AnneMarie Schimmel Dies in Germany

AnneMarie Schimmel was a former professor of Indo-Muslim Culture at Harvard University and an author of numerous books on Islam. From the NYTImes, "In 1995 she was awarded the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. This citation praised her life long search for "a synthesis of Islam and the modern".

An authority on Sufi mysticism, Dr. Schimmel is famous for her book "Mystical Dimensions of Islam", which is considered "the best and most comprehensive study on Islamic mysticism in the English language"
( Religious Sudies Review).


"Corporeal death is necessary", she said once in a lecture about Sufism. "How else do you get in close touch with the Divine Beloved?"
(NYTimes Obituaries, p 35 , 2/2/03.