Some interesting comments on Sufism in the US

I met Mushtaq when I was in New York State last August. He is an interesting person and has been a Muslim dervish for over 40 years. He is also a Silat Master of the Silat Zukfikari . The other interesting thing about him has to be that he is Native American and also mixed white ancestry, I forget which but I think Irish ..and grew up in a resevervation. He however does not look Native American and can easily pass for a Caucasion with his pale skin and blue eyes. The result is a very interesting person whom you would not care to have a difference of opinion with, except if you are a short Malaysian lady who wears demure baju kurongs and tudongs and disagrees with him in very diplomatic ways. I think he had to fight his way to get an education,
( and everything else) which he did superbly, having been a college professor at one point in his life..which he claims to be very long..one can' t really tell because he does not wrinkle and has had white hair for more than 20 years.
Anyway this post he has on his blog The Traceless warrior is worth a read if you are interested in the goings on of Sufism in the US today. I believe all sorts of spirituality are making a comeback and what I observe is that whenever there is a renewal of something, fake and imitation products of the real will also appear as we say in Malay, like mushrooms after rain.
Mushtaq's latest entry on his blog has a commentary on this , based on an experience he had recently with a "guru silat" and "sufi teacher".

The post titled When did it become a contest on Traceless Warrior .

One other interesting thing about Mushtaq is that he took up Islam after his anthropology research which he did for his thesis kept turning up Sufis at many important points in the history of Man. He will tell you very interesting things about sufi activities through the ages in the most unlikely places ..This made him dig deeper , find a real live Shaikh and take initiation and become Muslim all in one go.