the thirteenth-century mystic Rumi was a great Sufi. Since the Sufi orders (tariqat) led the expansion of Islam beyond the faith’s original core in the Middle East, it is impossible to understand the Islam of North Africa or most of Asia without a grasp of Sufi tradition.38 Although scholars debate the origins of Sufism, some of the parallels to Eastern Christianity are overwhelming, particularly in terms of practices of mystical prayer and devotion.
