ABSTRACT
Sufism has been an important element in the shaping of Islam in Britain since the early twentieth century when countercultural individuals discovered Islamic spirituality as part of growing easternisation of British religious life. An important element of Sufism’s development has been the encounter with Muslim protagonists and the struggle to reposition Sufism as an integral and essential part of Islamic tradition among new generations of British-born Muslims and this will form a key feature of the contents. Thus Partridge’s identification of subculture or counterculture beliefs and practices is important to understand one avenue for the transmission of Sufism into Britain but does not recognise the full fluidity of religious transmigration. The activities of the Darqawi Institute are a significant development within British Sufism at the time as they demonstrate the fluid borders between Sufism encountered as an esoteric but universal mysticism and full Islamic allegiance.
