Conventionally The Word Sufi Is Considered Synonymous With The Word Mystic , But The Word Sufi As Used In Arabic, Persian, Turkish And Urdu, Has A Religious Connotation. The Sufis Claim To Have Inherited Their Doctrines Direct From The Teachings Of The Holy Prophet, Who, Strictly Speaking, Has Given No Dogmatic Or Mystical Theology.The Classical Sufism Of The Early Brotherhoods Was Strong On Simple, Straightforward Faith In Islamic Theology, Personal Devotion To God And Trust (Tawakkul) In Him Under All Conditions, Personal Loyalty To The Prophet Of Islam And Allegiance To The Qur An And The Shri At. The Faith Was Accompanied By The Practice Of A Well-Controlled Ascetic Life And In Many Cases Meant Renunciation Of The World. Then Followed The Khanqah Stage And Concentration, Between A.D. 1100 And 1400, On The Creation Of The Silsilah-Tariqah System, Its Organization, Its Rules Of Conduct And The Writings Of Handbooks Both On Esoteric Doctrine And On The Sufi Path. During Its Historical Development It Gathered Elements And Characteristics From The Intellectual And Cultural Climate Of The Region Concerned Which Transformed It Into A Bourgeois And Later A Mass Movement Of Wide Acceptance.The Fundamental Of Sufism Is God, Man And The Relation Between Them, Which Is Love. The Whole Sufi Theosophy Revolves On These Three Pivots.The Present Work Organised In 12 Volumes, Is Designed To Bring Together The Valuable Information On Suffism, Its Doctrines And Preachings, Main Orders, Prominent Sufi Saints, Their Life And Teaching, Etc. The Information Is Drawn From Various Authoritative Sources. The Primary Purpose Of This Work Is To Serve As A Basic Handbook On Significant Topics Of Sufism.No Doubt, This Work Will Prove Of Utmost Value To The Scholars And Laymen Alike Who Wish To Have Detailed Look Into Sufism.

Sufism is one of the most ancient and widespread Islamic movements. A broad term, it is used to refer to a mystical and inward approach to faith. However, some Sufi groups have also had a significant impact on political or social developments in the Islamic world. This book discusses Sufism in virtually all regions of the Islamic world. Notable Sufi orders throughout history are described with a focus on their history, leaders, and distinguishing features. The relationship between Sufism and pre-Islamic traditions as well as other religions is also explored. This book is part of a series of translations from the Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam (EWI) which was originally compiled in Persian. Other entries from this encyclopaedia which are available in English include Hadith, Hawza-yi ‘Ilmiyya, History and Historiography, Muslim Organisations, Political Parties, Qur’anic Exegeses, and Education in the Islamic Civilisation.

This book traces the evolution of Sufism from the formative period to the present.

Western Sufism is sometimes dismissed as a relatively recent "new age" phenomenon, but in this book Mark Sedgwick argues that it has 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 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 on purely Islamic models was founded. Western Sufism shows the influence of these origins, of thought both familiar and less familiar: Neoplatonic emanationism, perennialism, pantheism, universalism, and esotericism. Western Sufism is the product not of the new age but of Islam, the ancient world, and centuries of Western religious and intellectual history. Using sources from antiquity to the internet, Sedgwick demonstrates that the phenomenon of Western Sufism draws on centuries of intercultural transfers and is part of a long-established relationship between Western thought and Islam.