Sufis and Anti-Sufis: The Defence, Rethinking and Rejection of Sufism in the Modern World

Owing to the presence of a plethora of books on Sufism, both in academic libraries and the commercial market, the addition of yet another hardly draws the attention of the discerning researcher at the present time. Despite this, however, there are some books which catch the eye due to their high academic standard and thorough treatment of the subject matter, and Elizabeth Sirriyeh's Sufis and Anti-Sufis is certainly a work that falls into this category. Her choice of subject matter in itself is interesting in that she has chosen to discuss the various reactions to Sufism, both for and against, rather than simply survey the beliefs or practices of the Sufis. In addition to this, she has chosen a particularly interesting period to examine such views, as during the last 250 years not just Sufism but Islam as a whole was caught within a pincer movement of the challenges of colonialism and modernity. As a result, Sirriyeh attempts to assess the evolution of anti-Sufism since the middle of the eighteenth century and Sufi strategies for survival, and considers the efforts of selected, significant Muslim intellectuals who tried to contemplate a future for a mystical approach to Islam without traditional Sufism. In addition, she examines the interaction of the defenders and rejecters of Sufism in their efforts to adapt to modernity, or even in their refusal to make such adaptation.