Shems Friedlander  Shems Friedlander is an American Islamic scholar, Sufi master, visual artist, filmmaker, author and an emeritus professor of practice at the American University in Cairo. He is best known for his works on mystical traditions of Islam, especially the Mevlevi Sufi tradition founded after the name of Mevlana Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī. Friedlander was born in New York in 1940 in a Jewish family. He received his education from the Massachusetts College of Art and graduated in 1963. He began his career as a graphic designer. In his early years, he learned about Sufism from Vilayet Inayet Khan, son of the Sufi Sheikh Inayet Khan. This led him to Muzaffer Ozak Efendi and, through conversion, ultimately to Islam in early 1970s. Later, he became a member of the Mevlevi Sufi order. Joining as a lecturer, Friedlander has served as a professor in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at the American University in Cairo since 1994. In 2012, he was named as one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world. Apart from photography and paintings, Friedlander has authored ten books on Sufism and Mevlana Rumi and has made few documentary films. His works have been translated into many different languages including Arabic and Turkish.