Is there such a thing as Islamic esotericism?

Abstract

The term “Western esotericism” seems to exclude Islam, as the West and Islam are often taken as binary opposites, and as some scholars have suggested that Western esotericism is so Western that it is essentially distinct from non-Western phenomena. 1 Others have argued that while Western and non-Western esotericism may be hard to distinguish in structural terms at a theoretical level, it is still necessary to treat Western esotericism separately from a methodological perspective, as this allows scholars to situate it historically. 2 Both these views imply that there should be a distinctly “Islamic” esotericism. In fact, however, Islamic esotericism has so much in common with Western esotericism that it is wrong to treat Islamic and Western esotericism as distinct entities. They are theoretically and historically situated together. Islamic conceptions of esotericism have historically been close to Western ones, partly because they have common origins, and partly because there have been transfers between Islamic and Western esotericism over the centuries, transfers which continue today. Islamic esotericism differs from Western esotericism in its sociology, however, since while Western esotericism has usually been marginal and controversial, arguably a form of “rejected knowledge,” 3 Islamic esotericism has mostly been close to the mainstream, though sometimes also controversial.