Cont Islam (2012) 6:199–200

DOI 10.1007/s11562-010-0142-7

Nicolaas Biegman, Living Sufism: Sufi rituals

in the Middle East and the Balkans
Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2009. 191 pp.
ISBN 978-977-416-263-3

David W. Montgomery

Published online: 8 September 2010

# Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2010

Keywords Sufism . Islamic rituals . Egypt . Syria . Prayer

The limits of text to convey the image of zikr or movement within a tekke is the
shortcoming of a number of excellent books written on Sufism. Biegman’s Living
Sufism in no way replaces the classic introductions to Sufism but in its concept
complements them as a photo book that seeks to put a picture to the varied practices
of mystical Islam. Intended for a general audience, many of the 112 photos utilize
long exposure to slightly blur the subject and capture a moment (and movement) in
the practice of Sufism. Yet while much can be sensed from the images in the book,
what accounts for the collection’s Middle East and Balkan foci is less any
overarching analytical theme that connects the two regions than being a compilation
of photos from places the photographer visited.
The eight chapters and 43 pages of text give a basic introduction to Sufism and
situate the photos for the reader. The introduction tries to draw in the general reader
by positing Sufism as the ‘other extreme’ of Islam, distant from and more peaceful
than the ‘fundamentalist “Islamists”’(p. 7) stereotyped post-September 11. Pitching
the book to a Western audience with limited knowledge of Islam, Biegman wants to
present Sufism as the good side of Islam and almost exclusively gives ‘love’ for
Allah as the motive behind Sufi rituals. While love is a motivation consistent with
most Sufi narratives, his attribution of tolerance as a normative character of Sufism
(p. 18) and his novelistic descriptions of what people he photographs feel (e.g.
‘…the waist piercing started right away with a boy, ten years old perhaps, for whom
this must have been the first time’ (p. 150); ‘The sheikh pushed a shish into his own
right eye socket, which judging by the expression on his face must have been rather
painful’ (p. 150); and ‘They had to be pure and sincere. All this was done for the

D. W. Montgomery (*)
Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, 3302 WWPH, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA
e-mail: dwm@pitt.edu
200 Cont Islam (2012) 6:199–200

love of God.’ (p. 151)) loses its authoritative and objective thrust when accompanied
by disclaimers such as ‘There was no opportunity to ask any questions’ (p. 150). The
strength of the book is less its assumptive observations than its visual record of
select ceremonies of a few Sufi communities.
Structured to give a feel for the diversity of Sufi ritual, the photographs are
grouped into chapters on dancing (Egypt), sitting (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia,
Kosovo), and standing (Bosnia-Herzegovina) zikr, as well as piercing during pilgrim-
ages (Syria) and women’s participation in celebrating the Prophet’s birthday (Egypt).
Biegman focuses on four main orders—Kadiriyya, Khalwatiyya, Nakshbandiyya, and
Rifa’iyya—and includes an interview with a Rifa’i sheikh that gives a sense of how
Sufi spiritual leaders explain their practice. Living Sufism does have its merits in
adding to the picture of practice, and could be used as an optional reference in courses
covering Sufism, but its more likely home is on the coffee table of someone who
traveled to the countries covered in the book.