The first Sufis were loosely affiliated and highly mobile individuals who traveled throughout the Muslim Empire seeking intimate knowledge of God. As these “wandering darvishes” grew in number, temporary boardinghouses were constructed in high traffic areas like Baghdad and Khurasan where the mendicants could gather together and share what they had

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The consecration ceremonies of ancient Hebrew high priests and the early Christians are identical for one simple reason—Jesus and the first Christians took the ritual directly from the Old Testament. Scholars have long known this, but few dare to follow it to the obvious conclusions. Despite this, most recognize that Jesus was not trying to create

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The Persians, on the contrary, have been, from the earliest times, deeply religious and highly speculative. After their conversion, they made out of Islam something much more interesting, more religious, and more philosophical, than had been imagined by the Prophet and his kinsmen. Ever since the death of Mahomet’s son-in-law Ali in 661,

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