Sufism: The Mystical Doctrines of Islam

by William Stoddart

Book Overview

A concise introduction to the fundamental doctrines and practices of Sufism, the inward or mystical dimension of Islam. Stoddart provides a key starting point for anyone interested in Sufism, whether... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0913757470
• ISBN13: 9780913757475
• Release Date: May 1998
• Publisher: Paragon House Publishers
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.4" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Good Introduction to Sufism

This book is a good study of Sufism and of comparative religion. The writing is concise, a lot is said with few words. The author does not always spell everything out, but leaves the reader to draw some conclusions. There are extensive quotes and beautiful pictures. I found that the book does show a deeper side of Islam. I do feel that Sufism predates Islam, in accord with the understanding of Idries Shah and his writings on Sufism. However, Sufism took home in Islam for a part of its life and shaped the traditon from within. This book, like many, holds the belief that Sufism is the inner mystical side of Islam. While this is not completely untrue, it is not the whole story. However, within the limits of the premise that Sufism is mystical Islam, the author does a wonderful job expressing What Sufism has been when it took home in Islam. There is a lot of history about Islam, Judaim, and Christianity from this vantage point that I enjoyed reading. I would recommend, for a fuller picture of Sufism that one read THE WAY OF THE SUFI by Idries Shah and CHASM OF FIRE by Irina Tweedie.

The Best Introduction

When I first encountered this little book I thought that it was some sort of book for children - it was so short, I reasoned, that it couldn't be anything else.After reading it I realized that if I were to recommend one book on Sufism to an interested beginner on the subject, I would recommend this. Not that it's superficial - far from it! But it is concise, precise and extremely well-written. It ties together ideas that you would otherwise need to read several books to grasp. Most interesting was the section on how Sufism relates to Christianity and Judaism. Highly recommended.