Recognizing Sufism: Contemplation in the Islamic Tradition

by Arthur F. Buehler

Sufism is all too often associated just with 'mysticism' in the West. The author of this new textbook, a former pupil of Annemarie Schimmel, suggests that conflating Sufism and mysticism is only partially valid. He shows that the vast majority of Sufi practice, both historically and in the contemporary world, has little or nothing to do with a esoteric transcendence but is rather focused on contemplative activity. Such practice might involve art, music, devotional shrine visitation - even politics and psychology. Placing Sufism in a wider Islamic contemplative context enables Arthur F Buehler to examine Sufi history, as well as current application, against a backdrop that is richer and more inclusive than that portrayed in many competing introductory surveys. Discussing the origins of Sufism; the development of Sufi lineages (via three founder figures); Sufi lodges and the role of Sufism in colonial resistance; Sufi poetry; Sufi shrines, and Sufism in the West, the author rescues his topic from the idea that it means only union with the divine. In this original new treatment, Sufism emerges as complex and multi-layered.

Genres: Islam, Religion

256 pages, Paperback

Published November 30, 2016

Reviews

[Luisa نور · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book I had been looking for a long time ... For years I've been studying Arabic language & Islamic cultures (academically) and I could not really find a book about sufism that would be both general (presenting different "kinds" of sufism and not only one of them like most ethnographic works) and introduce the newbie to what is sufism exactly, beyond a simple historical review of names, events, and particular biographies.

This book mixes an academic approach, a historical approach, and a personal approach + interviews by two sufi women. The author has on foot outside of the sufi world and one foot inside, and he knows what can kind of explanation the newbie reader like needs. You close the book with more questions than answers, but all good ones, and you get most definitely a better idea of what sufism is, this "mystical heart" of islam.

So though I would argue on some really secondary details, the book is overall a badly needed one and I recommend it to anyone with an interest in the matter, or with an interest in spirituality/mysticism/magic/new-age stuff in general.

[Mills College Library]

297 B9281 2016