Description

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This book follows the life of Ivan Agu li, the artist, anarchist, and esotericist, notable as one of the earliest Western intellectuals to convert to Islam and to explore Sufism. This book explores different aspects of his life and activities, revealing each facet of Agu li's complex personality in its own right. It then shows how esotericism, art, and anarchism finally found their fulfillment in Sufi Islam.

The authors analyze how Agu li's life and conversion show that Islam occupied a more central place in modern European intellectual history than is generally realized. His life reflects several major modern intellectual, political, and cultural trends. This book is an important contribution to understanding how he came to Islam, the values and influences that informed his life, and-ultimately-the role he played in the modern Western reception of Islam.

About the Author

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Mark Sedgwick is Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies at Aarhus University, Denmark.