BIBLIOGRAPHY

​ Through this book, combining art and history, personal testimonies and biographies, Sheikh Khaled Bentounes invites us on a journey into Sufism, the heart of Islam. This 368-page work takes us from the origins to the future, from the lives of spiritual masters to those of their disciples, from men to women, and from the intimate to the universal. It brings together personal accounts, previously unpublished documents and an exceptionally rich, sometimes extraordinary, collection of images. A work born of patience and a commitment to truth, undertaken with discernment and pure intention: to discover or rediscover our shared heritage.

This book, which made a significant impact when it was first published, remains one of the finest and most comprehensive introductions to Sufism, the spiritual dimension of Islam. Its author, the leader of one of the most important Sufi orders in the Maghreb, has successfully brought the tradition into the modern world, making universal brotherhood and interfaith dialogue the central pillars of his message. Here, he explores Sufism in both its theoretical and ritual dimensions, including the relationship between spiritual master and disciple. The new preface by Christian Delorme highlights the decisive contribution this now-classic work has made to the discovery in France of “another Islam”, rooted in love and tolerance.

The Story of a Sufi Order Today regarded as one of the most prominent figures in Sufism, Sheikh Khaled Bentounes is above all the heir to a spiritual movement whose roots reach back to the great mystics of medieval Islam. Together with Bruno Solt, a writer and specialist in religious studies, he recounts the extraordinary human journey of his forebears. Seeking to revive and enrich Sufism’s timeless spiritual heritage, his great-grandfather, Sheikh Ahmed al-Alâwî (1874–1934), founded a new Sufi order in Mostaganem in 1909, distinguished by its openness to other religions and to modernity. Yet the founder’s universal outlook did not prevent the French colonial administration from viewing him with suspicion, for he was also a patriot. His son and grandson, who succeeded him, became actively involved in Algeria’s struggle for independence, before themselves being persecuted by an authoritarian and anti-religious FLN. When his father died of exhaustion before reaching the age of fifty, Khaled Bentounes began a new life in France. Unexpectedly, however, the council of elders of the Alâwiyya Sufi order appointed him as its spiritual leader. He would go on to give this role an international dimension, promoting interfaith dialogue, environmental awareness and education, notably through the Muslim Scouts of France. This fascinating family saga, shaped by the upheavals of Algerian history, reveals a vision of Islam grounded in universal love and expressed in the realities of social life and modernity.

Drawing on spiritual teachings rooted in the universal wisdom of Sufism, Sheikh Khaled Bentounes, spiritual guide of the Alawiyya Sufi order, invites us to rediscover the essential dimension of our original nature, which has gradually been obscured by our cultural conditioning. From a Sufi perspective, therapy of the soul consists of a journey towards the centre of our being through an education that awakens the senses. It enables the human soul to free itself from its instincts, fears and illusory desires. We can then become aware of the precious treasure within us, present since the day God decreed, according to the Qur’anic tradition, that humanity would become His representative (Khalifa) on Earth. By embracing this responsibility, human beings can work in full trust and confidence towards the fulfilment of the divine plan and their own destiny. Therapy of the Soul challenges many preconceived ideas and invites us to question the very foundations of human nature.

Sheikh Khaled Bentounes is descended from a lineage of Sufi masters tracing their spiritual heritage back to the Prophet Muhammad. Following his father’s death, he was appointed by the council of elders to lead the Alawiyya Sufi order. Thus began a long journey of inner exploration, taking him across Africa, the Middle East and Europe, where he shares the teachings of the Sufi tradition. In this book, Sheikh Khaled Bentounes offers a fresh reading of selected verses of the Qur’an. By uncovering the deeper meaning of Islam’s foundational scripture, while also highlighting the universal dimension of its message, this new interpretation presents a vision of the Qur’an that stands in stark contrast to all forms of fanaticism and sectarianism. All forms of religious fundamentalism seek to impose an order they regard as immutable, forgetting that a strictly literal interpretation of religion reveals only superficial truths, which have been the source of many tragedies. Sheikh Bentounes explains that true spirituality is an ongoing quest to discover the reality of the message, enabling us to savour, through sharing, the richness of life and the inexhaustible flow of the Divine that it carries within itself.

Sufism Today Contrary to widespread misconceptions, Islam has a dimension of peace, fraternity and humanism rooted in the very heart of the Qur’anic message. Sheikh Khaled Bentounes, spiritual master of the Alawiyya Sufi path, draws on the deepest sources of the prophetic tradition to explore relations between Islam and the West, the place of women in Islam, the causes of religious fundamentalism, Algeria’s religious heritage, and the spiritual role of human beings, as well as the meaning of prayer and fasting. ​ Through his sincere and open words, he shows how Sufism, the mystical dimension of Islam, brings together the esoteric and exoteric aspects at the heart of human experience. This book is intended for all those who feel the urgent need to understand Islam and its spirituality, not only to dispel misunderstandings, but also to rediscover the original bond between the human being and God.

True spiritual transmission cannot be accumulated as personal wealth, nor can it be subjected to the pursuit of personal gratification. If I give someone knowledge, affection, an object, pleasure or pain, these things will eventually disappear. Spiritual giving, however, is not subject to death. The true and essential exchange that should take place between human beings would be to share something that transcends death. Arnaud Desjardins directs the Hauteville spiritual centre in Ardèche, France. Philippe Haddad is a rabbi affiliated with the French Jewish Consistory. Sheikh Bentounes is the spiritual leader of the Alâwiyya Sufi order. ​Peter Fenner, docteur en philosophie du bouddhisme, enseigne l’histoire des religions à l’université de Deaking en Australie.

Modernity fills our daily lives with information and has elevated the individual to a position of unprecedented dignity, yet it has also multiplied our experiences of loneliness. The human condition remains defined by two poles: a birth into this world that we did not ask for, and a death whose timing remains unknown. How can we transform the time between these two moments into a full and meaningful life, one whose significance extends beyond ourselves? Thinkers from a wide range of traditions — Sufi masters, Zen and Tibetan Buddhist monks, doctors, priests and writers — explore the paths and stages of this inner quest that reaches beyond the self. A dialogue that resonates as an invitation not to let life pass us by. Featuring: Stan Rougier, Roland Rech, Lama Puntso, Swâmi Saraswati, Jean-Paul Guetny, Sheikh Khaled Bentounes, Richard Moss, Marie de Hennezel and Christiane Singer.

A Mirror of the Divine This second issue is devoted to meta-ecology, a term coined by Jean-Marie Pelt, and revolves around Spinoza’s famous statement: “God is Nature.” There is, indeed, a way of speaking about our environment and nature in the broadest sense that goes beyond quantitative and material considerations. To save our world, we must truly re-enchant it. Marc de Smedt invited around thirty specialists — philosophers, scientists, naturalists, sociologists, ethnologists, poets and journalists — to share, within their respective fields and drawing on their own experiences, how the concept of nature resonates with them at the deepest level of their being. The result is a renewed vision of the Earth as a living being and of the universe as an entity animated by an intelligence that transcends us, yet is nonetheless real and profoundly thought-provoking. Sheikh Khaled Bentounes embodies the essence of a tolerant and enlightened Islam. Committed to a form of spiritual ecology, he offers his perspective on the visible and invisible dimensions of the world. Contributors include: Leili Anvar, Sheikh Bentounes, Christian Bobin, André Comte-Sponville, François Cheng, Aurélie Godefroy, Jacqueline Kelen, Jean-Yves Leloup, Michel Onfray, Jean-Marie Pelt, Pierre Rabhi, Hubert Reeves, Marc de Smedt, and others.

What is inner life? Do you have one? If so, can it be cultivated? Is it not both the source of our thoughts, feelings and intuitions, and the wellspring of all creativity and spirituality? Patrice van Eersel guides us through a fascinating investigation, unfolding through conversations with eight remarkable figures: psychiatrist Christophe André, neurologist Stanislas Dehaene, paediatrician Catherine Dolto, mathematician Cédric Villani, singer Arthur H., Sufi master Sheikh Bentounes, biblical scholar Annick de Souzenelle, and poet Christian Bobin. From the “silent inwardness” described by Christophe André to the “inner child playing hide-and-seek” whom Christian Bobin invites us to rediscover, this is an unprecedented journey into what each of us carries within: something essential and unique.

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