South Asian sufis
Subtitle: devotion, deviation and destiny
By: edited by Clinton Bennett and Charles M. Ramsey
Publisher: Continuum International Pub. Group
Published: 2011
Place of publication: New York, NY
Language: eng
Number of pages: 318
ISBN-13: 9781441151278
Subjects: Sufism; Sufis; Islam
Description: "Often described as the soul of Islam, Sufism is one of the most interesting yet least known facet of this global religion. Sufism is the softer more inclusive and mystical form of Islam. Although militant Islamists dominate the headlines, the Sufi ideal has captured the imagination of many. Nowhere in the world is the handprint of Sufism more observable than South Asia, which has the largest Muslim population of the world, but also the greatest concentration of Sufis. This book examines active Sufi communities in Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh that shed light on the devotion, and deviation, and destiny of Sufism in South Asia. Drawn from extensive work by indigenous and international scholars, this ethnographical study explores the impact of Iran on the development of Sufi thought and practice further east, and also discusses Sufism in diaspora in such contexts as the UK and North America and Iran's influence on South Asian Sufism."--Bloomsbury Publishing.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: South Asian sufis; continuity, complexity and change / Clinton Bennett; title: Iran's role in stimulating South Asian Islam / Clinton Bennett; title: A model of sufi training in the 21st century: a case study of the qaediriyya in Hyderabad / Mauro Valdinoci; title: Understanding the philosophy of spirituality at shrines in Pakistan / Hafeez-ur-Rehman Chaudhry; title: Spiritual power and "threshold" identities: the mazars of Sayyid Pier Waris Shāh Abdul Laṭīf Bhitī / Uzma Rehman; title: Du'a: popular culture and powerful blessing at the 'urs / Pnina Werbner; title: Guthe sufi centre of Jhok Sharif in Sindh (Pakistan): questioning the ziyarat as a social process / Michel Boivin; title: When sufi tradition reinvents Islamic modernity - the minhāj-ul Qurʼān, a neo-sufi order in Pakistan / Alix Philippon; title: Making the case for sainthood in modern Bangladesh: narrative strategies and the presentation of holiness in the life of Zia ul-Haqq Maizbhandari / Sarwar Alam; title: Ahmad Sirhindī: nationalist hero, good sufi, or bad sufi? / Arthur Buehler; title: Encountering the unholy: the establishment of political parties by sufi masters in modern Bangladesh / Sarwar Alam; title: The transformation and development of South Asian sufis in Britain / Ron Geaves; title: Rishwaer: Kashmir, the garden of the saints / Charles M. Ramsey; title: Bangladeshi sufism; an interfaith bridge / Clinton Bennett; title: A garden amidst the flames: the categorical imperative of sufi wisdom / Hugh van Skyhawk; title: South Asian sufism in America / Marcia Hermansen; title: Sufis and social activism: a Chīshtī response to communal strife in india today / Kelly Pemberton; title: Conclusion: South Asian sufis, devotion, deviation, and destiny / Charles M. Ramsey.