iran, Roger Sedarat''s insightful comparative readings of Platonism and Sufi mysticism reveal how Emerson managed to reconcile through verse two countries so seemingly different in religion and philosophy. By tracking various rhetorical strategies through a close interrogation of Emerson''s own writings on language and literary appropriation, Sedarat exposes the development of a latent but considerable translation theory in the American literary tradition. He further shows how generative Persian poetry becomes during Emerson''s nineteenth century, and how such formative effects continue to influence contemporary American poetry and verse translation.

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Book SynopsisExamines the relationship between Mughal political culture and the two dominant strains of Islam''s Sufi traditions in South Asia: one centered around orthodoxy, the other focusing on a more accommodating and mystical spirituality.Based on a critical study of a large number of contemporary Persian texts, court chronicles, epistolary collections, and biographies of sufi mystics, The Mughals and the Sufis examines the complexities in the relationship between Mughal political culture and the two dominant strains of Islam''s Sufi traditions in South Asia: one centered around orthodoxy, the other focusing on a more accommodating and mystical spirituality. Muzaffar Alam analyses the interplay of these elements, their negotiation and struggle for resolution via conflict and coordination, and their longer-term outcomes as the empire followed its own political and cultural trajectory as it shifted from the more liberal outlook of Emperor Akbar "The Great" (r. 1556?1605) to the more rigid attitudes of his great-grandson, Aurangzeb ''Alamgir (r. 1658?1701). Alam brings to light many new and underutilized sources relevant to the religious and cultural history of the Mughals and reinterprets well-known sources from a new perspective to provide one of the most detailed and nuanced portraits of Indian Islam under the Mughal Empire available today.

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Book SynopsisExamines the relationship between Mughal political culture and the two dominant strains of Islam''s Sufi traditions in South Asia: one centered around orthodoxy, the other focusing on a more accommodating and mystical spirituality.Based on a critical study of a large number of contemporary Persian texts, court chronicles, epistolary collections, and biographies of sufi mystics, The Mughals and the Sufis examines the complexities in the relationship between Mughal political culture and the two dominant strains of Islam''s Sufi traditions in South Asia: one centered around orthodoxy, the other focusing on a more accommodating and mystical spirituality. Muzaffar Alam analyses the interplay of these elements, their negotiation and struggle for resolution via conflict and coordination, and their longer-term outcomes as the empire followed its own political and cultural trajectory as it shifted from the more liberal outlook of Emperor Akbar "The Great" (r. 1556?1605) to the more rigid attitudes of his great-grandson, Aurangzeb ''Alamgir (r. 1658?1701). Alam brings to light many new and underutilized sources relevant to the religious and cultural history of the Mughals and reinterprets well-known sources from a new perspective to provide one of the most detailed and nuanced portraits of Indian Islam under the Mughal Empire available today.

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Book SynopsisA close study of one of the most prolific commentary writers in Islamic history.The Anonymity of a Commentator examines the life and writings of the Egyptian Sufi-scholar Zakariyya al-Anari (d. 926/1520), the longest-serving chief Shafi''i justice to the Mamluk sultanate during its final years. It analyzes al-Anari''s commentaries in the disciplines of Sufism and Islamic law as a case study to illustrate how and why Muslims produced commentaries in the later Islamic Middle Period and how the form and rhetoric of commentary writing furnished scholars like al-Anari with a medium in which to express their creativity and adapt the received tradition to the needs of their time. Whereas twentieth-century scholars tended to view Muslim commentary texts as symbols of intellectual stagnation in and of themselves, contemporary scholars recognize that these texts are often the repositories of profound ideas, although they approach them with little guidance from their academic predecessors. The Anonymity of a Commentator aims to provide this guidance, through a close study of one of the most prolific commentary writers in Islamic history.

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Book SynopsisSufism 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 observationTrade ReviewJulianne Hazen's extensive study on the Alami Tariqa community in Western New York sheds a powerful light on Sufism in America. Through her intensive research, we learn of a community that represents not only a significant, yet understudied, element of Islam, its mystic strand, but also the vision of the Founding Fathers and the inherent pluralism of American society. Especially in a post-9/11 America, where tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims remain pervasive, this books permits all Americans the opportunity to learn more about the American Muslim community, its myriad forms, and how it fits into the American landscape. Anyone wishing to better understand Islam in America today and seek the knowledge necessary for building interfaith bridges should read this book. -- Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies, American UniversityJulianne Hazen’s book adds to the emerging literature on Sufism in the Western world through a case study of the Alami tariqa in Waterport, New York. Such case studies are significant as they are gradually completing the jigsaw of academic knowledge in regard to the contemporary Islamic milieu. The book is important because, in spite of predictions of decline, in the 21st century Sufism has demonstrated extraordinary resilience in adapting to different societies and attracting new members. In addition, until recently, the study of contemporary Sufism in the US has been negligible. Hazen’s work explores the contemporary presence of Islamic Sufism in the US by looking at reasons why individuals are drawn to its circles. Arguably, Sufism is filling a need for spiritual reconnection with the transcendent in an increasingly materialistic and secular society and serves to unite individuals across diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds. It might also reveal disenchantment with other forms of more exclusive and extreme versions of Islam and a return to the values of a more tolerant religious faith underpinned by universalist or perennialist narratives of unity. -- Ron Geaves, Centre for the Study of Islam, Cardiff UniversityTable of ContentsIntroduction: Sufism Beyond East and West 1. Sufism in America 2. The History of the Alami Ṭarīqa 3. Joining a Sufi Ṭarīqa 4. Issues of Acculturation: Ethnicity, Race, and Gender 5. Ascetic Spiritual Practices Conclusion: Sufism in America: Implications for Religion in Modern Times

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Book SynopsisExamines through the use of Murid oral and written sources the creation of an "alternative modernity" as an understanding of historical change by Sufi notables and disciples. The Murid order, founded in Senegal in the latter decades of the nineteenth century, grew into a major Sufi order during the colonial period and is now among the most recognizable of the Sufi orders in Africa. Murids have spread the voice of Islam and Africa in concert halls and on the airwaves through pop singers -- especially Youssou N'Dour -- and the image of Shaykh Amadu Bamba M'Backé, the founding saint of the order, often used to grace the covers ofworks concerning Islam, African culture, abolition, and European colonization. In this insightful and revealing study, John Glover explores the manner in which a Muslim society in West Africa actively created a conception ofmodernity that reflects its own historical awareness and identity. Drawing from Murid written and oral historical sources, Glover carefully considers how the Murid order at the collective and individual levels has navigated the intersection of two major historical forces -- Islam, specifically in the contexts of reform and mysticism, and European colonization -- and achieved in the process an understanding of modernity not as an unwilling witness but as anactive participant. Ultimately, Sufism and Jihad in Modern Senegal presents the reader with a new portrait of a society that has used its notion of modernity to adapt and incorporate further historical changes into its identity as an African Sufi order. John Glover is Associate Professor of History at the University of Redlands in southern California.Trade ReviewIn this work John Glover has provided a full and often fascinating account of the Murid community of Darou Mousty . . . [he] adds new dimensions to the understanding of the emergence of the Muridiyya, and carries the story of Darou Mousty well beyond that of his mentor Searing. -- David Robinson * JOURNAL OF AFRICAN HISTORY, 2008 *John Glover, in this excellent and extremely well-researched book, makes an original contribution to the extensive Murid literature. * AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW *This very well-researched and argued book explores the tales, stories, and narratives of the making of Murid modernity. Glover meticulously provides insight into the processes of Wolof appropriation and refashioning of Sufi Islam during the phase of consolidation of colonial rule. By telling the history of the Muriddya not from the center, Touba, but from the periphery, Darou Mousty, Glover recovers the very pluralist nature of the brotherhood as well as the constant reformulation and recomposition of the Ahmadu Bamba's message. The book is a major contribution to our understanding of Islam in West Africa. -- Mamadou Diouf, Professor of African Studies, Columbia UniversityJohn Glover's remarkable study enlarges our understanding of Murid Islam by focusing on a secondary town, Darou Mousty, and the life of Maam Cerno Ibrahim Mbacké, one of Amadu Bamba's brothers and most prominent lieutenants. Glover demonstrates the modernity of Murid Islam by analyzing how consciousness of reform and a break with Wolof history permeates Murid understandings of their past. This history is expressed not only in the writings and teachings of erudite scholars, but through the memory of ordinary disciples whose parents and grandparents created a new town in colonial Senegal and negotiated a path that preserved their sense of autonomy and agency under colonial rule. -- James Searing, University of Illinois at ChicagoCarefully and convincingly traces the development and spread of Sufi brotherhoods in North and West Africa. * AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW, October 2009 *Table of ContentsSociopolitical Change, Islamic Reform, and Sufism in West Africa Conflict and Colonization: A New Generation of Sufi Reformers The Construction of the Murid Synthesis: Perceptions of Amadu Bamba and Maam Cerno Translating the Murid Mission: The Founding of Darou Mousty Symbiosis: Colonization and Murid Modernity Murid Taalibe: Historical Narratives and Identity

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