"Popular Sufism of Eastern Europe "examines aspects of popular Sufism among selected societies in Eastern Europe, past and present. Muslims - whether they are descended from Asian invaders (Cumans, Turks and Tatars), or are converted Slavs (Bonjaks and Pomaks) or Illyrians (Albanians) - have left a deep mark on the popular culture of Eastern Europe. They too have been influenced by Christianity and by pre-Christian religions. Many have sustained contact with fellow believers in the Muslim heartland of the Middle East, especially through the annual Meccan pilgrimage. Sufi life in Eastern Europe derives its strength from a number of sources including the Volga, the Southern steppes of Russia and the Balkan countries, where Islam is either the prevailing religion (as in Albania or Kosovo), or is of major significance (as in Bulgaria, Macedonia and Bosnia). Sufism, at every level and in every form amongst these Muslim peoples, is discussed.

"Popular Sufism of Eastern Europe "examines aspects of popular Sufism among selected societies in Eastern Europe, past and present. Muslims - whether they are descended from Asian invaders (Cumans, Turks and Tatars), or are converted Slavs (Bonjaks and Pomaks) or Illyrians (Albanians) - have left a deep mark on the popular culture of Eastern Europe. They too have been influenced by Christianity and by pre-Christian religions. Many have sustained contact with fellow believers in the Muslim heartland of the Middle East, especially through the annual Meccan pilgrimage. Sufi life in Eastern Europe derives its strength from a number of sources including the Volga, the Southern steppes of Russia and the Balkan countries, where Islam is either the prevailing religion (as in Albania or Kosovo), or is of major significance (as in Bulgaria, Macedonia and Bosnia). Sufism, at every level and in every form amongst these Muslim peoples, is discussed.

This book is a study of the evidence that exists to this day in the Niger Republic, and in the adjacent regions of Saharan and non-Saharan Africa, about the life of Sidi Mahmud al-Baghdadi, who, it is believed, introduced new doctrines of Oriental Sufism into the Air Massif during the sixteenth century. The teachings of Sidi Mahmud were to reappear recently in the Khalwatiyya Sufi order ( tariqa) in Niger. They are still important for contemporary Islam in that republic which is a bridge between the Arab world and the Muslim states of the African Sahel. There is also evidence to suggest that initiated members of the Mahmudiyya Sufi order were once to be found throughout the entire Southern Sahara, from Timbuctoo to Borno and Lake Chad. This Sufi order was one of the earliest to be founded in the area of Air which was a crossroads of African trade and of rival empires and of conflicting tribes and peoples.