With the increasing Muslim diaspora in post-modern Western societies, Sufism - intellectually as well as sociology - may eventually become Islam itself due to its versatile potential, especially in the wake of what has been called the failure of political Islam world-wide. "Sufism in the West" provides a timely account of this subject and is primarily concerned with the latest developments in the history of Sufism and elaborates the ideas and institutions which organize Sufism and folk-religious practices.
The topics discussed include:
- The orders and movements
- Their social base
- Organization and institutionalization
- Recruitment-patterns in new environments
- Channels of disseminating ideas, such as ritual, charisma, and organization
- Reasons for their popularity among certain social groups
- The nature of their affiliation with the countries of their origin
"Sufism in the West "is essential reading for students andacademics with research interests in Islam, Islamic History and Social Anthropology.

John Hinnells is former Professor and founding chair of the Department for the Study of Religion at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University. His main research interest is in Zoroastrianism and has also edited the New Penguin Dictionary of Religions and the New Penguin Handbook of Living Religions.

Jamal Malik is Chair of Religious Studies and Islamic Studies at the University of Erfurt, Germany. His areas of interest and research are Islamic Religion, Social History of Muslim South Asia, Colonialism and Political Islam, Islamic Mysticism and Muslims in the West.

Introduction 1. Literary Productions of Western Sufi Movements 2. Persian Sufism in the Contemporary West: Reflections on the Ni' Matullahi Diaspora 3. The Evolution of the Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi: Sulaymancis in Germany 4. Third Wave Sufism in America and the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship 5. Transnational Sufism: The Haqqaniyya 6. Aspects of the Naqshbandi-Haqqani Order in North America 7. Seekers on the Path: Different Ways of Being a Sufi in Britain 8. Learning the Lessons from the Neo-Revivalist and Wahhabi Movement: The Counterattack of the New Sufi Movements in the UK 9. Popular Islam in Northern Pakistan and its Reconstruction in Urban Britain