An American Sufism: the Naqshbandi-Haqqani order as a public religion

The Naqshbandi-Haqqani Sufi order is a transnational religious organization. Founded by Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani (b. 1922), the order spread throughout the Middle East in the 1950s and 1960s, and then to Britain in the 1970s. In 1990, Nazim's student Shaykh Hisham Kabbani moved to the United Sta...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Dickson, William Rory 1979- (Author)
Format: Electronic/Print Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage [2014]
In: Studies in religion
Year: 2014, Volume: 43, Issue: 3, Pages: 411-424
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Nāẓim ʿAdl al-Ḥaqqānī, Muḥammad 1922-2014 / Naqšbandīya / Sufism / USA / Religion / Publicity
IxTheo Classification:AG Religious life; material religion
BJ Islam
KBQ North America
Online Access: Volltext (doi)
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Summary:The Naqshbandi-Haqqani Sufi order is a transnational religious organization. Founded by Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani (b. 1922), the order spread throughout the Middle East in the 1950s and 1960s, and then to Britain in the 1970s. In 1990, Nazim's student Shaykh Hisham Kabbani moved to the United States and established a branch of the Naqshbandi-Haqqani order there. The past fifteen years have seen the emergence of this order as one of the most widespread and politically active Sufi organizations in America. In this paper I ask: Why and how is it that the Naqshbandi-Haqqani order effectively functions as a public religion in America? To answer this question, I will use José Casanova’s theory of public religion to understand why and how the order has developed and maintained a public profile in the United States. I contend that the Naqshbandi-Haqqani order’s public activity is rooted in: (1) the Naqshbandi order’s history of public significance in Muslim societies; (2) the order's theological and practical appreciation of religious and cultural pluralism; (3) the order's transnational character; and (4) its adoption of certain elements of American civil religion.
ISSN:0008-4298
Contains:Enthalten in: Studies in religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0008429814538229