Chowdhury/A Sufi Apologist, 2. Geography and Environment

Chapter Two attempts to distil from a survey of the social, political, and intellectual trends within the city of Nishāpūr those factors and events that have a direct or indirect bearing on al-Sulamī’s formative years as well as the broad contours of his exposition of Sufism. It will also include general analyses of the historical developments and evolution of Sufism from its ascetical origins through to a mystical elaboration by al-Sulamī’s time and his role in the apologetic phase of that evolution.