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Sufism is One of the Most Dynamic and Interesting Dimensions of Islamic religious and cultural expression. It is an umbrella term for a variety of philosophical, social, and literary phenomena occurring within the Islamic world. In its narrowest sense, the term "Sufism" refers to a number of schools of Islamic mystical philosophy and theology, to the phenomenon of religious orders and guilds (tarīqāt) that have exerted considerable influence over the development of Islamic politics and society, and to the varied expressions of popular piety and devotion to shrines found throughout the Islamic world. In a wider sense, Sufism is often seen as the spiritual muse behind much of pre-modern verse in the Islamic world, the idiom of much of popular Islamic piety, the primary social arena open to women's religious participation, and a major force in the conversion of people to Islam in Africa and Asia. The Sufi orders served as educational institutions that fostered not only the religious sciences but also music and decorative arts. Their leaders sometimes functioned as a challenge to the power of the juridic and theological establishment.

With the increasing Muslim diaspora in post-modern Western societies, Sufism – intellectually as well as sociologically – may eventually become Islam itself due to its versatile potential. Although Sufism has always provoked considerable interest in the West, no volume has so far been written which discusses this aspect of Islam in terms of how it is practised in Western societies. Bringing together leading international authorities to survey the history of Islamic mysticism in North America and Europe, this book elaborates the ideas and institutions which organize Sufism and folk-religious practices. The chapters cover: the orders and movements their social base organization and institutionalization recruitment-patterns in new environments channels of disseminating ideas, such as ritual, charisma, and organization reasons for their popularity among certain social groups the nature of their affiliation with the countries of their origin. Providing a fascinating insight into how Sufism operates within different spheres of society, Sufism in the West is essential reading for students and academics with research interests in Islam, Islamic history and social anthropology.

Basic concepts of Sufism are introduced along with pointing out that the
cause of occurrence of that original learning should be sought in gradual
distancing of the Islamic state and its leaders from the great moral ideals
and value system set by the Prophet Mohammed and the first caliphs. The
established periodization starts from the classical period dominated by
excessive influence of some scholars and the tendency of respecting local
traditions, continues with the medieval period marked by systematization and
achieving the peak of Sufi thought through acting of a number of great
mystics and ends with the modern period characterized by its prevalence and
enormous global impact, adapting to constantly changing conditions and
efforts for giving an adequate response to the challenges of colonialism,
which inevitably led to gradual weakening of Sufism. Overlapping between
mysticism, Hellenistic philosophy and other religious systems is also pointed
out, as an inexhaustible source of new, original and creative theological
syntheses, that significantly dynamized the already established Islamic
doctrine prone to repeating fixed patterns, as well as a great contribution
of Sufism to the spread of Islam in different parts of the world.

This paper explores Indian Sufi influences in Shye Ben Tzur's music. Ben Tzur is a Jewish Israeli musician who composes Sufi poetry in Hebrew and plays it to qawwālī music, the traditional North Indian Sufi music. Ben Tzur's songs are devotional and there are many Sufi references that invoke Islamic terminology. His music has been reviewed in numerous newspapers and his Jewish identity, coupled with Sufi themes, evokes questions regarding religious belonging. Even though Ben Tzur openly discusses Sufi influences, his music has remained uncontroversial. This article interprets this as a sign that the symbolic repertoire of Ben Tzur's music evokes associations with India and not with Islam and more specifically with India as a spiritual rather than religious space. The image of India as a spiritual land manages to subsume references to Islam and render them part of the "mystical East" allowing Ben Tzur's audience to consume Muslim themes outside Middle Eastern politics. ; Dieser Aufsatz fragt nach Einflüssen des indischen Sufismus auf die Musik von Shye Ben Tzur. Ben Tzur ist ein jüdischer Israeli, der auf Hebräisch sufistische Poesie schreibt, welche er zu qawwālī Musik, der traditionellen nordindischen Sufi-Musik spielt. Ben Tzurs Lieder haben devotionalen Charakter und spielen mit sufistischen Referenzen und islamischen Konzepten. Obschon die sufistischen Elemente in Ben Tzurs Musik deutlich sind, hat seine Musik zu keinen Kontroversen geführt. Dieser Aufsatz interpretiert diesen Umstand als ein Zeichen dafür, dass Ben Tzurs Musik nicht in erster Linie mit dem Islam, sondern mit Indien, und zwar mit Indien als einem spirituellen Land assoziiert wird. Das Bild des mystischen Indiens schließt dabei islamische Referenzen ein. Diese Spiritualisierung der Musik Ben Tzurs hat einen entpolitisierenden Effekt auf die Musik und ermöglicht damit einer jüdisch-israelischen Zuhörerschaft den Kontakt mit dem Islam außerhalb des Nahost-Konfliktes.

Sufism, the mystical or aesthetic doctrine in Islam, has occupied a very specific place in the Islamic tradition, with its own history, literature and devotional practices. Its development began in the seventh century and spread throughout the Islamic world. 'The Cambridge companion to Sufism' traces its evolution from the formative period to the present, addressing specific themes along the way within the context of the times. In a section discussing the early period, the devotional practices of the earliest Sufis are considered. The section on the medieval period, when Sufism was at its height, examines Sufi doctrines, different forms of mysticism and the antinomian expressions of Sufism. The section on the modern period explains the controversies that surrounded Sufism, the changes that took place in the colonial period and how Sufism transformed into a transnational movement in the twentieth century. This inimitable volume sheds light on a multifaceted and alternative aspect of Islamic history and religion