South Asian Sufis
South Asian Sufis

Author: Clinton Bennett

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2012-03-01

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 1441135898

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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.

Modern Sufis and the State
Modern Sufis and the State

Author: Katherine Pratt Ewing

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2020-08-25

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 0231551460

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Sufism is typically thought of as the mystical side of Islam. In recent years, it has been held up as a supposedly peaceful alternative to the spread of forms of Islam associated with violence, an embodiment of democratic ideals of tolerance and pluralism. Are Sufis in fact as otherworldy and apolitical as this stereotype suggests? Modern Sufis and the State brings together a range of scholars, including anthropologists, historians, and religious-studies specialists, to challenge common assumptions that are made about Sufism today. Focusing on India and Pakistan within a broader global context, this book provides locally grounded accounts of how Sufis in South Asia have engaged in politics from the colonial period to the present. Contributors foreground the effects and unintended consequences of efforts to link Sufism with the spread of democracy and consider what roles scholars and governments have played in the making of twenty-first-century Sufism. They critique the belief that Salafism and Sufism are antithetical, offering nuanced analyses of the diversity, multivalence, and local embeddedness of Sufi political engagements and self-representations in Pakistan and India. Essays question the portrayal of Sufi shrines as sites of toleration, peace, and harmony, exploring cases of tension and conflict. A wide-ranging interdisciplinary collection, Modern Sufis and the State is a timely call to think critically about the role of public discourse in shaping perceptions of Sufism.

Islam, Sufism and Everyday Politics of Belonging in South Asia
Islam, Sufism and Everyday Politics of Belonging in South Asia

Author: Deepra Dandekar

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-09-13

Total Pages: 435

ISBN-13: 1317435958

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This book looks at the study of ideas, practices and institutions in South Asian Islam, commonly identified as ‘Sufism’, and how they relate to politics in South Asia. While the importance of Sufism for the lives of South Asian Muslims has been repeatedly asserted, the specific role played by Sufism in contestations over social and political belonging in South Asia has not yet been fully analysed. Looking at examples from five countries in South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan), the book begins with a detailed introduction to political concerns over ‘belonging’ in relation to questions concerning Sufism and Islam in South Asia. This is followed with sections on Producing and Identifying Sufism; Everyday and Public Forms of Belonging; Sufi Belonging, Local and National; and Intellectual History and Narratives of Belonging. Bringing together scholars from diverse disciplines, the book explores the connection of Islam, Sufism and the Politics of Belonging in South Asia. It is an important contribution to South Asian Studies, Islamic Studies and South Asian Religion.

Sufi Women of South Asia
Sufi Women of South Asia

Author: Tahera Aftab

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2022-05-16

Total Pages: 619

ISBN-13: 9004467181

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In Sufi Women of South Asia. Veiled Friends of God, Tahera Aftab, drawing upon various sources, offers the first unique and comprehensive account of South Asian Sufi women, from the eleventh to the twentieth century.

The Hindu Sufis of South Asia
The Hindu Sufis of South Asia

Author: Michel Boivin

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2019-09-05

Total Pages: 253

ISBN-13: 1788315316

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Within the complex religious landscape of modern India, the community of Sindh stands out as a powerful example of interfaith relations. This Hindu community moved to India and practiced Sufism following Sindh's inclusion to Pakistan in the 1947 partition. Drawing on a close analysis of literature and poetry, interviews with key informants, and a reading of historic rituals and architectures, Michel Boivin demonstrates that this active religious minority has managed to retain its unique Hindu-Sufi identity amidst the rigidification of official religions in both India and Pakistan. Of particular significance, Boivin argues, was the creation of sacred spaces called darbars. These shrines include a religious building where the Hindu Sindhis worship Sufi saints, chant Sufi poetry and perform Sufi rituals. In looking at this vibrant community as a trans-religious culture capable of navigating the challenges of the modern nation state, this book is an important contribution to understanding the Muslim-Hindu encounter in India.

From Sufism to Ahmadiyya
From Sufism to Ahmadiyya

Author: Adil Hussain Khan

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 2015-04-06

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 0253015294

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The Ahmadiyya Muslim community represents the followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), a charismatic leader whose claims of spiritual authority brought him into conflict with most other Muslim leaders of the time. The controversial movement originated in rural India in the latter part of the 19th century and is best known for challenging current conceptions of Islamic orthodoxy. Despite missionary success and expansion throughout the world, particularly in Western Europe, North America, and parts of Africa, Ahmadis have effectively been banned from Pakistan. Adil Hussain Khan traces the origins of Ahmadi Islam from a small Sufi-style brotherhood to a major transnational organization, which many Muslims believe to be beyond the pale of Islam.

Sufism in South Asia
Sufism in South Asia

Author: Riazul Islam

Publisher:

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 524

ISBN-13:

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The Book Traces The Rise And Evolution Of Sufism In The Early Centuries And Concentrates On Its Impact On Muslim Society In 14Th Century India. It Presents Both Sides Of The Sufi Picture - Its Singular Achievement In Strengthning Moral Fibre, And Its Ruinous Influence In Cultivating Credulousness And Superstition.

Partisans of Allah
Partisans of Allah

Author: Ayesha Jalal

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2009-06-30

Total Pages: 396

ISBN-13: 0674039076

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Today, more than ever, jihad signifies the political opposition between Islam and the West. As the line drawn between Muslims and non-Muslims becomes more rigid, Jalal seeks to retrieve the ethical meanings of this core Islamic principle in South Asian history. Drawing on historical, legal, and literary sources, Jalal traces the intellectual itinerary of jihad through several centuries and across the territory connecting the Middle East with South Asia.

Islam in South Asia in Practice
Islam in South Asia in Practice

Author: Barbara D. Metcalf

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2009-09-08

Total Pages: 505

ISBN-13: 1400831385

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This volume of Princeton Readings in Religions brings together the work of more than thirty scholars of Islam and Muslim societies in South Asia to create a rich anthology of primary texts that contributes to a new appreciation of the lived religious and cultural experiences of the world's largest population of Muslims. The thirty-four selections--translated from Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Bengali, Tamil, Gujarati, Hindavi, Dakhani, and other languages--highlight a wide variety of genres, many rarely found in standard accounts of Islamic practice, from oral narratives to elite guidance manuals, from devotional songs to secular judicial decisions arbitrating Islamic law, and from political posters to a discussion among college women affiliated with an "Islamist" organization. Drawn from premodern texts, modern pamphlets, government and organizational archives, new media, and contemporary fieldwork, the selections reflect the rich diversity of Islamic belief and practice in South Asia. Each reading is introduced with a brief contextual note from its scholar-translator, and Barbara Metcalf introduces the whole volume with a substantial historical overview.

Sacred Spaces
Sacred Spaces

Author: Samina Quraeshi

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2010-03-31

Total Pages: 293

ISBN-13: 0873658590

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Quraeshi provides a vision of Islam in South Asia enriched by art and by a female perspective on the diversity of Islamic expressions of faith. An account of a journey through the author’s childhood homeland, the book reveals the deeply spiritual nature of major centers of Sufism in the central and northwestern heartlands of South Asia.