Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Richard W. Bulliet, Islam: The View 

from the Edge (New York: Columbia University Press, 

Shafii Legal School

  

617  J

---

1994); Wael B. Hallaq, The Origins and Evolution of 

Islamic Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 

2005); Christopher Melchert, The Formation of the 

Sunni Schools of Law (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1997).

Shah, Idries

 

(1924–1996)  popular writer and 

teacher who introduced Sufism to the West as a form 

of self-realization

Born in Simla, i

ndia

, to an Afghan father and a 

Scottish mother, Shah came to England as a teen-

ager, studied at Oxford, and subsequently traveled 

extensively. Following his father’s death in 1969, 

Shah became known as the leader of the Sufis, 

or Islamic mystics. Shah spent most of his adult 

career in England enthusiastically introducing 

s

UFism

 to Western audiences, while teaching and 

writing books that emphasized the psychological 

dimensions of Sufism. Shah has authored over 

30 titles, and most popular are his books on Sufi 

wisdom stories and folktales. Shah’s purpose was 

to dispel Western myths about Sufism while edu-

cating the public about Islamic mysticism. In his 

texts, he does not claim to be part of any particular 

Sufi order, nor does he promote a belief in i

slam

.

In this respect he is a nontraditional Sufi. Shah’s 

work is popular in the U

nited

 s

tates

. It has been 

translated into 12 languages and is used in vari-

ous academic disciplines, including psychology, 

anthropology, and religious studies. Shah’s books, 

including  The Sufis (1964), Tales of Dervishes: 

Teaching Stories of the Sufi Masters over the Past 

Thousand Years (1967), and Learning How to Learn: 

Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way (1978), 

earned him the admiration of numerous writers 

and poets, and his home and center in England 

routinely catered to upper-class gatherings. In 

1970 the BBC produced and televised a documen-

tary, Dreamwalkers, focusing on Shah and Sufism. 

Shah won numerous awards, including several 

first prizes from UNESCO (United Nations Edu-

cational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) 

and was the director of studies for the Institute for 

Cultural Research in London from 1966 until his 

death. Shah’s followers, organized as the Society 

for Sufi Studies, remain critical of traditional Sufi 

practices that emphasize forms they believe are in 

conflict with the modern world.

Mehnaz Sahibzada