Includes bibliographical references and index.

The Sufis of Baghdad -- Mystics outside Baghdad -- The spread of Baghdad Sufism -- Specialised Sufi literature -- Formation of communities -- Sainthood triumphant.

Print version record.

This book is a comprehensive historical overview of the formative period of Sufism, the major mystical tradition in Islam, from the ninth to the twelfth century CE. Based on a fresh reading of the primary sources and integrating the findings of recent scholarship on the subject, the author presents a unified narrative of Sufisms historical development within an innovative analytical framework. Karamustafa gives a new account of the emergence of mystical currents in Islam during the ninth century and traces the rapid spread of Iraq-based Sufism to other regions of the Islamic world and its fus.

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