Sufism in the West

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