ABSTRACT
Recent wars in the Balkans have left very deep scars among the Muslims of Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia. For Sufism, whether it be popular, or as a deeply felt Islamic spiritual inspiration amongst intellectuals, war has also brought about much suffering, self-examination, and also a challenge, which, in Bosnia, at least, has brought Sufism into the heart of the resistance movements, and into others which are struggling to redefine ethnic identity, cultural rebuilding and resettlement in villages and towns which have been devastated by battle and ethnic cleansing. Popular Sufi worship of devotion may be observed within an essentially Sufi movement, called Nashı¯d al-Huda¯, in Bosnia. Cassettes of ilahijas are for sale and are popular. Sold under the general title of A sik (Ilmija BiH) Taba cki Mesd zid, the content includes the invocation of God, tekbir, ilahijes; Ah ihvani, Bilmemnidejim, O Mu’mine. Salavat, Allah emrin ans and Asere. The chanting is deeply moving and is influenced by the chanting in the tekkes and it also shows certain similarities with the chanting of the Muslim Tatars in Belarus, Lithuania and Poland.
