Post-Apartheid Sufi Resurgence

Abstract

The Sufi tradition in South Africa—with roots going back to the seventeenth century— regained momentum in the 1990s. Capitalizing on the reduced authority of the ulama, the new Sufi leaders could claim to represent a normative South African version of Islam. Moreover, their focus on the grassroots has increased their visibility in many townships and allowed them to provide spiritual solutions to everyday social issues.