Tag Archives: Sufism

As an SF author, activist and reviewer from the Eastern part of the Arab world, I can’t help but feeling humbled if not downright jealous of what is going on in the Western part of the Arab world, the so-called Maghreb. I say this after reading a novel I’ve been …

The Levant News Exclusive – By Emad El-Din Aysha | Mark Sedgwick is Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies at Aarhus University, and Chair of the Nordic Society for Middle Eastern Studies. He studied history at Oxford University, did his PhD at the University of Bergen, and taught for many …

  I asked 26 young people: Who was our father Khodja Ahror Valiy? True, only 3 of them answered. The answers were not clear and concise. However, our great nation has left an indelible mark in its socio-political, economic, cultural and spiritual life of the Movarounnahr and Khurasan peoples in …

By Emad El-Din Aysha, PhD   As journalist with The Levant and a member of the Egyptian Society for Science Fiction (ESSF), I’m always on the lookout for fellow Arab and Muslim authors of science fiction, and one area that has peaked my interest as of late is Sufi science …

By Emad El-Din Aysha, PhD     وَإِذْ يَمْكُرُ بِكَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لِيُثْبِتُوكَ أَوْ يَقْتُلُوكَ أَوْ يُخْرِجُوكَ ۚ وَيَمْكُرُونَ وَيَمْكُرُ اللَّهُ ۖ وَاللَّهُ خَيْرُ الْمَاكِرِينَ And [remember, O Muhammad], when those who disbelieved plotted against you to restrain you or kill you or evict you [from Makkah]. But they plan, …

By Haytham Mouzahem* The past two decades have witnessed a reemergence of Sufism in the Gulf states. The phenomenon may be understood, in part, as a reaction to the extremism of “Salafi jihadism”: Gulf states opposed to the extremist strand have begun to welcome Sufi scholars from other Muslim countries …

By Dr. Haytham Mouzahem* — Last week, on Valentine’s Day in Saudi Arabia, prominent cleric Ahmed Qasim al-Ghamdi — a former director-general of the “Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the kingdom’s “religious police” — made a remarkable statement. He opined that Valentine’s Day is a …

The UAE has condemned, in the strongest possible terms, the terrorist blast that targeted Al Rawdah Mosque in Bir Al Abed, North Sinai Governorate, on Friday. Over two hundred worshippers were killed or injured in the attack. In a statement issued on Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation …

Militants bombed a Sufi mosque and fired on worshippers in the volatile Sinai Peninsula during Friday prayers, Egyptian officials said, killing at least 85 people in what appeared to be the latest attack by the area’s ISIS affiliate. The extremists attacked the al-Rawdah mosque in the town of Bir al-Abd, 25 miles …

The Levant Exclusive – By Khaled Mohammed Abdou* – The Sufi: The traveller in the way of love To be human first and before anything, to realise the meaning of “within you the big world exists”. To remember that no matter how high or low, awake or heedless, forgetful or …

THE LEVANT – By Dr. Haytham Mouzahem – There are few sources that talk about the history of mysticism in the Arab Gulf states and particularly in the United Arab Emirates. G.G. Lorimer, who is considered one of the best historians and geographers that described the Arabian Gulf at the …

  A journey into the world of Turkey’s famous yet mysterious whirling dervishes, learning more about Sufism along the way By: Samantha North for Time Out   Many visitors to Istanbul have seen the famous whirling dervishes conducting rituals in Sultanahmet or Galata. A stunning spectacle, the dervishes transport the viewer …