Sufism is
Islam’s main mystical tradition. There are Sufi orders in almost all Muslim
countries around the world, but not all Sufis accept the same beliefs and
practices.
Mystical Islam offers an introduction that
encompasses the full history and richness of the Sufi spiritual tradition over
fourteen centuries of Islam. This
accessible work covers the origins of Sufism and early influences, particularly
from Christianity; the rise of the great Sufi organizations; the thought of Sufism’s
main theorist and systemizer, Ibn Arabi; Rumi and the Whirling Dervishes;
relations with Shi’ism in Iran; Sufism in the heyday of the great empires in
Iran, India, and Turkey; and relations with Turkey and Egypt during the
nineteenth century as well as Sufi practices in the twentieth century.
In a new afterword, the author reflects on
recent scholarship and offers fresh perspectives on this fascinating tradition
of belief and devotion.
