A National Sufi Order with Transnational Dimensions: The Maktab Tarighat Oveyssi Shahmaghsoudi Sufi Order in London

Abstract

Figuring out how one should live as an Iranian Muslim in London proves not an easy undertaking when feeling estranged from both the versions of Islam being promoted by the Islamic regime in Iran, and the national debates surrounding Muslim integration in British society. This article looks at how the tradition of Sufism has been reworked in the light of these circumstances, and reveals an aspect of the constructional process in which individuals engage when confronting the tensions between different definitions of belonging and differentiation. It shows how the transnational organisation called the Maktab Tarighat Oveyssi Shahmaghsoudi (School of Islamic Sufism) has been created and informed within a broader context of social dialogue through various means of communication and information technology and articulated by Iranians who have multiple affiliations and associations with London, Iran and the Iranian diaspora.

Keywords:

• Identity
• Iranians
• London
• Sufism
• Transnationalism

Notes

Kathryn Spellman is Lecturer in Sociology at Huron International University and Syracuse University's London campus. She is also Visiting Research Fellow at the Sussex Centre for Migration Research, University of Sussex. Correspondence to: 78 Winchester Road, St. Margarets, London TW1 1LB, UK. E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]

Gilroy (1990), Hall (1992) and Bhabha (1995) rightly challenge essentialism and set out to de‐couple ethnicity from culture, nation, race and nature. By invoking concepts such as ‘hybridity’, ‘new ethnicities’ and the ‘third space’, such approaches blur the boundaries between insiders and outsiders and promote a new vision of justice which gives primacy to difference, local knowledge and heterogeneity. The efficacy of these concepts depends on how they are measured and guided by empirical research. There is also a danger in the politics of identity of assuming that fusing ‘two’ identities, such as ‘British Muslims’, will necessarily destabilise existing hierarchies. This could inadvertently prevent other alliances from forming which could improve the conditions of marginalised groups. Another problem with this type of approach is that it seems to focus mostly on the movements of intellectuals, artists and political activists, and assumes that everyone else in the margins is able to (and wants to) celebrate the fusion of old and new identities (see C¸aglar 1997; Werbner 2000).

Demographic material on the Iranian population in Britain is limited. According to the 2001 census 40,767 Iranians live in England and Wales. The 1991 British census found 32,262 Iranian nationals living in Britain. These figures do not include children born to Iranian parents, nor those whose immigration status is unclear. According to the Iranian consulate in London, 75,000 Iranians are living in Britain; around 35,000 are registered at the consulate.

For a full listing, see UK Asylum Statistics 1999 to 2002 at www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/.

For a listing of Iranian services in Britain, see http://www.markirani.co.uk. For a discussion on the political and socio‐economic dynamics that underlie the various Iranian organisations and services in London, see Spellman (forthcoming 2004).

Mass‐media forms are aimed and marketed at various socio‐economic, political, religious and ethnic networks in London. The principal newspapers in London, Kayhan, Nimrooz and Etela'at, mainly carry news from Iran and advertise Iranian services and events around the diaspora. Magazines and newspapers such as Banu, Niazmandihah, Nameye Digar, British‐Iranian Business News and E‐run focus(ed) more attention on the problems and issues Iranians face outside Iran as well as circulating information about Iranian cultural events. A number of Iranian television channels from Iran and Los Angeles are also available.

Many reported that the Internet is ideal because they do not like to attend Iranian cultural events but they like to talk anonymously in chat rooms about topics such as Iranian identity, dating, marriage and politics. It is also an important medium for the organisation and expression of political opposition and resistance in the Iranian diaspora. The Internet and other sorts of media have also been used in creative ways to reinforce the aims and objectives of the religious organisations.

For an overview of these debates, see Vertovec and Peach (1997) and Werbner (2000).

The Nimatullahi and the Khahabiyyah, along with other Sufi orders such as the Naqshbandi, Shadhili and Khaawatiyyah, have also enjoyed growing popularity in Western countries among expatriates and Western converts.

For a full listing of various centres, see http://www.mtoshahmaghsoudi.org/.

Molana‐al‐Moazam Hazrat Shah Maghsoud Sadegh Angha's daughter, Dr. Nahid Angha, is the author of several works dealing with Sufism and is the co‐founder of the International Association of Sufism and the Foundation of the Sufi Women's Organization, founded in 1993 and headquartered in northern California. More research on these associations is needed. I have been told that a schism occurred due to disagreements around the role of women in the Shahmaghsoudi Order. In her publications, she does not acknowledge her brother, who is the current Master of the Oveyssi Shahmaghsoudi Order, and pledges her allegiance to Dr. Shah Nazar Seyed Ali Kianfar. According to International Association of Sufism literature, Dr. Ali Kianfar is the spiritual son of Molana‐al‐Moazam Hazrat Shah Maghsoud Sadegh Angha and became one of the followers who was appointed by the master as a teacher. See Angha (1991).

I have asked several Sufis how much money they are expected to give to the order. According to my informants the Sufi order has never put a price on Sufis' offerings. One 32‐year‐old male said he tries to give £100 every two or three weeks. Other informants said that the order depends primarily on the contributions of a handful of wealthy families. Several women said that they give the order money generated from vows or nazrs.

The rules prohibiting conversation initially made it difficult for me to get to know the Sufis and ask questions. After regularly attending gatherings, many of the Sufis became familiar with my face. This made it easier for me to introduce myself after the gatherings, on the streets outside the khanaghah, and at bus stops and tube stations. I would then arrange to meet in cafes, their homes, etc. to learn about their lives outside the order.