“Globalization always results in the mixing of traditions that are constantly negotiated by the actors involved.” How a New Sufi Movement Globalized FRANK J. KOROM D ebates concerning globalization tend to coalesce around two nodes, one focusing on homogenization, the other emphasizing heterogeneity. The homogenizers argue that glob- alization leads to an erasure of difference, as when multinational corporations extend their reach— think of McDonald’s canonizing the iconic golden arches in every corner of the world. In contrast, the proponents of heterogeneity posit that while cul- ture does indeed travel transnationally from one place to another, it inevitably changes in subtle ways in the process. This makes seemingly identical phenomena essentially different because of adapta- tion to local circumstances. The hamburger, for example, does not taste the same in New Delhi or Beijing as it does in the heartland of the United States, despite sharing the same name. This, of course, can lead to contes- tation, as the 2007 controversy over Starbucks operating within Beijing’s Forbidden City demon- strated, for even adaptive globalization can threaten local culture as well as enhance it. The global is always imbricated in the local, and vice versa. In the religious realm, scholars similarly argue over sameness versus difference, including in faiths that expand globally. This is a long-standing debate in the comparative study of religion. In this essay, I wish to contribute modestly to that debate by using a case study of a South Asian–based Sufi community that spread to the United States, then to Canada and elsewhere in the West, during the 1970s. In Sri Lanka, where it originated, this group is known as the Serendib Sufi Study Circle (SSSC). In North America, it is known as the Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship (BMF), after its late Tamil-speaking founder, who is sometimes also referred to as Guru Bawa, or simply Bawa (father). In the process of making the transition from South Asia to North America, Bawa had to adapt his teachings and practices on American soil to suit his new audience. As a result, the North American ver- sion evolved into an entity that is clearly different from its Sri Lankan counterpart. The BMF makes for an interesting example of religious globalization because most of the people who were initially attracted to it were part of the American middle and upper classes, coming from both white and African American communities, though now the fellowship is predominantly Caucasian. FROM THE JUNGLE TO JAFFNA Bawa was an enigmatic figure who seemed to rise almost out of thin air. Little is known about his life before his emergence as a charismatic preacher, mystic, and healer. This has given birth to a hagiographical oral tradition that emphasizes his miraculous deeds and timeless qualities. Such oral narratives are now in the process of being written down in the memoirs of many people who were close to Bawa during his lifetime. My data, therefore, are derived mostly from primary sources gathered while doing ethno- graphic fieldwork in both North America and Sri Lanka: interviews, reminiscences, testimonies, gossip, and written correspondence among mem- bers of Bawa’s inner circle. These people clustered around Bawa immediately after his public ministry began in earnest, and most are still active in the organization founded in his name. According to the variety of sources I surveyed during the early days of my research, a holy man named Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen emerged from the jungles of southeastern Sri Lanka sometime between 1940 and 1942. He was a nonliterate, Tamil-speaking hermit with a seemingly youthful persona, sporting a long, silky beard. He would later be identified as a Sufi belonging to the Qadari lineage founded by his FRANK J. KOROM is an emeritus professor of religion and anthropology at Boston University. 308 Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/currenthistory/article-pdf/123/856/308/838947/curh.2024.123.856.308.pdf?casa_token=zyKa089QS-MAAAAA:Y1H0JNygXifdYQcAOAUvuJrkFVT0w-h0njSUVToGiZysJZVXP72tw7yI6KfixWGra9qB7Xo by Boston University user on 05 January 2025