71221- Cover, page 2 @ Preflight


135Book Reviews

Markus Dressler, Ron Geaves, and Gritt Klinkhammer, eds. 
Sufis in Western Society: Global Networking and Locality

New York: Routledge, 2009. hbk. 207 pages

Contributors to the volume, Raudvere and Gaši, skillfully note that “cher-
ished, unfamiliar or rejected—attitudes of Sufism are seldom neutral” 
(163). If one traces the evolution of Sufism to Western lands, this aneutral-
ity is accentuated. Thus, Sufism in the West is understandably a growing if 
understudied field. There is a dearth of surveys on the topic, and this makes 
additional attention to global networking and locality especially welcome. 
The authors seek to challenge the romantic and literary biases of Oriental-
ist scholarship, and the eleven chapters rise to the occasion because most 
focus on particular living Sufi communities.

The opening chapters set the methodological tone. In the Introduction, 
the editors emphasize “Sufism as a lived religion” and they rightly ac-
knowledge that Sufism often acts “as a bridge between Eastern and West-
ern spiritual or mystical philosophy” (4). In Chapter 2, Peter Beyer uses 
the term glocalization while arguing that “as globalized structures, reli-
gions are no longer . . .  regional affairs which can be understood primarily 
with reference to a particular core region” (13). He narrates a story of two 
Canadian Muslim women who might experience different kinds of belief 
and practice on a spectrum of religiosity. Strangely, however, only once 
in the article does he mention “Sufism,” and the false dichotomy “Sufi/
scriptural,” which contrasts with the major concepts in the book, such as 
the primacy of the Qur’an for many Sufis.

In Chapter 3, which is among the strongest in the volume, Marcia 
Hermansen discusses the global relationships of Shadhili and Naqshbandi 
orders, as well as various incarnations of the Gülen movement—commu-
nities that have become truly globalized. She astutely notes that Sufism, 
not only today but also historically, “may be considered a major example 
of classical networking in Muslim societies” (27). This can be seen by the 



The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 28:1136

importance of shrine visitation, diverse social strata that comprise Sufi or-
ders—as well as Sufi prominence in the spread of Islam through networks 
of preaching, trade, and clientage. Moreover, Hermansen notes that Sufis 
are often particularly “adaptable to local linguistic and cultural conditions” 
(Ibid.). 

In the fourth chapter, Michael Frishkopf recounts an Egyptian shaykh’s 
visit to Edmonton and focuses on the “soundworld” as a medium of dis-
course to illuminate tensions between esoteric- and exoteric-oriented Mus-
lim communities.

In Chapter 5, Mark Dressler focuses on Sufis in New York who hold a 
“double-minority position” because they must confront the “Muslim main-
stream as well as the non-Muslim public” (79). He illustrates how New York 
Sufi groups have managed multiple identities following 9/11—whether by 
belonging to multiple Sufi groups, ethnic cultures, or ideologies—while 
simultaneously promoting the importance of pluralism.

Chapters 6 and 7 explore Sufism in Britain. Ron Geaves refers to a bio-
logical term, binary fission—the process of reproduction among amoeba 
that entails dividing to create duplicates of themselves—as an analogy for 
the ways in which Sufi groups are able to recreate “cultural forms of the lo-
cality of origin” in Britain (97). And Pnina Werbner examines a charismat-
ic Sufi shaykh’s interest in numerology while detailing the elaborate means 
that he has used, including computer technology, to engage his quest of 
unlocking divine secrets through numbers.

Chapters 8 and 9 look at Sufism in Germany. Gritt Klinkhammer ex-
plores “transethnic Sufism,” and recounts the history of German Orien-
talism, arguing that German Orientalism stands distinct from its British 
and French counterparts partially due to its lack of colonial engagement 
in Muslim lands. Therefore, he maintains that Germans have witnessed 
a unique development of interest in Sufism. Søren Lassen examines a 
Burhaniyya Sufi Order in Germany, noting the generational changes that 
its members have undergone and observing the tensions between local and 
foreign influences. He explains that the founder of the order was from Su-
dan, and spoke only Arabic and never visited Europe, whereas most of the 
German members today are of German ancestry. Lassen also discusses the 
recent influx of Sudanese members of the order into Germany and their 
interactions with the native German members.

In Chapter 10, Catharina Raudvere and Ašk Gaši examine a Bosnian 
immigrant community in Sweden. They discuss, among other topics, how 
the group has maintained its Bosnian identity, which is in part due to state 



137Book Reviews

support for ethno-culturally specific spaces. In addition to the group’s large 
numbers, another reason for the group’s keeping its identity is its develop-
ment of a Bosnian Sufi vernacular.

In the last chapter, Mark Sedgwick offers an analysis of how Sufi and 
“neo-Sufi” literature has been received by a Western public in the second 
half of the twentieth century. He discusses works by Muslim authors such 
as Idries Shah and Inayat Khan, as well as non-Muslim authors like Pau-
lo Coelho. Looking at such authors vis-à-vis the classic Sufi literature of 
Rumi and Hafiz, for example, Sedgwick compares sales data in the United 
States and the United Kingdom. He also argues that Sufi literature sold 
in the market of “Western spirituality” must be understood in its cultural 
context.

Sufis in Western Society demonstrates insightful and original research, 
but also faces certain structural and substance-related challenges. One 
might even get the impression that a better serving subtitle would focus not 
on networking—but rather on identity, authority, or authenticity, themes 
that are arguably more central to the collection.

Moreover, although Sedgwick, Dressler and others do make references 
to non-Muslim Sufism, there is virtually no attention given to non-Muslim 
Sufi groups in the volume. 

Since there are many non-Muslim Sufi groups in Western societies, 
and since living tradition, authority and authenticity are major emphases 
of the book, the absence of a chapter explicitly treating non-Muslim Sufis 
is conspicuous.

Also, importantly, while the authors perceptively problematize the 
boundaries between the “local” and the “global,” the conceptual limitations 
of “Western” do not receive similar critique. Three chapters are devoted 
to continental Europe, but there still remains characteristically dispropor-
tionate attention to Britain and the United States—leaving the majority of 
North America, South America, Australia, and other parts of the Western 
world out of the conversation. 

Furthermore, to the point of distraction, the text contains a number of 
formatting inconsistencies, typographical errors, and factual discrepancies. 
For example, referring to the Qur’an, Werbner mentions the letters alif, 
beit, and yey. However, beit is not Arabic but rather Hebrew, and yey is 
neither Arabic nor Hebrew. Werbner also refers to a “beautifully illustrated 
Qur’an in Urdu,” though he probably meant “translation of Qur’an,” since 
the Qur’an is an Arabic text.



The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 28:1138

In terms of formatting, the use of diacritics in the volume is erratic, and 
the glossary of Sufi terms has several mistakes—at times confusing singu-
lar and plural nouns, misusing adjectives as nouns, and supplying impre-
cise definitions for terms. Also, the low resolution black and white pictures 
scattered throughout the volume offer little if anything to its substance.

In the face of critiques, however, the articles in Sufis in Western Soci-
ety, on the whole, present adroit analyses of living Sufi communities in the 
West, while demonstrating how these groups negotiate their niches in the 
face of geographical and cultural heterogeneity. The volume paints a di-
verse picture of Sufism by exploring dynamic expressions of Islam, and in 
this regard, the book is useful and should be of interest not only to sociolo-
gists and religious studies scholars but also to those interested in diaspora 
studies and globalization.

Elliott Bazzano, PhD student at the University of California at Santa Barbara,
email: ibnalwaqt@gmail.com