Sufi Western Islam: the Muslim Latin American landscape

This chapter examines the presence of Sufism in Latin America taking into account the creation of institutionalized groups, which see themselves as part of Islam. These groups emerged in the 1980s, gathering a heterogeneous membership involving exclusively converts, and their development was not consistent among the different countries. We will consider the existence of Sufi groups as depending on the local charismatic leadership of their shaykhs and on the transnational relationships built with reference centres and leaders at the international level. Since Argentina is the country with the largest presence of Sufism, we will largely focus on this case.