Spiritual Consumption in the United States: The Rumi phenomenon

Abstract

This article deals with the impact of Jalal al-Din al-Rumi's work on the American public. It tackles how his work is taken nowadays out of the Muslim Sufi tradition into an elusive spiritual movement which the author terms the 'New Sufism'. The article studies the differences and similarities between the scholarly approach to the work of Rumi and the 'New Sufism' approach and focuses on four main aspects of this transition. The first treats the idea of human love in its relation to the divine love in both approaches. The second studies the concept of a dancing universe in both views. The third treats the theme of illusion versus reality in the two perspectives. The fourth analyses the differences between Muslim scholars and the 'New Sufism' with regard to the concept of emptiness. In the conclusion the article stresses how the work of Rumi is currently 'used' by the 'New Sufism' to treat depression and sell products, and how Americans in general have a tendency to 'play' with the religious traditions of the world .

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