Sufism, Pluralism and Democracy

Clinton Bennett divides his teaching between SUNY New Paltz, Marist College, Poughkeepsie, NY and Cambridge, UK.Sarwar Alam teaches at the King Fahd Center for Middle East Studies of University of Arkansas.

• INTRODUCTIONSufism, Pluralism and Democracy: contexts, comparisons and critiques Clinton BennettSection One: Multi-contextual1. Sufis, Saints and Politics in Islam: an historical surveyClinton BennettSection Two: European/Euro Asian Contexts (Kosovo/Albania & Turkey)2. Sufism as a Working Spirit in Globalization and Pluralism: The Case of the Hizmet Movement, a Turkey-oriented Global Islamic Network (Turkey)Heon C. Kim, East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania3. A Paradox of Political Mysticism: The Bektashi Sufi Order as an Islamic Esoteric Community And Factor in Albanian National History (Kosova/the Balkans)Stephen Schwartz, Center for Islamic Pluralism, Washington DCSection Three: A Middle Eastern Context (Iran)4. Sufi Politics in the Contemporary West: The Role and Definition of Sufism in the works of Javad Nurbakhsh (1926-2008) (Iran)Milad Milani, University of Western SydneySection Four: South Asian Contexts: Bangladesh, Indonesia & Pakistan5. Anti-saint or anti-shrine? Tracing Deoband's disdain for the Sufi in PakistanCharles M. Ramsey, Forman Christian College, Lahore, Pakistan6. Sufis as shapers of pluralist political culture: the examples of Bangladesh and Indonesia.Clinton Bennett7. In Search of God, In Search of Humanity: Vilayat-e-Mutlaqa of Hazrat Delaor Husayn Maizbhandari (Bangladesh)Sarwar AlamSection Five: Literary/Theoretical Underpinnings8. Two Beloved Sufi poets of the Punjab: A Case of "Hearing Without Listening". Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh, Colby College, Maine9. Looking Inside the Heart: The Universal Appeal of God and Humanity as Reflected in Ibn al-'Arabi 's Fusus al-Hikam and Maulana Rumi 's Mathnawi ManawiSayed Hassan Akhlaq Hussaini, George Washington UniversityCONCLUSION: "Corporate Islam" v Sufi Islam and the articulation of the presentSarwar Alam