This paper explores how Muslim movements in the United Kingdom draw upon tasawwuf (the inner spiritual and ethical discipline of Islam) to strengthen community security through intergenerational dialogue. Rather than relying on the term ‘Sufism’, the paper reclaims the term tasawwuf as understood within Islam itself, where it denotes a traditional Islamic discipline of moral and spiritual formation embedded within Qur’anic ethics and legal reasoning. The ethical principle of intergenerational dialogue is grounded in Qur’anic narratives, including those of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) (pbuh) and Prophet Ismail (Ishmael) (pbuh), and Prophet Musa (Moses) (pbuh) with al-Khidr, which illustrate humility, patience, and mutual trust as foundations of moral learning.
The study focuses on two contemporary movements, the Hizmet Movement and Minhaj-ul-Qur’an International (MQI), which apply principles of tasawwuf through practices such as sohbet (conversation) and halaqa (learning circles) to cultivate civic literacy, empathy, and responsibility. These gatherings transmit ethical and intellectual values across generations; therefore, they link spiritual development to social harmony.
Using a human security theoretical framework (UNDP 1994; UNTFHS 2016), the paper argues that sustainable community security for Muslims in Western contexts depends on moral, intellectual, and affective development rather than surveillance-based approaches. It concludes that tasawwuf functions not as mysticism detached from Islam but as a traditional Islamic moral discipline that nurtures dignity, trust, and social cohesion, aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the UN Pact for the Future.
