Sacred Spaces and Transnational Networks in American Sufism

A masterful, ground-breaking study. Combining textual analysis with ethnographic interviews, Xavier traces the remarkable life and enduring legacy of a charismatic, boundary-blurring spiritual teacher. The book reveals the complexity and fluidity of religious identity, sacred space, gender boundaries, and ritual piety within a global Sufi community. A beautifully written and provocative portrait of living Sufism in everyday practice. * Robert Rozehnal, Associate Professor, Department of Religion Studies, Lehigh University, USA * Xavier offers many creative insights for understanding contemporary transnational Islam and Western Sufism as part of new configurations of sacred space that transcend the binary of East and West. * Marcia Hermansen, Director of the Islamic World Studies Program and Professor of Theology, Loyola University Chicago, USA * This is an important book on an important topic. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen and his heritage are key to understanding one really important aspect of Islam in a global world. * Mark Sedgwick, Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies, Aarhus University, Denmark * This book is a fascinating and original study. The book is scholarly, simply and directly written and will be of interest to scholars of Islam, diaspora, Sufism, and transnational studies, as well as religious sociology more generally. * Pnina Werbner, Professor Emerita of Social Anthropology, Keele University, UK *