Paradigms of Islamic Spirituality

Catalog description

This course explores inner purification and moral refinement through the Qur'an, Prophetic tradition, as well as classical and post-classical Sufi literature. Students engage with diverse spiritual paradigms ranging from early Sufi figures like Abu Yazid al-Bistami and Imam al-Qushayri to later synthesizations in Imam al-Ghazali, Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, Ibn Arabi, and Rumi, and survey the various guilds of the post-classical period. Students will understand how the Islamic tradition shaped personal transformation and collective ethics over time as an integrative framework for both theoretical and practical disciplines.