Contemplating Sufism

A pioneering study on Islamic spirituality in Southeast Asia, presenting a fresh approach to the longevity of the Sufi dialogical tradition

Contemplating Sufism explores the factors and forces that have enabled Islam to assert and embed itself in Southeast Asia. Using a unique “contemplative histories” methodology, Khairudin Aljunied reveals the multiple undercurrents that continue to influence Sufi thought and practices. The book argues that the Sufis employed creative and spirited dialogues with themselves and those they encountered to sustain their importance in Southeast Asia for many centuries.

Engaging and highly readable, Contemplating Sufism is filled with vignettes and anecdotes of Southeast Asian Sufism, including the author's ethnographic observations and personal experiences living and learning about Sufism. Concise chapters illustrate the inventiveness of the Sufis in spreading their ideas while highlighting their influence on ideological, emotional, cultural, political, and social changes in Southeast Asia. Uncovering how and why Sufism became an energetic force in Southeast Asian history, this book:

• Provides an accessible and coherent synthesis of the latest scholarship in the field
• Explores the various modes of Sufi engagement across Southeast Asia, with special attention paid to dialogue and the making of traditions
• Offers vivid descriptions and rich analyses of texts, ideas, people, practices, and institutions that aided in the development of Sufism
• Incorporates new data from repositories in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, South Thailand, Britain, Australia, the Netherlands, and the United States

Contemplating Sufism: Dialogue and Tradition across Southeast Asia is an excellent textbook for undergraduate and graduate courses on Sufism across disciplines, such as philosophy, political science, history religious studies, and anthropology. It is also a valuable resource for academics, analysts, social scientists, legal scholars, and historians with an interest in the subject.