Sufism and Shari'a: Contextualizing Contemporary Sufi Expressions

In this article I propose that questions about the nature of contemporary Sufism, especially in Western contexts, can be addressed with further precision and nuance by shifting the focus from Sufism's relationship to Islam, to its relationship to shari'a, or Islamic law (fiqh). As very few questioned Sufism's Islamic nature prior to the modern period, this analytical shift offers the advantage of contextualizing contemporary debates about Sufism within the much richer history of intra-Islamic difference over Sufism and shari'a. I suggest that traditional Sufi-shari'a conceptions, though varied in nature, can be categorized for analytical purposes as (a) juristic, (b) supersessionist, and (c) formless Sufism. I propose these terms not as archetypal categories, but rather as a tentative template for mapping Sufi approaches to the shari'a, which can allow us to better appreciate how contemporary Western Sufi orientations towards the shari'a reflect premodern tendencies.