SUFISM: ISLAMIC MYSTICISM AND SPIRITUALITY
Department of Religious Studies, FIU Professor: Dr. Carlos Grenier ([email protected]) Office hours: Before class or by appointment
Overview: At the heart of the religion of Islam is its mystical tradition, Sufism. Practitioners of Sufism often departed from Islamic law and traditional orthodoxy and follow edwidely varying paths towards a mystical union with the divine. Usually organized into distinct groupings and schools of thought, Sufis strove for spiritual progress through an array of meditative practices, mystical recitations, music, and dance. They often expressed these truths in poetry and other arts, and so profoundly influenced Islamic culture as a whole. Ultimately the spread of Islam into Asia and sub-Saharan Africa was almost exclusively through the syncretic and esoteric teachings of these mystics who formed bridges between indigenous philosophies and the Islamic tradition by a focus on love of the Divine, the Prophet, and his family over fear of Divine judgment. Today Sufi mysticism remains a vitally important aspect of contemporary Islam – one that is not always visible on the global stage.
Aims: This course aims to use primary and secondary texts to give students a thorough grasp of the Sufi mystical perspective, its terminology, and the social histories of its practitioners. By the completion of this course, students shall be able to (1) Recognize the major ethical and philosophical precepts that unite Sufism across its many manifestations, (2) Become aware of key variations within the varied panorama of Sufi thought and practice, and (3) Be able to place Sufism within a historical and cross-cultural perspective.
Texts: ALL texts will be provided as PDF’s on the Blackboard site, and will be uploaded at least one week prior to the class in which they will be discussed. Note that we will be returning often to Annemarie Schimmel’s The Mystical Dimensions of Islam.
Evaluation: 30% - Midterm Exam (a mix of identification and essay questions) 40% - Research Paper (5-9 pages) 15% - Participation 15% - Blackboard response write-ups and other assignments
Occasionally I will ask students to comment on their readings using the Blackboard system. These assignments and others will be disseminated over email.
August 24: Introduction, Basic Themes & The Origins of Sufism Qur’an 3, 24, 101-114. (http://al-quran.info , use the translation by N. J. Dawood) Hadith Qudsi of “The Hidden Treasure”
August 31: Early Sufism and the Genesis of Sufi Communities Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, 23-97. (PDF) Michael Sells, “Early Muslim Spirituality and Mysticism” in The Muslim Almanac, ed. Azim Nanji. (PDF) al-Ghazali, passages from Deliverance from Error, trans W. M. Watt. (PDF)
September 7: Communities and Ideas Excerpts from the Letters of Ibn ‘Abbad of Ronda, trans. John Renard. (PDF) Selections from Kristin Sands, Sufi Commentaries on the Qur’an in Classical Islam, Routledge, 2008. (PDF)
September 14: Ideas and Key Concepts
September 21: Sufi Metaphysics: Love and Knowledge William Chittick, Sufi Path of Knowledge, ix-xxii, 3-30. (PDF) Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, 259-86 Excerpts from Suhrawardi, Forms of Light and Ibn ‘Arabi, Bezels of Wisdom. (PDF) Excerpts from Shabistari, The Rose Garden of Mystery. (PDF)
September 28: Sufi Practices: Saints and Rituals YouTube Videos (TBD) Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, 167–86. Excerpts from hagiographies. (PDF)
October 5: Poetry Jalal al-Din Rumi, Swallowing the Sun, trans. Franklin Lewis. (PDF provided). Poetry of Yunus Emre, Sultan Bahu, al-Busiri. (PDF)
October 12: MIDTERM
October 19: Sufi Brotherhoods Spencer Trimingham, Sufi Orders in Islam, 31-66 (PDF)
October 26: Women in Sufi History – Pratices on Sufism’s Margins Readings on Rabi‘a al-‘Adawiyya and the poems of Mihri Hatun, Fatima Jahan-Ara, and ‘A’isha Ba’uniyya. (PDF) Ahmet T. Karamustafa, God’s Unruly Friends, Chs. 5-8. (PDF)
October 26: Messianism, Mysticism in Politics, and its Critics Readings from the writings of Shah Ni‘matullah Vali, Shah Isma‘il, and others. (PDF) “Ibn Taymiyya,” Encyclopaedia of Islam, ed. 2.
November 2: Sufism and the Spread of Islam to South Asia and Europe Richard Eaton, The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier and Nikolay Antov, The Ottoman ‘Wild West’, selections TBD. (PDF) Richard Eaton, Eight Indian Lives, Ch. 2, “Gisu Daraz” (PDF) November 9: Sufism and Islam in Africa Readings TBD
November 16: Islamic Spirituality in the Modern Era Elizabeth Sirriyeh, “Contemporary Sufism & Anti-Sufism” in Sufis and Anti-Sufis. (PDF) Mark Sedgwick, Western Sufism, pp. 133-263 G. Webb, “Sufism in America” in America’s Alternative Religions, ed. J. Miller. (PDF)
November 23: THANKSGIVING
November 30: Film or Guest Lecture, Review
December 7: FINAL ESSAY DUE