Sufism in Central Asia: New Perspectives on Sufi Traditions, 15th-21st Centuries brings together ten original studies on historical aspects of Sufism in this region. A central question, of ongoing significance, underlies each contribution: what is the relationship between Sufism as it was manifested in this region prior to the Russian conquest and the Soviet era, on the one hand, and the features of Islamic religious life in the region during the Tsarist, Soviet, and post-Soviet eras on the other? The authors address multiple aspects of Central Asian religious life rooted in Sufism, examining interpretative strategies, realignments in Sufi communities and sources from the Russian to the post-Soviet period, and social, political and economic perspectives on Sufi communities.

Contributors include: Shahzad Bashir, Devin DeWeese, Allen Frank, Jo-Ann Gross, Kawahara Yayoi, Robert McChesney, Ashirbek Muminov, Maria Subtelny, Eren Tasar, and Waleed Ziad.

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgments
Figures and Maps
Contributors
Note on Transcription and Style
Maps
Introduction
  Devin DeWeese and Jo-Ann Gross
1 Re-Envisioning the History of Sufi Communities in Central Asia: Continuity and Adaptation in Sources and Social Frameworks, 16th–20th Centuries
  Devin DeWeese
2 Naqshband’s Lives: Sufi Hagiography between Manuscripts and Genre
  Devin DeWeese
3 The Works of Ḥusayn Vāʿiẓ Kāshifī as a Source for the Study of Sufism in Late 15th- and Early 16th-Century Central Asia
  Maria E. Subtelny
4 Ḥażrat Jīo Ṣāḥib: How Durrānī Peshawar Helped Revive Bukhara’s Sanctity
  Waleed Ziad
5 Valī Khān Tūra: A Makhdūmzāda Leader in Marghīnān during the Collapse of the Khanate of Khoqand
  Kawahara Yayoi
6 Reliquary Sufism: Sacred Fiber in Afghanistan
  R. D. McChesney
7 Sufism in the Face of Twentieth-Century Reformist Critiques: Three Responses from Sufi Imāms in the Volga-Ural Region
  Allen J. Frank
8 Sufism on the Soviet Stage: Holy People and Places in Central Asia’s Socio-Political Landscape after World War II
  Eren Tasar
9 Sufi Groups in Contemporary Kazakhstan: Competition and Connections with Kazakh Islamic Society
  Ashirbek Muminov
10 The Biographical Tradition of Muḥammad Bashārā: Sanctification and Legitimation in Tajikistan
  Jo-Ann Gross
Index 333