The Sufis of Mecca: Mysticism and Transregionality in the Later Medieval Islamic World

FAIN: FT-55614-08

Erik S. Ohlander
Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN 47907-2040)

In recent years, the descriptive, theoretical, and critical concept of "networks" has been used to great effect by scholars of religion working on a wide range of religious groups and movements situated across a diverse range of geo-historical settings. This project seeks to deploy this concept to answer lingering questions concerning the diffusion, spread, and popularization of what came to be a particularly popular form of Muslim mystical religiosity between the 12th and 15th centuries: Sufism. Arguing for the significance of transregionality and city-node centers as a major factor in the expansion of Sufism during this period, this book project will focus on the sacred city of Mecca and its heretofore underestimated role in the development of Sufi networks during what remains an under-researched period of its history. As such, this study looks to make an original contribution to the academic study of religion, and by extension, to the humanities at large.