[BITList] Op-Ed Contributor - Sufis - The Muslims in the Middle -NYTimes.com

[HUGH]

Mike,

Indeed they are not.  I have been interested in Sufism since the mid 60s, when I came across the late Idries Shah's book, The Sufis.  Among many whose way of thought was influenced by Sufism I offer Roger Bacon, the explorer, Sir Richard Burton, and (according to Shah) the Knights Templar and Francis of Assisi.   At the start of his book, Shah writes that the Sufis are commonly mistaken for a Moslem sect - in fact, their origins predate both Christianity and Islam. Their characteristic signature, he goes on, can be found in widely displaced literature from at least the second millenium BC - and though Sufism has gained an Oriental shell from its association with Islam, the natural Sufi can be found as often in the West as in the East.

Hugh.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20100817/fb1d2d53/attachment.shtml