Mysticism | Sufism
All topics-
God's love for all
Sufism is not just Muslim
Sufism has fluid boundaries. Just like Islam, Sufism is inconceivable without its late antique roots. Then again, it has also exerted an influence on Hinduism. Moreover, the Sufic doctrine of divine love exists independently of Islam. By Stefan Weidner
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Attar’s "The Conference of the Birds"
There is no person whose soul has not suffered
Fariduddin Attar’s "The Conference of the Birds", one of the seminal works of Islamic mysticism, has recently been published in sumptuously illustrated German translation. It makes an excellent introduction to the Persian poet. By Gerrit Wustmann
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Mental health and Islam
Bangladeshi mystic fights demons with psychiatry
Evil spirits bedevil the families that seek blessings from an elderly Sufi mystic – but he knows his prayers alone are not enough to soothe their troubled minds
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Millions of faithful make pilgrimage to Senegal
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Millions of faithful make pilgrimage to Senegal
Each year, millions of Muslims set out on a pilgrimage to Touba, in central Senegal. The annual event even surpasses the number of faithful who undertake the traditional hajj to Saudi Arabia. By Rene Wilbrandt
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Sufism in Morocco
A cure for extremism?
Morocco's Sufi traditions go back centuries. Now King Mohammed VI is trying to use them to combat extremism. His programme of reforms includes the promotion of Sufi movements and moderate Islamic thinkers. By Marian Brehmer
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Islam and tolerance
Albania's Bektashi Muslims
In Albania, where most Muslims live a pretty secular life, it would seem that praying and drinking go hand-in-hand. Nevertheless, over a hundred Albanians still went to fight for Islamic State. By Karin A. Wenger with photos by Philipp Breu
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Islam in Pakistan
The land of the Sufis
No country in the Islamic world is influenced as strongly by the traditions of Sufi culture as Pakistan. Yet the Sufis there have been under attack from Islamic hardliners for years. By Marian Brehmer
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Mohamed Abla awarded Goethe Medal
Telling stories through art
Mohamed Abla is the first visual artist from Egypt to be awarded the Goethe-Institut’s Goethe Medal, Germany’s highest honour in the area of foreign cultural policy. Stefan Weidner sheds some light on the artist’s work
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Islamic mysticism
Understanding the Sufis
To understand Islamic mysticism, we must first clear up a number of misconceptions, as Marian Brehmer writes in his essay – part 1 of a new series on Sufism
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Laury Silvers' "Sufi Mysteries Quartet"
Sleuths on a Sufi path
Rarely has the world of crime-writing taken such an interesting turn. Richard Marcus spoke to American Muslim historian and novelist Laury Silvers about her four detective novels set in Baghdad under the Abbasid caliphate and the advantages of self-publishing
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A new reading of the Masnevi
Discovering Rumi’s spiritual geopolitics
While Jalal al-Din Rumi is synonymous with Islamic mysticism, a deeper dig brings to light the West Asian political changes and upheaval that shaped his world and other-worldly view