Meeting on the road: Cosmopolitan Islamic culture and the politics of Sufism

[extract] We can see that Islam provides a multi-layered religious, cultural and political complex with its own formulation of human rights and norms of international conduct. Certain elements within Islam, especially Sufism, provide a basis for a humanitarian, individualistic approach to life which is at once resilient and open to a range of cultural synergies. As such, a true Renaissance of Islam could provide a reinvigorating and stabilizing influence for 'Greater Central Asia' and the Middle East. It can also contribute to a cosmopolitan but pluralist world culture. This contribution will not be without challenge and competition for other civilisational-groups, including East Asia and the West, but this implies neither the necessity of violence nor warfare.