Khalid Duran Muslim Diaspora: The Sufis in Western Europe

MUSLIM DIASPORA: THE SUFIS IN WESTERN EUROPE
Author(s): KHALID DURAN

Source: Islamic Studies, Vol. 30, No. 4 (Winter 1991), pp. 463-483
Published by: Islamic Research Institute, International Islamic University, Islamabad
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20840053 .
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MUSLIM DIASPORA:
THE SUFIS IN WESTERN EUROPE
KHALID DURAN
InWestern Europe, Muslim communities are a comparatively recent

phenomenon. They derive their strength primarily from some seven million
Middle Eastern/North
African immigrant But numberofMuslims
labourers.
also includes at least 10,000 Sufi converts throughout Western Europe. A
pet subject of sociological research are the fashionable youth "religions"
that are being so much talked about these days. Curiously enough, the
Muslim factor is scarcely ever mentioned, although thewave of conversions
to the Sufi version of Islam is related to this development, at least in part.
In the seventies and eighties, public attention was focussed mainly on Hare
Krishna and the "Moonies" (Unification Church), and few people noticed
what a large slice Islam took from the birthday-cake of a European generation
coming of age. In the final analysis, Islam could well have been the big
winner inwhat looked like a religious auction, with Christian masses for sale.
Of these European converts to Islam, a significant number has joined

the ranks of the Sufis. The present paper is an attempt to study the broad
trends, characteristics and problems of the newly converted Sufis inWestern
Europe, especially inGermany, and the interaction of these Sufis with other
non-Sufi Muslim groups, both in their own countries and abroad. One or
two important persons and groups feature prominently in the paper in order
to highlight concretely some of our conclusions and perceptions about the
subject under study.
Sufism, often translated as "Islamic mysticism", is a broad term under

which popular religion, spiritualism and mysticism in its various manifesta
tions are subsumed. Sometimes wrongly called a "sect" of Islam, it ismore
a general tendency that emphasises the emotional or experiential aspect of
religion over and against the legalistic one: the prime concern is not the
fulfillment of the law, but a close experience of, ifnot union with, the divine.
The legalist or "orthodox" version of Islam tends to demand sobriety,
whereas its Sufi version longs for ecstasy. The legalist version erects protec

464 Islamic Studies, 30:4 (1991)
tive walls, whereas Sufism seeks to break those walls down. While the
"orthodox" version tends to be exoteric, the Sufi version of Islam manifests
esoteric tendencies. In Europe, the 1980s witnessed a boom of esotericism,
and Sufism came to strike a responsive chord.
Over the last few decades, quite a number of Sufi masters from the
Middle East fledpoliticalturmoilin theirhomelandsand tookrefugein the
West, Such has been their success inwinning
otherwise decried as decadent.
Europeans over to their way that they can hardly complain of dearth of
malleable and enterprising European adepts.
There are those Sufis who fully converted to Islam, and there are
others?twice as many?who are not official converts, but are, nonetheless,
high inBritainandGermany,
close to Islam.Their numberisparticularly
but theymay be foundall overEurope, especiallyin theNetherlandsand
Italy, but also in Spain and even Greece.
These "sympathizers" are more than just "potential converts". They

constitute something like "auxiliary forces" of Islam inEurope, comparable
to the large number of African-Americans who have not officially converted
to Islam but who are, so to speak, in tune with the "Black Muslims", on
the same wavelengths with those who have already converted.
Apart from the non-denominational Sufis, who are close to Islam

without necessarily being registered Muslims, there are, at the other end of
the spectrum, those who have joined the Sufi fraternities claiming a spiritual
link to one or the other centre in the Muslim world. For instance, the
"Darqawi Order" (Tariqah Darq?wiyyah) takes theMoroccan city of Fes
as its spiritual focus.
In two British schools for "Intensive Esoteric Education", the basic

texts are thewritings of the thirteenth-centuryAndalusian mystic Ibn 'Arabi.
For further readings, works of the well-known Sufis who wrote in Persian,
such as R?mi, J?mi, and Jili, are used. The existence of an entire chain of
Sufi centres or "homes" should not be considered as a fleeting phenomenon
or as off-track spiritualism. In Bradford-on-Avon (Wilts), theChishti Frater
nity, which plays an important role inAfghanistan and the South Asia, has
opened its
Western headquarters. In St. Anne's Centre inBaldshaw (Eastern
Sussex) the organization's European director, Pir Vilayat Khan, offers a
programme composed of "teachings, meditation, conversations with experi
enced healers about preventive medicine, music, dance and universal
prayer". An English poetess, who took as a pseudonym the name of Islam's
most revered female mystic R?bi'ah, opened a branch in Tunis in 1980.

Islamic Studios, 30:4 (1991) 465
Some of these Brotherhoods follow a militant interpretation of Sufism

that seems closer to the phenomenon generally characterized as fundamen
talism than to mysticism. This holds true of especially the Darqawi group
of American and European converts. They reject modern life perhaps more
thandid evenKhomeini.Being less selectiveand
genuinelyand thoroughly
less pragmatic than the Iranian or Arab proponents of what would seem an
Islamic fundamentalist ideology, theWestern Darqawi disciples renounce
even such modern inventions as tanks and jet fighters. As an "authentic"
Islamic sport theypractise fencing.Their returnto the lifeof the early
Middle Ages and theircommunalliving?bakingtheirownArab typeof
bread?is characteristic of the present-day trends among the European
youth. For the "ecologists" of the Darqawi Fraternity, deference for the
Prophet's green flag is not a stunt, but a motivating conviction. Islam, as
thedm al-fitrah(religionof nature),buttressesthe ideologyof environmen
talism.
Part of the Darqawi Fraternity's attraction is that the Darqawis do

not demand a return to the culturally frugal beginnings of the early Islam,
as do the proponents of Islamic revival. Many Sufis regard the period from
tenth to twelfth century as their golden epoch?a period often classified as
the "Middle Ages of Islam". They also have no compunctions about the
rich poetry ofMuslim mystics. Furthermore, they enjoy the spiritual music
that isfrownedupon by themore legalistically
disposed scholarsof Islam
and is altogether an anathema to the present-day movements of Islam revival.
In fact, a fewDarqawis?and some other Sufis?are still in the process

of outgrowing their hippie past. Most of the novices already had some
experience with what are called "alternative lifestyles". In former years,
they used to take the long trip to far-away Kathmandu, theNepalese one-time
Shangri-la of hippies. In the late seventies, they discovered Fes, Morocco's
cultural and spiritual capital. By comparison to other "mysterious cities" in
Africa and Asia, Fes is nearby?and yet so distant in time. Only in few
other places, themedieval patterns have been so authentically preserved as
they have been in this remnant of ancient Andalusia. It is as if the city had
been liftedout of space and time?from thirteenth-century Spain onto twen
tieth-centuryMorocco. For this reason, the UNESCO chose Fes for resto
ration, as a patrimony of humanity. For hippies, in search of marijuana, it
became a new Eldorado; for Sufis, in search of illumination, a place of
pilgrimage. Perhaps some among this special brand of tourists were both,
hippies as well as Sufis, or, as some people say, hippies and happies.
As groups, the Sufis come mainly

in the case of other "alternative"
from themiddle class, often the upper middle class. Among them one might
come across the daughter of an American banker and the shoe-maker of

466 Islamic Studios, 30:4 (1991)
Queen Elizabeth, Italian aristocrats and German bureaucrats, French pub

lishers and Swiss architects, Norwegian scholars and Spanish doctors, or
even Armenian officials.
And there is an impressive number of musicians among them. Islam's

fashionable appeal to musicians in theWest has a tradition. It began with
the grand old men of American jazz, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.
It was the hallmark of an entire US generation personified by Amir Jamal.
It won followers in the "jazz cellars" of West Berlin in the fifties and, in
the 1980s the trend continued unabated. A new stimulus for this particular
phenomenon was provided by Yusuf Islam (Dimitri "Cat" Stevens) and his
Love Songs toAllah, the Compassionate.
Less known in theUS, but verypopular inSpain, is theAndalusian

hit singer Carlos Cano. Somewhat naively he produced a record with his
own version of theMuslim call to prayer (adh?n). Such a blashphemy would
certainly have been scarcely appreciated by a person such as Khomeini or
for that matter, by other Muslims who take a much more serious attitude
towards matters relating to worship. Carlos Cano was not even aware of
the dislike formusic in orthodox Islamic circles; and an ill-informed press
alleged thattheSpanishpop singerhad receivedmillionsfromKhomeini as
a reward for this infatuation with Moro (i.e. Muslim) tunes.
was highlighted
In 1982theconversionphenomenon by a well-known
columnist who noted sardonically in the leading Spanish daily, El Pais, "if
in today's Spain someone wants to be up-to-date, in terms of aesthetics and
spirituality, he had better turnMuslim."
While among converts inBritain and Spain, theMorocco-based Dar

qawi Fraternity predominates, inGermany it is the Sudan-based Burh?niyyah
maintainan idylliccentrecalled
tar?qah(BurhaniFraternity).Its followers
Haus Schnede, off the road to Salzhausen in a romantic region called
Lueneburger Heide, South of Hamburg. Among the permanent residents
of this Sufi commune, there are only few non-Germans, but they are fre
quently visited by "wise men from the east"?Sufi masters and their disciples
who come for guest "performances", such as the lateMaster Muzaffer and
his dancing dervishes from Istanbul.
The founder of Haus Schnede, Stefan Makowski, is the author of

several personal accounts of mystic experiences. One of his books is entitled
The Grapes of theNaqshbandi. He is close to ShaykhNiz?m Qubrus?, a
Turkish Sufi master from Cyprus who has many Naqshbandi followers all
over Western Europe. During student days inBerlin, Stefan Makowski had

come under the influence of an Egyptian spiritualist, Dr. Sal?h 'Id, who
was then a teacher at a local high school. After Sal?h 'Id's death in 1982,
themantle fell to Stefan Makowski, now Husayn 'Abd al-Fatt?h.
'Id, who never cutmuch ice at home or among educated immig

Sal?h
rants inGermany, impressed Turkish labourers with foqir acrobatics such
as piercing large needless through both his cheeks without bleeding. Many
Germans considered him charismatic. Some years before his death, he had
taken Husayn 'Abd al-Fatt?h and fortyother young German men and women
to Khartoumwhere theypledged allegiance to the head of theBurhani
Fraternity. Till then, the Burhani Fraternity had not crossed the borders of
the Sudan and Egypt. Although a comparatively young Sufi order, the
Burh?niyyah is conservative and perhaps one of the least intellectual as far
as its leadership is concerned.
a member of theMuslim Brotherhood (al

For Sal?h 'Id, formerly
Akhw?n al-Muslim?n) who, under Jamal Abd al-Nasir's rule, had spent a
couple of years in prison, the chief concern was to differentiate himself from
other Sufi groups fashionable in Europe, such as the Chishtiyyah, Dar
q?wiyyah and Naqshbandiyyah. His conversion from Islamic revivalist ac
tivism tomysticism (spiritualism) seems possibly to have been, or is at least
considered so by those who did not follow him, a "conversion for the sake
of distinction". Husayn 'Abd al-Fatt?h Makowski and hundreds of German
followers of Sal?h 'Id believed the story that theBurh?niyyah was theworld's
largest Sufi order. In reality there are dozens of more important ones.
After Husayn's assumption of leadership, tensions developed because

some of the newer and more intellectual adepts wished for an open end to
their "road to salvation" (tariqah i.e. way, path; has the connotation of
"road to salvation"). But the Burhanis emphasise rituals more than some
of the other Sufi orders, and many of the German converts appear to have
become more Arab than theArabs?eating dates instead of chocolate, and
cleaning their teeth with the wooden misw?k rather than with synthetic
toothbrush.
Much of the more philosophical Sufi literature, however, ridicules

formalism and seeks to promote interiorization of the faith. The more intel
lectual among the novices could not fail to note this contradiction between
philosophical mysticism and the emphasis put on exotic externalities atHaus
Schnede. A professor of psychology at the famous University ofGoettingen,
Muhsin Bernd Fittkau, came to lead a dissident tendency that advocates
unrestrained spiritual advancement. Instead of subscribing to the Middle
Eastern mould of the Burhanis, these non-denominational Sufis insist on
more autochthonous and less outlandish forms of spiritual expression.

Such disagreementsled to a partingof theways, but both groups

continued for several years as cooperating neighbours in the same charming
countryside. For some time, this German Sufi community was spreading
out, acquiring more houses and plots, and even running a little "poineer
settlement" at one place. The entire phenomenon became known by the
name of Haus Schnede, the impressive former manor house in the centre
of this picturesque area.
Dropping in at Haus Schnede does not necessarily mean dropping

out of consumer society, but itdoes imply a change in approach and attitude,
and certainly in lifestyle. The night-life in dancing bars, customary with
other young people, is exchanged for a family atmosphere and relaxed seren
ity. Regular Sufi exaltations (called dhikr) as well as occasional ecstasies
create much human warmth. All this is attained without drugs which are so
popular as a means of inducing ecstasy (Those belonging to the group, by
and large, discard even cigarettes let alone care for drugs).
The forest villa also has a socializing role of yet another

spacious
kind. Weekly meetings and other special functions are attended by foreign
Muslims too. Among those immigrants there are both illiterate labourers as
well as Turks, Moroccans or Afghans who belong to the professional class.
Such communion between the downtrodden and the privileged among
foreignMuslims is rarely established elsewhere. In Germany, orthodox Tur
kish mosques are attended almost exclusively by working class people while
the educated class usually shuns religious activities. But the academics have
no problem with Haus Schnede, because it is not affiliated to any of Turkey's
or theArab world's political parties, unlike most mosques inGermany and
elsewhere inEurope.
This wholesome role ofHaus Schnede has not always been recognised.
On the contrary, there has been considerable hostility on the part of older
Muslim communities. 1983 was a particularly bad year, inasmuch as the
Nordic mysticsof Haus Schnede had a bad press in some of theArab
countries. It all started with a damaging feature in Stern, Germany's most
widely read weekly newsmagazine. The anti-Muslim bias was all-too-appa
rent. The article was full of absurdities and concoctions of a highly sen
sationalist nature. It was not just a matter of inaccuracies but of outright
defamation.
For the Burhani Sufis, thiswas painful enough. The real shock came
when they saw the entire piece reproduced in a distorted manner in al
Madinah, a prestigious daily of Saudi Arabia. The Arabic version was
perhaps even more scandalous than the German original.

Islamic Studies, 30:4 (1991) 469
In all likelihood, there was some inter-Muslim rivalry involved. For

many years some earlier converts?who were closer to the contemporary
movements of Islamic revival?had failed, despite their efforts, to establish
suchas thosesetup by thedynamicSufis intheirgreen
communities
thriving
abode. earlier converts seem to have enjoyed substantial financial
These
support from sources in the Gulf, and yet theywere unable tomake much
impact, neither on the imigrants nor on the locals.
Itwas possiblynot onlyenvy thatmade theirrivalslookaskance at
theprogressingtariqahof an obscureShaykhfromtheSudan.They, as well
as some disgruntled "traditionalist" Muslims, did not approve of non-Muslim
groups holding seminars on psychotherapy and other topics on the premises
of an Islamic centre, as was done initially at Haus Schnede. In the context
of European cultural tradition, there is nothing unusual about an academy
playinghost todisparategroupsand allowingtheir
meetingsor seminarsto
be held against payment of a fee. Most academies would not be able to
survive financially without such an "open house" policy. In fact,many Mus
lim groups have frequently availed themselves of the numerous Catholic or
Protestant churches for holding their own seminars?with one important
difference though?the Muslims mostly succeed in getting concessional rates,
and often the churches do not charge them anything at all.
Husayn 'Abd al-Fatt?h accepted the fact that a sizeable number of

Muslims fail to reconcile to such pluralistic practices on their own premises.
At Haus Schnede, therefore, such non-Muslim seminars were discontinued?
much to the detriment of the centre's financial situation. However, Husayn
continued such practices in the nearby village of Bahlburg, where he set up
another centre that was less reclusive than Haus Schnede in its splendid
forest isolation.
In July 1984, an Egyptian religious scholar, Shaykh Zaki al-Din

Q?sim, who was, at that time, a high-ranking official of Kuwait's Awqaf
Department (Department of Religious Endowments and Islamic Affairs),
visited the region. He convened, at Haus Schnede, German Muslims of all
tendencies in an attempt to reconcile their.differences. He was assisted in
this venture by Bashir Ahmad Dultz, a convert who had spent half of his
lifeinLibya, untilhe was jailed byQadhdhafi to be exchangedlaterwith
someLibyans imprisonedinGermany.This nightmarish experiencedid not
shake his faith, and ever since his return toGermany in 1984, he has struggled
hard to bring about harmony between his Sufi friends and the more "or
thodox" members of the convert community. As a result of his rather blunt
way of preaching, several of the more esoteric and non-denominational
mystics took the final step of converting officially to Islam. It was thought
that thiswould make Haus Schnede more acceptable to themoref orthodox"
Muslims with their pronounced distrust of Sufism (Many of them regard
Sufism as a cover for extraneous elements seeking to subvert Islam).

BashirDultz, himselfa Sufiof sorts,soughttoestablishhiscredentials

when he was appointed the local representative of theMuslim World Con
gress, an organization with headquarters inPakistan, but practically unknown
to working-class Muslims. However, some two dozen German converts as
sociated with the congress, probably as a means of attaining greater Islamic
legitimacy as an alternative to Haus Schnede and controversial Sufism.
For a shortwhile, the disputes seemed amicably settled, but soon the
simmering flame of discord rose again. Much of the infighting is obviously
due to the practice on the part of donors from overseas to entrust thewelfare
of diasporacommunitiesto individuals
of theirverypersonalchoice,mostly
a single person in each country. Since these donors generally rely on a staff
strongly inclined to "orthodoxy", their appointed representatives in theWest
are generally persons ill-disposed torwards anything related to Sufism. In
the case ofWestern Europe, as in the case of theUnited States, the result
goes to tinygroups
of Islamicprojectsalmost invariably
is thatthefunding
who represent the orthodox or legalist ideological orientation whereas the
larger and more dynamic communities have little share in it. Inevitably, this
breeds resentment, generally expressing itself in hostility to the overseas
funding agencies and to the countries they belong to. Not only that, in
Germany itcreated a great deal of bad blood and wrangling among prominent
Muslim personalities and groups. The clash and rivalry between Husayn
Makowski and Ahmad Von Denffer is an unfortunate instance in point.
Aside from the long-standing conflicts betweend the Sunnis and the
Shi'is, Islam inGermany also became a battle-ground of competing forest
retreats?one Sufi, the other strongly leaning towards strict orthodoxy. In
this way, two converts of a fairly similar background, both of them middle
class academics with a foible for authorship and leadership, ended up as
rivals rather than as collaborators in the furtherance of a common cause.
Ahmad Von Denffer worked with the Islamic Foundation headquartered in
Leicester, England which is run largely by leaders of Pakistan's Jam?'at-i
Isl?mi. Husayn Makowski, even though he lacked the resources that sup
ported Ahmad Von Denffer, apparently had a better instinct for intellectual
fads and religious trends as well as a greater sensitivity which appeals to
potential converts.
Less openly hostile, but essentially just as much opposed to the Sufis,
is the "Association of German-speaking Muslims", a group dominated by
militant devotees of Imam Khomeini. The members number hardly more
than a hundred, barely half of whom are converts. Among those, half are
German wives of activists following the "Une of the Imam". Among the rest
are Iranians or other Shi'i immigrants who mobilize the converts for their
propaganda purposes, and occasionally for their clashes with other Muslim
groups. Originally itwas an association of German Sunni Muslims. Ever

since itbecame dominatedby people devoted to ImamKhomeini and his

ideas, some other founders have withdrawn from the association, especially
those with Sufi inclinations. The new brand ofGerman converts toKhomeini
style Shi'ism tends to be pretty fanatic. They provide an ideal militancy.
Some of them have already taken part inmilitant activism proceeding from
their "Iranian Mosque" inHamburg's posh Alster quarter.
As Hizbullahis, which inmodern parlance stands for the "partisans

of the Imam", these converts reject mysticism as foreign to Islam. However,
theirmonthly magazine inGerman, Al-Fadschr, an expensive journal with
full-time employees, does not hesitate to claim the famous Sufi personalities
of former times to be the supporters of their version of Islam.
In any event, the much larger Sufi community, .whether of the

Burh?niyyah order at Haus Schnede or around Husayn 'Abd al-Fatt?h
Makowski, has no in
ally Hamburg's mosque under the control of the Shi'ites,
where the regular meetings of the "Association of German-speaking Mus
lims" take place.
IV
The Sufis have faced problems not only with the Shi'is and the prop
onents of an orthodox version of Islam, but differences within their own
ranks were even more detrimental to the northward progress of the tariqah.
m Egypt and theSudan, knownforanything
The leadership but open-min
dedness, found their representative in theGerman rain-forests too ambitious
and too foreign to their way of thinking. In 1984, Husayn was sacked by
the ultra-conservative Sudanese head of the Burh?niyyah. The process was
somewhat similar to the case ofMalcolm X and Elijah Muhammad. Husayn
'Abd al-Fatt?h Makowski, not unlike Malcolm X, was devoted to his leader
and loved to play the role of a lieutenant. But he was imaginative, energetic,
and a fast learner, soon surpassing the head of the order. Then there was
the usual back-biting based on rivalry among the various representatives.
Many of the German Burhani Sufis would never have known any
thing about their new faith, if not forHusayn, who initiated them. True,
the basic framework was bequeathed to him by his Egyptian mentor, Sal?h
?d, but the movement with its organizational structure was his creation;
Haus Schnede was his initiative. Now the majority of the Burhani Sufis
dissociated itselffrom him and he had tomove out. Husayn took a number
of his followers, both male and female, and made the neighbouring village
of Bahlburg his new headquarters, installing himself inwhat used to be a
youth hostel.

As is often the case when religious movements split, the excommuni

cated group does not fully accept that ithas really been dismissed. For some
time there is a pretence, or perhaps makebelief, that itwas all nothing but
a misunderstanding thatwill be removed in the course of time. In Bahlburg,
Husayn's followers still used the Burhani prayer manuals (called Awr?d),
but gradually links with the Naqshband? circles became stronger.
Reduced to a much smaller role Husayn, and the few disciples who
moved inwith him at Bahlburg, devised numerous schemes of putting their
financialresourcesand professionalskills togetherfor a varietyof joint
v?ntures. His associates were by no means heart-broken "refuseniks" of
Western society. That brand of Sufi converts which stayed behind at Haus
Schnede, were concentrating mainly on endless Burhani liturgies. Those
who remained in touch with Husayn were mostly living in Hamburg and
other large cities. They tended to have a rich experience in professional life.
There were business managers among them, medical practitioners, lawyers,
linguists, journalists, and even parliamentarians, though psychologists were
still inmajority. InHamburg, two Protestant clergymen continued delivering
theirSundaysermonsas paid employeesof theChurchwhile "clandestinely"
seeking their own spiritual satisfaction with the Sufis.
While none of Sufis became conspicuously committed to improving

the lotof theirfellow-Muslims
in theThirdWorld, theyall began to share
the desire to be economically independent in a double sense: first, indepen
dent of non-Muslim employers who show little understanding for the con
vert's practice of his new faith; second, independent of donations from
Middle Eastern brethren for the maintenance of Islamic establishments in
Europe.
The latter point is partly explained by what was said earlier in the
context of the conflict between Makowski and Von Denffer. But the relation
ship between converts from theWest and theirEastern brethren-in-faith is
often also problematic in a more general sense. Newcomers frequently com
plain that there isno place in theworld where Islam ispractised authentically,
as a model, with a leader they can look up to with pride. Converts usually
regard theMuslims of theMiddle Eastern or North African diaspora as bad
examples, regardless of whether they are diplomats, students or workers.
Such reproaches used to be voiced most vociferously at theDarqawi head
quartersinGranada, Spain (and previouslyinNorwich,Britain),but they
can also be heard inHaus Schnede.
It cannot be denied that some of theWestern adepts are a bit eccentric,

often causing more amusement among Arab or Iranian brethren than admi

ration. For this and several other reasons, converts visitingMuslim countries
are sometimes treated condescendingly, either as pitiable romantics or as
zealots pestering their brethren-iii-faith with fund-raising formosques. The
dynamic amir (commander) of this brand of Islam in Spain, a converted
psychiatrist named Mans?r, had a conspicuous success in fund-raining since
he could persuade the amir of a Gulf state?albeit not a conspicuously rich
Gulf State?to sponsor his movement. However, such success stories are
rare. Moreover, theArabs anyhow seem to feel greater affinitywith Spain
than with Britain, France or Germany.
Husayn 'Abd al-Fatt?h partly understood this.However, he still har

boured illusionsregardinga role forhim to play on theMiddle Eastern
scene. He rented respectable office rooms, established DARAB, the "Ger
man-Arab Trading Corporation", and looked out for a share in the export
import business. He himself had studied business management and was by
no means ill-prepared for the European part of the game. His associate and
faithful disciple, 'Umar Kohl, was a shrewd and active young man, but
lacked experience and had to learn from scratch. The business venture,
however, did not succeed for a combination of factors including the fact
thatthesponsorofDARAB had no priordirectexperienceof theMuslim
world, especially of business there. To cut a long story short, the business
venture proved a failure.
The fact thatDARAB turnedintoa disasterwas also due to bad

timing. Husayn started this business venture at a time of recession
in the
Middle East. By then, theArabs had become very cautious. Husayn, by no
means, wished to enrich himself by making use of Islam. On the contrary,
since all his ambitions centred on leading his movement, his desire was to
make money in order to create solid structures for his band of Sufi converts
and the German Muslim community in general. The stretch of land where
his group settled, comprising Bahlburg and Haus Schnede, is one of the
poorest inWest Germany. Carried along by themomentum of environmen
talism, they proceeded on the assumption that it held bright prospects for
young people eager to exchange the glamour of city life for the clean air of
this green bushland not farfrom Hamburg. Fish-breeding and cattle-raising
were to supply an evergrowiqg Muslim population with hal?l food. The
British royal family frequents the area for horse-riding. Husayn thought that
this could be an additional attraction, but he lacked the initial capital to
attract the oil-rich Arabs. Besides, it is doubtful if the scheme would have
worked, for the area's awful weather conditions might be alright for the
British royalty, but not for the amirs and businessmen of theGulf who are
altogether unaccustomed to this kind of weather.

VI
After these failures, Husayn returned to his former life as a wandering

lecturer, holding seminars on esoterism in general and Sufism in particular.
Many Germans, specially women, are fascinated by him and there is no
dearth of participants contributing their fee. However, with his growing
barelykepthim going.One of hiswives is
numberof childrenthisactivity
Austrian. Austria is one of the fewWest European countries to have recog
nised Islam legally as an "official" religion at a par with Catholicism, Protes
tanism and Judaism. Accordingly, there is religious instruction forMuslim
children inAustrian public schools. Husayn applied for a teaching position,
even though itmeant learning themore formal aspects of Islamic teachings:
facts and figures about the Qur'?n the way Turkish religious teachers learn
and teach them. For this purpose Husayn settled inAustria, not without
establishing there yet another "Institute for the Promotion of Sufism and
Research on Sufism, Federal Republic of Germany, Austrian Section".
As the director of this Institute, he no longer signs Husayn 'Abd

al-Fatt?h, but has returned to his previous name, Stefan Makowski. Prior
to this, the independent Sufi leader had tried for some time to demonstrate
that he could be both at the same time: Husayn 'Abd al-Fatt?h and Stefan
Makowski, without any conflict. In fact, he had business cards and letter
heads printed with both his names on them. On a more personal level, he
uses Husayn even now; it is the name that stuck, and he is generally referred
to as Husayn. Itwas a conflictive process of reconciling his roots in the land
with his revulsion against its society.
Initially given to a radical "Middle Easternization", Husayn very

soon discovered what most of the converts discover (some sooner, some
later) that inmany significant aspects they have largely retained their collec
tive identities based on their affinity to their homelands?Afghanistan,
Egypt, Panjab and so on. The moment a European convert has realized
that, he mostly sheds some of the outer manifestations ofArabism or Turkism
he had initially adopted. African-Americans are quite vocal on the subject.
After some exoticism during the time of Elijah Muhammad, they have in
creasingly come to affirm theirAmerican identity?as Muslims.
For some reason, this almost routine-like reorientation among con

verts to Islam is particularly strident among German Muslims. It would be
too speculative to discern here vestiges of chauvinism.. In all likelihood the
same would occur if there were a similar spread of Islam among Russians
and Poles or any other Nordic people who are temperamentally very different
from theMiddle Easterners. The differences in life-styles and behavioural
patterns between Northern Europe and theMiddle East are very consider
able, a natural result of geography and climate.

In any case, Husayn did not have to discover this for himself. A
heated debate was already going on this subject among German converts at
the time when he joined. It was usually the older converts telling the more
recent ones: "Do not become Arabs or Turks; be German Muslims. Listen
to us, we made the same mistakes you are committing now!"
In Bahlburg, sitting at the chimney-fire in Husayn's Sufi centre, a

long-time convert, Abdullah Huegel, recounted his experiences whole night
longand spokeof his latestdiscovery.As a technicianhe had spentsome
years inAfghanistan where he had converted to Islam and married an Afghan
woman. After his return to Germany he moved mountains in order to get
a huge building converted into a mosque for the large Muslim community
of Hanover. A man with modest education, Huegel had never been able to
understand much about the attitudes that characterize theMuslims of the
Middle East despite his many years inKabul and hisAfghan wife. His
predominantly Turkish mosque community was sharply divided into a major
ityofKurdishTurks (Shi'is) and an almostequal numberofTurkishTurks
(Sunnis), each group seeking to take over.
Abdullah tried to bring about reconciliation,but ended up

anathematizing both sides. At one time he called the police to the mosque
to break up a melee. After that he received phone calls threatening him
with theabductionof his childrenifhe did notmind his own business.He
took refuge in the village of his grandparents where he "drank from his
sources". Then cam the discovery. True Islam did not exist inAfghanistan,
Turkey or anywhere else in theMiddle East. Itwas hidden in thatGerman
village. The people there, his own people, were the real Muslims. Although
they did not even know that they were Muslims, theywere the only ones.
His visiting card still bore his name inArabic latters. In his innocence he
had never realized that some Middle Easterners could easily mistake him
for the German philosopher Hegel, for that was how his name (Huegel)
was printed inArabic.
By contrast, Husayn Makowski has a Faustian touch, and he could

not but draw his conclusions from this and similar accounts often heard from
visiting fellow-converts. Consequently, he began to enunciate a blending of
"Islamic values" and "German qualities"?whatever that may mean. His
definition of "German qualities" never went beyond adroitness and effi
ciency.An article of his published in theArabia?The IslamicWorld
Magazine (whichceased publicationin 1986)was veryprovocativein this
sense (see "Winning Respect for Islam inWest Germany," Arabia, January,
86). In that article Husayn explained the need for German standards of
cleanliness and orderliness. This he contrasted with themismanagement and
squalour he felt to have encountered in the mosques run by Turks inGer
many.

Furthermore, a German mosque is badly needed in the FRG. To

some thismight sound a rather heretical demand, but all the major
centres of Islam inGermany are in the hands of newcomers. Arabs
(Egyptians)hold swayinAachen andMunich; IraniansinHamburg;
Turks inBerlin and Hamburg. But only a mosque run by natives can
symbolize Islam's involvement in Germany and perhaps provide a
model inviting others to join. Presently, a German who is attracted
by Islam scarcelyfindsan opportunity
to submitto thefaithas such.
He has little chance of reaching the pristine purity of Islam. He can
only entrust himself blindly to a spiritual care that is Turkish, Arab
or Iranian in its outlook and paraphernalia. As a matter of fact,
conditions greeting such a convert are almost repellent at times. For
example, squalid conditions prevail in some of Hamburg's mosques.
It is hardly conceivable that a Punjabi villager, only semi-literate in
his own vernacular even, might officiate as an Imam in a mosque in
Kuwait or Morocco. In Germany, however, we are faced with pre
cisely such communication problems. In thisway access to Islam is
obstructed rather than facilitated.
There was something Byzantine (or Ottoman, perhaps) about this

article. In those days Husayn was competing with a Turkish group for the
acquisition of a mosque-like building. The Hamburg city council was pre
pared to hand it over to any respectable association able to guarantee its
maintenance as a historic monument.
The firstopportunity to establish a mosque (and eventually an Islamic

academy) run on German lines as a symbol of da'wah inGermany,
now offers itself inHamburg. The municipality owns a building that
has all the appearances and requirements of a mosque, e.g. a minaret
and a dome, although it certainly requires a complete overhaul. The
authorities are prepared to cede this building, free of charge, to a
Muslim organization on the condition that the expenses for renovation
are met by that organization. A German Muslim group of the required
type does already exist, but it lacks the threemillion German Marks
($ 1.2m) needed forthe restoration
of thebuilding.If such funds
could be obtained itwould be a decisive contribution to the establish
ment of a model of Islamic life in the FRG.
In the end, neither of them got it, for lack of funds, and the 50,000
Muslims of Hamburg continue with mosques that are converted apartments
or stores.
vn
It was but natural that after his disappointments inArabia and the
near disastrous failure of his business enterprise (DARAB), Husayn should

Islamic Studies, 30:4 (1991) 477
distance himself even further from theMiddle Easterners, emphasising the

necessity of "German qualities" to shore up "Islamic values". He did, how
ever, remain immune to the lure of neo-Nazism. This is not altogether
insignificant since several of the old-timers among German converts to Islam
did indeed come from that corner. Many well-known personalities of the
German Muslim community are said to be onetime members of Hitler's
Youth organization.As teenagecircleof friendsat theend ofWorld War
II, theydeveloped a peculiar likingfortheArabs, and convertedto Islam.
While there is no reason to believe these converts to be racists, those who
look at them critically tend to suspect that theymay have assimilated the
German chauvinism of yesterday to notions of Muslim supremacy.
This latter strand?the strand of Muslim

supremacy?which finds
manifestations in sections of Muslims inmany places in Europe, has found
strongest expression not in a German convert, but in a Briton, Shaykh 'Abd
al-Q?dir Dallas (al-Mur?bit) of the Darqawi fraternity. Probably the most
zealous convert anywhere expressing emotions of a rather extreme nature.
Based since 1985 inMadrid, he has been a visitortoBahlburg and wrote
an article forHusayn's magazine Sufi on "Wagner and Islam", which is an
epitome of his extremist trend of thought. Sufi, however, ceased publication

after the second issue and theDallas article was never published. The obses
sive Shaykh from Scotland could not win Husayn over to his fire-brand
version of Islam, but he did manage to take along Husayn's closest disciple,
4Umar Kohl, himself Scottish frommother's side.
vra
In view of those and many other queer associations under the aegis
of the Sufi brand of Islam, Husayn has emerged, after all these years of a
"pilgrim's progress" with its manifold reorientations, as remarkably safe
and sound, and seems on his way to end up as an almost traditionalist
Muslim, though unshakably Sufi and certainly with a distinct European, if
not Germanic, identity.
He is a gifted orator and a talented organizer. As a spiritual mentor

he has often had difficulties in coping with the onrush of so many "natives"
all wishing to learn the elaborate rituals in an "exotic" language. Though
he understands but littleArabic, the amount of Arabic incantations he and
his flock use in theirweekly dhikr (lit. "remembrance ofGod") is impressive.
Islam properly practised in the orthodox way can be quite exacting,

especially during Ramadan, themonth of fasting. Not only are his followers
also
required to undergo the rigours of dawn-to-dusk fasting, but Husayn is
in his insistence on a separation of the sexes during prayer
unrelenting
sessions and at other functions.

478 Islamic Studios, 30:4 (1991)
It remains to be seen whether the majority of local converts, many

of whom were previously followers of all kinds of Eastern gurus, are not
mere drifters. In the early eighties, when Bhagvan made a show of
retiring
from his guru enterprise, many of his followers inGermany and elsewhere
joined the Sufi movement, quite a few of them still in theirmaroon trousers
and sweat shirts. It was for this reason that the magazine Stern entitled its
obnoxious feature on Haus Schnede, "Bhagvan is out, Allah is in". Most
of those adepts left Sufism again when Bhagvan reorganized his followers
discreetly as a software network, part of a flourishing business empire. In
their new role as yuppies, the once so conspicuous disciples of Bhagvan,
are now critical of Sufis wearing Middle Eastern attire.
This holds trueespeciallyof ShaykhN?zim Qubrus?'sNaqshband?

novices who are often dressed as if they wished to reenact the Maml?k
epochofEgyptianhistory(16th-18th At Haus Schnede,theBurhani
century).
too,
Fraternity, isstill m?ch
very undertheswayofMiddle Eastern folklore.
Husayn, once themost stylish of them all with his comely turban and
impressive white robes, took to yuppie suits when he tried his luck as a
businessman. As explained above, thiswas also part of the reorientation he
underwentafter1984andmighthavepartlybeen provokedbyhisdifficulties
with foreignmentors bent on cutting the hyper-dynamic young convert down
to size.
Along with this, he also shed the emphasis on "healing" and

psychotherapy, although this is where he had started from. "Healing", be
it spiritual refurbishing or mental repair, has always been an
important
aspect of Sufi activity. But it is too obvious that only very fewMiddle Eastern
or North African Muslims are keen on curing sick or on picking
Europe's
up dropouts from the affluent societies of the north. In the south they are
rather looking forward to northern fellow-Muslims who do not just sit at
the receiving end but contribute their experience and knowhow to thewelfare
of communities in dire need of them. Moroccan authorities are generally
not too fond of Sufis, and all the less of hippies. Steps have been taken to
encourage high class tourism and to discourage the spiritualist influx into
Fes. Spain has not yet reached that point, but not everybody inGranada is
happywith the settlement
of the fanaticfollowersof theScottishShaykh,
'Abd al-Q?dir Dallas.
Husayn's progress toward a more realistic position might also have

been influenced by an awareness of such attitudes and developments. Always
a prolific writer, he now sees a more
rewarding role for himself as an intel
lectual.The resultis a voluminousstudy(yet to be printed) inwhich he
rebuts theNew Age theories of the present-day European philosophers from
a Sufi point of view.

Islamic Studios, 30:4 (1991)
Such new tasksof ap educationaltype

mightfinallybringHusayn the
"balanced" following he was always been seeking. His "healing" methods
seem to have been based on a peculiar type of hypnosis, that brought him
a larger number of female followers than males, which has given rise to
vexing problems. For this or some other reason Husayn seems to have
become more circumspect in the exercise of hypnosis, and prefers to wield
the pen rather than his eyes.
that forHusayn, conversion to Islam become a kind of

It is obvious
self promotion. He turned into a Sufi Shaykh while classmates or playmates
of his turned into party bosses or union leaders. He edited his own magazine,
Sufi,while friendsof his edited journalsof psychotherapy.
He conducted
seminars on esoterism, while former colleagues of his organized art exhibi
tions. Essentially, itwas the same activism and drive thatmoved all of those
energetic and intelligent young men and women. For some, like Husayn,
Islam became a vehicle of upward mobility, and as such, the Sufi version
of Islam was definitely more suitable than any other version of it.His Egyp
tian mentor, Sal?h 'Id, whom prison seems to have morally shattered, had
resigned himself to rather mundane exploits. But he had discovered that
there was a loftier role to play in a society cracking under itsown affluence.
That role he passed on to a grateful Husayn who was still in his twenties.
Husayn's pilgrim's progress has been faster than that of most other
converts. Within a span of fifteen years (since he first came under the
influence of Sal?h 'Id) he has traversed a number of phases forwhich others
need fifty or more years. He is young (36 in 1991), and is conscious of it.
He was too impatient to go for a degree, but completed high school

and went straight into business, as a teenager, in the early seventies. Dealing
with art objects, mainly paintings, he soon joined a circle of vanguardist art
specialists calling themselves "The New Savages" (Die Neuen Wilden), some
of whom have risen to fame in themeantime. Later Husayn attended some
courses in business management and marketing.
After several setbacks in his stormy career as a charismatic leader,

he now finds solace in having been called "prominent Muslim thinker" by
an important Islamic magazine (Arabia). He also proudly quotes the defamat
ory article in Stern that called Haus Schnede "the new Makkah of the
mystics", after all, Haus Schnede was nobody else's brainchild but Husayn's.
All this, however, is not to say that Husayn's conversion to. Islam
was motivated by a desire for distinction in society and for leadership.
Husayn has always been in the midst of it. One of his strongest points is
that he always seems to have his finger on the pulse of his generation. He*

interacts admirably well with all kinds of people, being perceptive and respon
sive. In other words, he could have gone in for any of the other fashionable
trends. His choice of Sufism was not merely based on a cool calculation that
this wasthe most promising enterprise. In fact, it did not seem so at all
when Husayn started with Sal?h 'Id. Europeans were still resentful of Arab
oil policies.Husayn had hardlyjoinedwhen the IranianRevolutionbroke
out. At that time it took a lotof courage to preach Islam inWestern Europe.
In the final analysis, then, even if there was any social motivation in
his conversion, the dominant motive was doubtlessly a religious one. And
the impulses were of all kinds: spiritual, intellectual, doctrinal, historical.
We find thesereflectedinhiswritings,especiallyin themanuscriptof his
yet unpublished book, The "New Age" is but a Prelude to Islam. In that
book, Husayn introduces himself as a one-time propagandist of the New
Age, someone who was then a vanguardist intellectual?and who continues
being so, by now demolishingthemythsof theNew Age theories,and by
pointing out the fallacies of the "pseudo-scientific" assumptions that had
gotten the better of his generation. As a Muslim and as a Sufi, he wishes
to explain the limitations to which the contemporary phenomena are sub
jected; the lack of eternity in the things that fascinate the proponents of a
New Age of ideological convergence. Husayn warns that everything is tem
poral, transient, limited, restricted, ultimately insignificant.He assumes the
role of a caller, telling people to come down from the new Tower of Babel,
to "get out of it".
One might say that the book falls under the category of "doomsday
literature", drawing heavily on eschatological materials from a variety of
historical sources and contemporary fantasies. But then,Husayn will always
be an irrepressible optimist with great plans for the future.What role were
there for him to play ifArmageddon were to occur now, if the world really
came to end before even the 90s are over? The real thing is yet to come.
Islam has yet to unfold. Husayn has yet to find his proper place.
IX
Critics will probably tear Husayn to pieces, ifat all any serious pub
lication takes note of this book about a New Age that has grown old already.
But even thatwould not deter Husayn's advance. Sooner or later the dare
devil convert will come up with something new and might achieve a break
through, at last.
One might argue that the authoring of such type of a book is, in
itself, symptomatic of the convert situation. Who among them has not turned
into an author? Or should we say that they converted to Islam because they

were authors in search of a theme? Hidayatullah Huebsch, the hippie-Sufi

of Frankfurt, (who belongs to the Ahmadi sect which theMuslims all over
theworld regard as outside the fold of Islam even though theAhmadis insist
on theirbeingMuslims, infacttheonly true
Muslims), never tiresof telling
what a terrible drug addict he was before his conversion saved him (out of
a mental hospital), is a celebrated poet. Some critics even consider him
present-day Germany's Number Two or Three lyric poet. As such, his

Punjabi outfit adds to his popularity, as a mark of distinction. The journalist
M. Salim 'Abdullah was a poor starter, but improved tremendously and
finally produced a good book on the history of Islam inGermany?almost
scholarly. Writing was his life-long passion, and at last he made it.Ahmad
Von Denffer wrote Islamic books, specially for children, which were pub
lished by the Islamic Foundation. There is nothing special about these books
though they are not bad either. Again, the passion forwriting is evident.
Fatima Heeren and Ahmed Schmede are excellent translators because they
are good writers. The list of "converts" as authors is long.
of theQur'?n, and
Husaynmay be ahistoricalinhis understanding
he may be apolitical in his views about Islam and the world?certainly two
important shortcomings. But he has an important advantage over other

converts out to play a similar leadership role: he is independent, too self-con
fident to be subservient, and honest, perhaps too much so.
Husayn seems to have outgrown the longing for legitimacy typical of

most other converts seeking a leadership role. He owes his independent
position to a number of seemingly unfavourable circumstances that proved
to be blessings in disguise. His mentor, Sal?h 'Id, departed from thisworld;
theShaykhin theSudan turnedhis back on him; closedisciplesabandoned
him;Arab businesspartnersdisappointedhim.A quick successionof rise
and fall, with the concomitant rich experiences, has added maturity to a
character by nature self-reliant. He still continues the game of self-inflatio
nary institution-building, as the high-sounding name of his "Institute for the
Promotion of Sufism and Research on Sufism" indicates, but it is all done
in a humorous vein.
We are talking here about behavioural patterns typical of converts

in the initial stage of their religious and social transformation. A decisive
difference with early convert attitudes can be seen inHusayn's integrative
abilities, his preparedness to allow for a variety of interpretations. Certainly,
most other converts claim that too. Even at the fundamentalist Haus des
Islam in theOdenwald forest, it is an often reiterated principle thatMuslims
could differ on many details and that "differences of opinion are a blessing".
However, neither the "Islamic Foundation" in its series of publications, nor
the monthly journal Al-Islam, published from a mosque inMunich, nor
'
Al-Fadschr, edited by A Bauer inHamburg, would permit such a spectrum

of opinions as were published in the quarterly magazine Sufi?A Journal for

Islam ad Mysticism, thatwas started by Husayn during his days at Bahlburg.
Itwas a learned journal, superbly edited, and evoked the envious admiration
even of itsrivals.
The most important difference, however, is precisely that Sufi was

not an embassy publication, that itwas not themouthpiece of any particular
government or political party in theMiddle East, and that it did not aim at
making its publishers emerge triumphant over other convert-run Islamic
publications. Sufi had many weak points, and the liberal tendency of not
pursuing a hidden agenda but of letting themost diverse positions exist side
by side was all too conspicuous. It is difficult to see how it could have
continued like this for long. To give just one example: the second issue of
themagazine publishedeulogies on the opposingpoles of sufismin the
Sudan, with pictures of both, the executed Mahmud Tah? and his opponent,
the head of theBurh?niyyah. Heart-warming as thismay be to some liberals,
it is totally unrealistic in the North African context and its reflection on the
convert scene inGermany.
At the same time, this serves to highlight the emancipatory tendency

discussed at present: the magazine Sufi, although, produced exclusively by
converts was, in its tendency and general outlook, the least typically convert
publication among half a dozen similar Islamic journals published by converts
inGermany.
An excess of zeal among converts is to be taken for granted, as a

universal phenomenon. Islam is, at present, in a state of turmoil,world-wide.
Though it is not all that sure if the orthodox version of Islam is really
everywhere "on the rise", still such a version certainly is a potent force in
several countries. And those countries tend to make stronger efforts to
recruit converts than the more general and relaxed Muslim communities.
Quite a fewMuslims actually have an aversion towards missionary

activities. To them, da'w ah smacks ofwhat Christianity practises and reminds
them of the colonial days. However, a number of Islamic organizations such
as the Saudi-sponsored Muslidm World League (mainly inEurope and Af
rica), or the International Institute of Islamic Thought (in U.S.A.), are

active in theWest although it appears that the organizations supported by
the Ayatollah-regime of Teheran are at least as active, ifnot more.
The result is that converts with their natural urge to prove their
mettle, are induced to become inclined to exhibit excessive zeal. InGermany,
this trend created fairly serious problems. The desire to be "more royal than
the king" might be regarded as a universal phenomenon with many converts
to any religion. In the case of Islam this has been aggravated by the encour

agement to extremism by some Muslim governments and organizations.

Under such circumstances converts make even stronger efforts to find accep
tance in the new community?for fear of not being taken seriously, of being
considered stillmore loyal to their community of origin than to the Islamic
of Islam),of not being fullyon the side of
ummuh(theworld community
theMuslims. Wishing to demonstrate that they have not come just half-way,
they easily adopt the most extreme positions taken in the world of Islam.
Seen against this sometimes frightening scene, the presence of Shaykh Hu
sayn Makowski, the peaceful and humorous Sufi disciple of a bon vivant
master suchas Dr. Sal?h 'Id, can only be felt as a relief.
Lestthere be any misunderstanding, this evaluation of Husayn

Makowski does not aim at making a case for him or propagandizing for him.
The purpose of the exercise was to provide a sharper analysis of the convert
attitudes and motivations, of developments and tendencies, by focussing on
Husayn Makowski as someone who is a very typical protagonist of the
a
European convert phenomenon and who, simultaneously, is indicative of
"normalization" tendency that usually gains the upper hand at a later phase
of a conversion movement. Parallels to the "re-integration" of the "Black
Muslim" mainstream into American society are obvious despite the very
different points of departure for the European Sufi converts.


Khalid Duran Muslim Diaspora: The Sufis in Western Europe

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Khalid Duran Muslim Diaspora: The Sufis in Western Europe

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MUSLIM DIASPORA: THE SUFIS IN WESTERN EUROPE

Author(s): KHALID DURAN

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Tue, 17 Jun 2014 06:38:02 AM

InWestern Europe, Muslim communities are a comparatively recent

Of these European converts to Islam, a significant number has joined

Sufism, often translated as "Islamic mysticism", is a broad term under

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These "sympathizers" are more than just "potential converts". They

Apart from the non-denominational Sufis, who are close to Islam

In two British schools for "Intensive Esoteric Education", the basic

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Some of these Brotherhoods follow a militant interpretation of Sufism

Part of the Darqawi Fraternity's attraction is that the Darqawis do

In fact, a fewDarqawis?and some other Sufis?are still in the process

As groups, the Sufis come mainly

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Queen Elizabeth, Italian aristocrats and German bureaucrats, French pub

And there is an impressive number of musicians among them. Islam's

Less known in theUS, but verypopular inSpain, is theAndalusian

While among converts inBritain and Spain, theMorocco-based Dar

The founder of Haus Schnede, Stefan Makowski, is the author of

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'Id, who never cutmuch ice at home or among educated immig

a member of theMuslim Brotherhood (al

After Husayn's assumption of leadership, tensions developed because

Much of the more philosophical Sufi literature, however, ridicules

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Such disagreementsled to a partingof theways, but both groups

Dropping in at Haus Schnede does not necessarily mean dropping

The forest villa also has a socializing role of yet another

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In all likelihood, there was some inter-Muslim rivalry involved. For

Husayn 'Abd al-Fatt?h accepted the fact that a sizeable number of

In July 1984, an Egyptian religious scholar, Shaykh Zaki al-Din

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BashirDultz, himselfa Sufiof sorts,soughttoestablishhiscredentials

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since itbecame dominatedby people devoted to ImamKhomeini and his

As Hizbullahis, which inmodern parlance stands for the "partisans

In any event, the much larger Sufi community, .whether of the

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As is often the case when religious movements split, the excommuni

While none of Sufis became conspicuously committed to improving

It cannot be denied that some of theWestern adepts are a bit eccentric,

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Husayn 'Abd al-Fatt?h partly understood this.However, he still har

The fact thatDARAB turnedintoa disasterwas also due to bad

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After these failures, Husayn returned to his former life as a wandering

As the director of this Institute, he no longer signs Husayn 'Abd

Initially given to a radical "Middle Easternization", Husayn very

For some reason, this almost routine-like reorientation among con

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In Bahlburg, sitting at the chimney-fire in Husayn's Sufi centre, a

Abdullah tried to bring about reconciliation,but ended up

By contrast, Husayn Makowski has a Faustian touch, and he could

This content downloaded from 188.72.126.41 on Tue, 17 Jun 2014 06:38:02 AM

Furthermore, a German mosque is badly needed in the FRG. To

There was something Byzantine (or Ottoman, perhaps) about this

The firstopportunity to establish a mosque (and eventually an Islamic

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distance himself even further from theMiddle Easterners, emphasising the

This latter strand?the strand of Muslim

epitome of his extremist trend of thought. Sufi, however, ceased publication