Expert: Drs. Kersten - 11/1/2004

Question
Appreciate formation on locating the history of Sufism in the form of books written in english.
Why it is not prevalent in Arabic heartland as much as in Asian countries?
What is the influence of Shiism on sufism? Considerable or negligible!
What are the Arabian roots of Sufism and how they differ from the universal current practice?

Answer
Some good overviews are given in:

Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam
Carl Ernst, Shambala Guide to Sufism

With regard to your observation that Sufism is not prevalent in Arab countries in comparison to non-Arab Muslim countries.
First of all, there is the issue of numbers: the countries with the largest Muslim populations are in South and Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India).
But I am not so sure if Sufism is that uncommon in the Arab lands. Countries like Egypt, Morocco, and maybe also Algeria have/had rich Sufi traditions.
Nevertheless, we associate Sufism more with Persian, Indo-Pak and Turkish Islam. One explanation maybe that these countries share a rather pluralist cultural outlook in contrast with the more homogeneous cultures of the Arab countries. This may have affected the 'temperament' of the Muslims there.
There are certain aspects in Sufism that may indeed be traced back to the influence of Shi'i thought. As we are currently learning more and more about Ismaili Shi'ism, it is becoming clear that this strand of Islam has had a tremendous impact on both Islamic philosophy and mysticism.

Sufism is very firmly rooted in the Islamic tradition and has as such 'Arab' roots. It is a often-repeated mistake that the Sufi tradition only started to develop after the Muslim world came into contact with the Hindu-Buddhist legacy of Asia.

Most Sufi isnads trace their origins back to the earliest mystics like Salman al-Farisi and Uways. We should also not forget the fact that both the Prophet and Imam Ali had a distinct mystical streak (how else should we explain Muhammad's habit of meditating on mount Hira?).
Other prominent Muslims like Ibrahim Adham, Dhu al-Nun al-Misri, Muhasibi, Junayd were firmly rooted in Arab-Islamic society even though their ethnic roots were not Arabian in the strictest sense of the word.

I am not sure i understand what you mean with the contrast between Sufism and  'current universal practice' (I think there is no such thing as universal practice)