Refractions of Islam in India
Situating Sufism and Yoga
- Carl W. Ernst - Kenan Distinguished Professor of Islamic studies, Department of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA
The essays explore Sufism as it developed in the Indian subcontinent, including translations of previously unavailable texts, and revealing unexpected insights into the lives, practices, and teachings of Indian Muslims over nearly a thousand years. They also trace remarkable moments in the history of Muslim engagement with Indian religious and cultural practices. This includes not only Muslim participation in Indian art and literature, but also the extraordinary role that Sufis have played in the practice of yoga. Employing new approaches to religious studies that avoid essentialism and ideological concepts of religion, and shorn of unnecessary jargon, these compelling essays will be easily accessible to a larger audience.
[This book] highlights the cultural, historical and spiritual legacies of important Sufis in the subcontinent…the author demonstrates how the concept of sainthood in Islamic History is one of the fundamental religious categories that has guided the development and structure of Muslim societies…. Well researched and a must read for those interested in Islam in South Asia.
“Ernst fantastic research work…certainly for erudite but it is also for lay readers…includes fables and works on medicine, astrology, mathematics, and sexology and so on.”