Islamic Mysticism (Religion 337)

For Spring 2001

(see here for Spring 2000 schedule of the same class)

Omid Safi

Colgate Universsity

	Sufism: Path to God, through the Heart "Love is a flame. It burns away all that is not God."

Islamic Mysticism (Religion 337)

Colgate University

Omid Safi: osafi@mail.colgate.edu

(315) 228-7690

Catalogue Description

• This course seeks to engage the mystical interpretations of Islam (Sufism) as simultaneously one of the most important historical manifestations of the Islamic experience and one of the most pertinent ones for understanding Islam in the contemporary situation. Themes explored in this class include the tradition of love mysticism embodied by Rumi, the metaphysical formulations of Ibn al-Arabi, the formation of Sufi orders, the various meditative techniques, and Sufi poetry and music. The class also explores the controversies surrounding Sufism in the contemporary scene ranging from attacks on Sufism from Muslim fundamentalists to the role of Sufism in the spread of Islam in Europe and North America.

Grade to be based on:

• Daily assignment (Talking Points) plus active, in-class discussion: 40 %
• Bring a focused "talking point" (between 2-3 pages) to every class. A talking point is a form of dialogue between you and the readings: that is to say, reflections and queries you are prepared to share with a classmate and/or with the instructor. Your daily "talking points" will play a considerable role in shaping the day's discussion. Every talking point must contain 2-3 written questions to be asked in class.
• I leave it up to you to decide how you will engage the text in your talking point:
  *reflect on an idea you found interesting or intriguing in the assigned readings,
  *explore the implications of a particular idea,
  * discuss how the various readings complement or differ from each other,
  *compare to another work we've studied,
  *trace how the work speaks to a theme we encountered earlier.

• Midterm and Final research paper (15-20 pages): 30 each %

Important Dates to keep in mind:

January 25^th, 2001 6 P.M. Dinner at Omid’s home.
February 27^th, 20015 p.m. Sufi Music Concert, at the Hall of Presidents
March 1st, 4 p.m. Colgate Chapel, Qur'an Recitation
March 6, 2001, 4 p.m. lecture by Sa'diyya Shaikh on "Islam and Feminism"

Assigned sources:

Books:

Required for the class, bring the readings with you to each class.

1. Sheikh Mozzafer, Love is the Wine

2. Michael Sells, Early Islamic Mysticism

3. Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam

4. Carl Ernst, Teachings of Sufism

5. Ebn-e Monavvar, The Secrets of God's Mystical Oneness

6. Raghib Frager, Herat, Self, & Soul

7. Kabir Helminski, Rumi: The Path of Love

8. Valerie Hoffman, Sufism, Mystics, and Saints in Modern Egypt

9. STRONGLY RECOMMNEDED CD: Oruj Guvenc, Oceans of Remembrance.

Web resources:

You would do well to acquaint yourselves with the following web-page,

and use it as a frequent point of entry and exploration around many of the issues we will be discussing:

http://www.arches.uga.edu/~godlas/sufism1.html

The Course-PAC [CP]

The CP is to be purchased in the class. This is to save you the hefty cost of an official "Course-Pac."

1. Javad Nurbakhsh, "The Key Features of Sufism in the Early Islamic Period", Classical Persian Sufism: From its Origins to Rumi, p. xv-xxxix., [handed-out first day of class]
2. H. Landolt, "Walyah", The Encyclopedia of Religion, pp. 316-323.
3. F. Samuel Brainard, "Defining 'Mystical Experience", JAAR 1996(1): 359-388.
4. Al-Kalabadhi, "How the Sufis Account for their being called Sufis", The Doctrine of the Sufis, Translated by A. J. Arberry, pp. 5-11.
5. R. A. Nicholson, "Origin and Development of Sufism", Journal of Royal Asiatic Society (1906): 330-348.
6. James Morris, "Situating Islamic ‘Mysticism’: Between Written Traditions and Popular Spirituality", Mystics of the Book, Robert A. Herrera, ed., 293-334.
7. A. Schimmel, And Muhammad is His Messenger, pp. 24-55, 123-143.
8. Razi, "The Need for Zekr", "The Method of Zekr", "The Transmission of Zekr", "The Need for Seclusion", Path of God’s bondsmen, translated by Hamid Algar, pp. 268-285.
9. Michael Sells, "Ibn Arabi’s Garden Among the Flames: The Heart Receptive of Every Form", Mystical Language of Unsaying, pp. 90-115.
10. James Morris, "Listening for God: Prayer and the Heart in the Futûhât",[available through www.ibnarabisociety.org/morris.html
11. Abu Najib Suhrawardi, A Sufi Rule for Novices, trans. Menahem Milson, pp. 27-83.
12. S. H. Nasr, "Islam and the Encounter of Religions", Sufi Essays, pp. 123-152.

Click Here for Course Syllabus

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