American Sufis

By Marcia Hermansen

Sufism is the mystical branch of the Islamic tradition. It was first brought to the United States in 1912 by a Sufi musician from India, Inayat Khan. American Sufis remained relatively few and isolated until the 1960s and 70s, when a new generation of Western seekers embraced these "eastern" esoteric teachings and practices. The subsequent waves of immigrants from traditional Muslim countries who arrived in the 1970s and 80s initiated the growth of a new type of "hybrid" Sufism in which Islamic identity and practices played a more important role. Today numerous Sufi and Sufi-derived movements with some 50,000 followers may be found in the United States, and their cultural influence extends far beyond these committed followers. Marcia Hermansen, the leading expert on American Sufism, will provide the first comprehensive overview of American Sufi movements. Drawing on her years of historical study as well as research among Sufis themselves, Hermansen discerns three distinct branches of American Sufism, and will trace the history of each. She will also examine Sufi theology and practice, Sufism's relationship to the American Islamic community, gender issues, intellectual culture, and the relationship between American Sufi movements and their counterparts around the globe. The result will be a rich and varied portrait of this important but neglected part of America's religious landscape.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195321278
• ISBN13: 9780195321272
• Release Date: December 2999
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 272 Pages