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Living Sufism

Photographs of Sufi Rituals in the Middle East and the Balkans

Nicolaas Biegman author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:The American University in Cairo Press

Published:1st Jun '09

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Living Sufism cover

Intimate and moving portraits of Sufism as practiced in five countries

Features photographs of the Sufi experience, with its enormous variety in discipline and exuberance, intellectualism and spontaneity, in Egypt, Syria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Macedonia. This book explores what lies behind the rituals, and explains aspects of Sufi life and practice such as the position of women.Sufism, the mystical tradition of Islam, is as far from the strident and often violent fundamentalist strain of the religion that has so captured world attention as it is possible to be. Sufis in all parts of the Islamic world are broad-minded, tolerant, and non-violent, their quest only to find and approach God through all means, including poetry, music, and dance. Historian Nicolaas Biegman has been observing and photographing Sufi practice and ritual in different Muslim lands for many years, and here in this collection of extraordinary photographs he feels the pulse of the Sufi experience, with its enormous variety in discipline and exuberance, intellectualism and spontaneity, in Egypt, Syria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Macedonia. In accompanying texts he explores what lies behind the rituals, and explains aspects of Sufi life and practice such as the position of women.

ISBN: 9789774162633

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 830g

208 pages