Tariqa Islam: Layers of Authentication

Sufism, in its contemporary expression within the Sufi Orders is without doubt substantially different to the theosophical Sufism created by the masters of Islamic mysticism.In this study attempts will be made to probe the epistemological, symbolic and sociological conditions that made this kind of cultural expression of religion both an "independent Islam" and, at the same time, one in close contact with orthodox Islam. In addition to the political and historical conditions of interest to historians, attempts will be made to excavate the structural conditions that make the Tariqa an autonomous social body within Arab Islamic society by dwelling on the epistemological and anthropological conditions that have allowed tariqa Islam to continuously reproduce itself.