Western Sufism is sometimes dismissed as a relatively recent "new
age" phenomenon, but in this book, Mark Sedgwick argues that it
actually has very deep roots, both in the Muslim world and in the
West. In fact, although the first significant Western Sufi
organization was not established until 1915, the first Western
discussion of Sufism was printed in 1480, and Western interest in
some of the ideas that are central to Sufi thought goes back to the
thirteenth century. Sedgwick starts with the earliest origins of
Western Sufism in late antique Neoplatonism and early Arab
philosophy, and traces later origins in repeated intercultural
transfers from the Muslim world to the West, in the thought of the
European Renaissance and Enlightenment, and in the intellectual and
religious ferment of the nineteenth century. He then follows the
development of organized Sufism in the West from 1915 until 1968,
the year in which the first Western Sufi order based not on the
heritage of the European Middle Ages, Renaissance and
Enlightenment, but rather on purely Islamic models, was founded.
Later developments in this and other orders are also covered.
Western Sufism shows the influence of these origins, of thought
both familiar and less familiar: Neoplatonic emanationism,
perennialism, pantheism, universalism, and esotericism. Western
Sufism, then, is the product not of the new age but of Islam, the
ancient world, and centuries of Western religious and intellectual
history. Drawing on sources from antiquity to the internet, Mark
Sedgwick demonstrates that the phenomenon of Western Sufism not
only draws on centuries of intercultural transfers, but is also
part of a long-established relationship between Western thought and
Islam that can be productive, not confrontational.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
