Sufism and the 'modern' in Islam

by Van Bruinessen, Martin; Howell, Julia Day

• ISBN13: 9781780763798
• ISBN10: 1780763794
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2013-03-19
• Publisher: I. B. Tauris

Summary

Sufism has not only survived into the twenty-first century but has experienced a significant resurgence throughout the Muslim world. Sufism and the 'Modern' in Islam offers refreshing new perspectives on this phenomenon, demonstrating surprising connections between Sufism and Muslim reformist currents, and the vital presence of Sufi ideas and practices in all spheres of life. Contrary to earlier theories of the modernization of Muslim societies, Sufi influence on the political, economic and intellectual life of contemporary Muslim societies has been considerable. Although less noticed than the resurgence of radical Islam, Sufi orders and related movements involve considerably larger numbers of followers, even among the modern urban middle classes. This innovative study brings together new comparative and interdisciplinary research to show how Sufis have responded to modernization and globalization and how various currents of Islamic reform and Sufism have interacted. Offering fascinating new insights into the pervasive Sufi influence on modern Islamic religiosity and contemporary political and economic life, this book raises important questions about Islam in the age of urbanism and mass communications.

Author Biography

Martin van Bruinessen is Professor of Islamic Studies at Utrecht University and the International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM), both in the Netherlands. Julia Day Howell is Associate Professor in Asian Studies at Griffith University and Deputy Director of the Griffith Asia Institute (Brisbane, Australia).

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements * INTRODUCTION * Sufism and the 'Modern' in Islam * MODALITIES OF SUFI ORGANIZATION AND PRACTICES IN MODERN SOCIETY * What is a Sufi Order? Revisiting the concept through a case study of the Khalwatiyya in contemporary Egypt * Sufism and Modernity in Turkey: From the authenticity of experience to the practice of discipline * Elements of Neo-traditional Sufism in Iran * Saint and Sufi in Contemporary Mali * Saints, Politicians and Sufi Bureaucrats: Mysticism and politics in Indonesia's New Order * THE INTERRELATION OF SUFISM AND ISLAMIC REFORM * Sufi Fundamentalism between India and the Middle East * The Reformist Sufism of the Tablighi Jama`at: The Case of the Meos of Mewat, India * National Crisis and the Representation of Traditional Sufism in Indonesia: The periodicals Salafy and Sufi * Sufi Modernities in Contemporary Senegal: Religious dynamics between the local and the global * BREAKING OUT OF THE MOULD: SUFISM IN NEW SETTINGS * Intimate Disciples in the Modern World: The creation of translocal amity among South Asian Sufis in Britain * Modernity and Islamic Spirituality in Indonesia's New Sufi Networks * God by All Means … Eclectic faith and Sufi resurgence among the Moroccan bourgeoisie * The Development of a Modern Western Sufism * CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS * Contemporary Sufism and Current Social Theory * Notes * Notes on Contributors * Note on Transliteration * References * Glossary * Index