Mystic Regimes

Sufism and the State in Iran, from the Late Qajar Era to the Islamic Republic

This work is a socio-scientific and Iranological study of two Iranian, Sh'ite Sufi orders in the 20th century. It studies their comparative social development in relation to political regimes and explores the cultural repertoires that Sufis have used to cope with these. The introductory part examines the interpretation and the development, until the end of the Qajar era, of Iranian Sufism. The second part explores Sufism in the Pahlavi era. The third part deals with the Sufi orders in the Islamic republic. The fourth part provides afterthoughts on the relations between Sufi cultural repertoires and civil society.