Breathing Hearts

ï½It is a significant contribution to the field of Sufi studies as it documents some movements, such as the Tï½mata-Berlin, that are largely unknown to academic audiences ï½ one of its most remarkable aspects is that it provides an interesting evaluation of Murshidaï½s work in Western Europe today, an interesting and largely understudied area within Sufi studies.ï½ ï½ Marta Domï½nguez Dï½az, University of St. Gallen

ï½Breathing Hearts is a "thoroughly researched ethnography in which the author practices what she calls a ï½double apprenticeshipï½ in which she has acquired an impressive array of skills and knowledge in both anthropology and the practices of Sufism... Selim has produced a work that felicitiously embraces socio-cultural complexity, a task that meets the challenges of social description in turbulent times. Her text, which is derived from the aforementioned dual apprenticeship and features a skillfully produced mix of narrative and analysis, introduces some important concepts... ï½affective pedagogy, conditions of possibility, structural limitations, embodied religious practices, learning how to learn, and living social life otherwise... I also found the embodied emphasis on ï½breathingï½ to be particularly noteworthyï½something that takes the reader beyond this ï½ismï½ or that ï½ismï½ in the latest analytical toolkit.ï½ ï½ Paul Stoller, West Chester University