Sufi Studies - Margaret Smith

Margaret Smith

Special note could be taken of the little cited but brilliant academic Margaret Smith who wrote (1925–1935) on the history of mysticism in the Near and Middle East from a woman's perspective leading to classic pages on early Christian mysticism, women in the early Christian Church, Christianity and Islam at the beginning of the Islamic era (see:Hanif), the rise of Sufism and the early ascetic ideal. Two exemplaries of her subject matter she studied in closer detail: Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya and Harith al-Muhasibi.

The summary of her work reposes in her:

" Studies in Early Mysticism in the Near and Middle East. Being an account of the rise and development of Christian mysticism up to the seventh century, of the subsequent development of mysticism in Islam, known as Sufism, and of the relationship between Christian and Islamic Mysticism with references, a bibliography and two indexes "

Dedicated to the memory of Thomas Walker Arnold

London, 1931 -The Sheldon Press; reprinted 1973 by Philo Press cv, Amsterdam.