REL 16.06 Sufism: The Mystical Tradition of Islam

This course examines Sufism or what is often called the mystical tradition in Islam. In Western media and popular discourse, Sufism is often portrayed as the “soft-side” of Islam that is uninterested in rituals, norms, the law, or politics—in contrast to the harsh “legalism” of the Shari\u02BFa, or Islamic law. In this course, we will investigate this portrayal through a rigorous textual and conceptual study, using both primary Sufi texts and secondary sources. The course explores multiple aspects of Sufism including its institutional and intellectual history, metaphysics and cosmology, meditation and disciplinary practices, poetry and literature, modern debates over the limits of normative Sufism, and orientalist and neo-imperialist representations of Sufism. A major focus of this course will be on close readings of primary texts, all in translation.

Not open to students who have received credit for REL 25.

Cross Listed Courses

MES 17.21

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:TMV; WCult:NW

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