Podcasts · The Thinking Muslim

Has Sufism Become a Tool for Autocrats? with Dr Shadee El-Masry

4 Jul 2025 · 55 min

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Modern day autocrats turn to Sufi movements to justify their tyranny. With an emphasis on the personal and the spiritual, there is a tendency towards political quietism –dismissing the cries of Gaza – condoning normalisation and delegitimising struggles for liberation. Dr Shadee El-Masry, argues that historically, sufi movements have been at the fore of fighting for justice. Sufism produced illustrious anti-colonialism struggles and courageous warriors.

Dr Shadee El-Masry is the scholar in Residence and Director of Education and Community Affairs at the New Brunswick Islamic Center in New Jersey. He is also the founder and head of Safina Society—an institution dedicated to the cause of traditional Islamic education in the West.

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