Islamic Mysticism Contested: Thirteen Centuries of Controversies and Polemics.

• Author: Hoffman, Valerie
• Position: Reviews of Books

Islamic Mysticism Contested: Thirteen Centuries of Controversies and Polemics. Edited by FREDERICK DE JONG and BERND RADTKE Leiden: BRILL, 1999. Pp. xii + 829. $247.50.

Aside from an introduction and a postscript written by the editors, this enormous volume consists of thirty-five contributions, in English, French, and German, from an admirably international and well-qualified group of scholars on the topic indicated in the title. The title is in fact well chosen, as it encompasses not only the expected controversies and polemics between Sufis and [subset]ulama[contains] about the legitimacy of Sufism, but also those that have existed among Sufis themselves as they have struggled for political power and the authority to define "true" Sufism.

The topical, chronological, and geographical coverage are extensive, including articles on [Mu.sup.[subset]]tazili and Zaydi attitudes toward Sufism, as well as surprisingly extensive coverage of such far-flung regions as Andalusia and southeast Asia. In their postscript the editors have provided their own critique of the gaps that exist in the volume: nothing on Ibadism, East Africa, Republican Turkey, the Volga-Ural region, and the Caucasus, and the Safavid empire; they also feel the Middle East is (surprisingly) underrepresented, and that more attention to "political Sufism" would enhance the volume. Nonetheless, one is struck more than anything else by the sheer volume of the work presented here as well as--as the editors also note--the repetitive nature of anti-Sufi rhetoric. The editors interpret this last as something positive: "it means that Islamic thought is alive, that a variety of positions exists concerning what Islam is or should be, and that we are far removed from the kind of monolithic uniform Isla m some would like to see." The lack of a universally accepted form of Islam is readily granted, but it is far less certain that the repetitive nature of anti-Sufi polemics indicates that "Islamic thought is alive"; the tendency to repeat worn-out arguments is scarcely evidence of vitality. Moreover, the very repetitive nature of these arguments makes it difficult and tedious to read through this...