Muhammad U Faruque
Muhammad U. Faruque is the Inayat Malik Associate Professor and a Taft Center Fellow at the University of Cincinnati. He also holds a Visiting Scholar position at Harvard University. His research lies at the intersection of philosophy, science, and environmental studies, especially in relation to the Islamic intellectual tradition. He earned his PhD (with distinction) from the University of California, Berkeley, and served as Exchange Scholar at Harvard University and as George Ames Postdoctoral Fellow at Fordham University.
His book Sculpting the Self (University of Michigan Press, 2021) won the prestigious 31st World Book Award from Iran. The book addresses “what it means to be human” in a secular, post-Enlightenment world by exploring notions of selfhood and subjectivity in Islamic and non-Islamic philosophical literatures, including modern philosophy and neuroscience. He is the author of three books and over fifty academic articles, which have appeared (or are forthcoming) in numerous prestigious, peer-reviewed journals such as Philosophy East and West, Arabic Sciences and Philosophy (Cambridge), Brill Journal of Sufi Studies, Religious Studies (Cambridge), Brill Journal of Islamic Ethics, and Ancient Philosophy. He has delivered lectures in many North American, European, Asian, Far Eastern, and Middle Eastern universities. He gives public lectures on a wide range of topics such as climate change, spirituality, meditation, AI, Islamic psychology, and Islam and the West. He is also a recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including the prestigious Templeton Foundation Global Philosophy of Religion grant and the Title IV Grant, U.S. Dept. of Education.
While his past research has explored modern and premodern conceptions of selfhood and identity and their bearing on ethics, religion, and culture, his current book project entitled The Interconnected Universe: Sufism, Climate Change, and Ecological Living aims to develop a new theory of the human and the more-than-human world based on a cross-cultural, multidisciplinary approach that draws on the environmental humanities, on one hand, and Sufism and Islamic Contemplative Studies, on the other. Alongside developing a theory of what he calls the “interconnected universe,” this study also argues that Sufi contemplative practices support and foster an active engagement toward the planet’s well-being and an ecologically viable way of life and vision through an “anthropocosmic” vision of the self. He is also at work on a book on AI and the existential threats of information technology. He also just published an edited volume entitled From the Divine to the Human: New Perspectives on Evil, Suffering, and the Global Pandemic (co-edited with M. Rustom and published by Routledge). In addition, he has a forthcoming edited volume A Cultural History of South Asian Literature, Volume 3: The Early Modern Age (1400-1700) (co-edited with S. Nair).
Broadly speaking, his research interests range over Subjectivity, Religion and Climate Change, Islamic Psychology, Graeco-Arabica, Critical Theory, Cross-cultural Philosophy, Comparative Literature, Gender Hermeneutics, History and Philosophy of Science, Contemporary Islam, Qur'anic Exegesis, Islamic Philosophy (especially, post-classical philosophy), Indo-Iranica, Persian and Bengali literature, and Sufism.
He is also affiliated with the departments of Philosophy, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Environmental Studies, and the Religious Studies Certificate program.
Webpage: https://muhammadfaruque.com/
His book Sculpting the Self (University of Michigan Press, 2021) won the prestigious 31st World Book Award from Iran. The book addresses “what it means to be human” in a secular, post-Enlightenment world by exploring notions of selfhood and subjectivity in Islamic and non-Islamic philosophical literatures, including modern philosophy and neuroscience. He is the author of three books and over fifty academic articles, which have appeared (or are forthcoming) in numerous prestigious, peer-reviewed journals such as Philosophy East and West, Arabic Sciences and Philosophy (Cambridge), Brill Journal of Sufi Studies, Religious Studies (Cambridge), Brill Journal of Islamic Ethics, and Ancient Philosophy. He has delivered lectures in many North American, European, Asian, Far Eastern, and Middle Eastern universities. He gives public lectures on a wide range of topics such as climate change, spirituality, meditation, AI, Islamic psychology, and Islam and the West. He is also a recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including the prestigious Templeton Foundation Global Philosophy of Religion grant and the Title IV Grant, U.S. Dept. of Education.
While his past research has explored modern and premodern conceptions of selfhood and identity and their bearing on ethics, religion, and culture, his current book project entitled The Interconnected Universe: Sufism, Climate Change, and Ecological Living aims to develop a new theory of the human and the more-than-human world based on a cross-cultural, multidisciplinary approach that draws on the environmental humanities, on one hand, and Sufism and Islamic Contemplative Studies, on the other. Alongside developing a theory of what he calls the “interconnected universe,” this study also argues that Sufi contemplative practices support and foster an active engagement toward the planet’s well-being and an ecologically viable way of life and vision through an “anthropocosmic” vision of the self. He is also at work on a book on AI and the existential threats of information technology. He also just published an edited volume entitled From the Divine to the Human: New Perspectives on Evil, Suffering, and the Global Pandemic (co-edited with M. Rustom and published by Routledge). In addition, he has a forthcoming edited volume A Cultural History of South Asian Literature, Volume 3: The Early Modern Age (1400-1700) (co-edited with S. Nair).
Broadly speaking, his research interests range over Subjectivity, Religion and Climate Change, Islamic Psychology, Graeco-Arabica, Critical Theory, Cross-cultural Philosophy, Comparative Literature, Gender Hermeneutics, History and Philosophy of Science, Contemporary Islam, Qur'anic Exegesis, Islamic Philosophy (especially, post-classical philosophy), Indo-Iranica, Persian and Bengali literature, and Sufism.
He is also affiliated with the departments of Philosophy, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Environmental Studies, and the Religious Studies Certificate program.
Webpage: https://muhammadfaruque.com/
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Books by Muhammad U Faruque
From the publisher:
“Sculpting the Self is a masterpiece. It is among the finest explorations of selfhood and subjectivity in contemporary philosophical literature. Muhammad Faruque’s approach is breathtakingly erudite, analytically precise, and extraordinarily synoptic. He draws effectively on a wide range of Western philosophical literature-classical, modern, and contemporary; on classical and recent Indian philosophy; on contemporary cognitive science; and especially, and with great nuance, on a great swath of the Islamic tradition from the medieval period through the work of Muhammad Iqbal. Each of these many threads is spun with great care. But most impressive is the skill with which they are woven into a profoundly illuminating tapestry. Sculpting the Self is not only a superb exploration of selfhood, but a master class in the practice of cross-cultural philosophy.”
—Jay L. Garfield, Doris Silbert Professor in the Humanities, Smith College and Visiting Professor of Buddhist Philosophy, Harvard Divinity School
"Philosophically dense but yet eminently accessible, this book is a landmark publication in the fields of Islamic Studies and the study of religion more broadly."
—New Books Network in Religious Studies
“Sculpting the Self is a rare but essential treat that presents a creative analysis of major thinkers in Islam, and demonstrates how one might fruitfully read their work to move towards a truly global study of selfhood and philosophy.”
—Sajjad Rizvi, University of Exeter
“Sculpting the Self is an impressive book. Situated at the crossroads between Western and Islamic philosophies of the self, both modern and non-modern, it offers a new way forward: a ‘multidimensional’ model that is richer, more expansive, and more inclusive than most theories available today. Smart, deeply informed, and engaging, Faruque’s book will be a cornerstone for future thinking about the elusive entity we call the self.”
—James I. Porter, Irving Stone Professor of Literature, Departments of Rhetoric and Classics, UC Berkeley
“In Sculpting the Self we are guided along the maze of the concept of the self in Islamic philosophy by one of the most promising, young global philosophers writing today. Muhammad Faruque’s breadth in this work is extraordinary, bringing many key pre-modern and modern Muslim philosophers from Iran and India into conversation with various currents in philosophy, consciousness studies, evolutionary theory, and neuroscience. The result is nothing less than a sophisticated, first of its kind account of Islamic philosophical conceptions of selfhood, personhood, and identity.”
—Mohammed Rustom, author of Inrushes of the Heart: The Sufi Philosophy of 'Ayn al-Qudat
“Faruque has delivered a tour de force study of selfhood across time and tradition. His expertise in Islamic thought, together with his facility with a wide range of sources and approaches, succeeds in bringing the self’s full spectrum into view. The ambition of his project is as rare as it is refreshing.”
—Charles M. Stang, Professor of Early Christian Thought and Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School
“Faruque’s book is a welcome attempt to engage the various strands of Islamic philosophical psychology with contemporary work on subjectivity and selfhood in the philosophy of mind and the cognitive sciences. The approach is novel and should initiate a vigorous discussion concerning the contemporary relevance of the history of Islamic thought.”
—Jari Kaukua, University of Jyväskylä
“The variety of voices and sources, both Western and non-Western, bring to life the model of a multidimensional self especially in contrast to the reductionist models that Faruque critiques.”
—Sayeh Meisami, University of Dayton
“. . . a great survey on the study of self. Faruque develops a unique perspective in combining neuroscience and philosophy and offers a great conversation between Western, Islamic, and Eastern philosophers.”
—Ramazan Kilinc, University of Nebraska at Omaha
"This cross-cultural analysis of human identity or the self provides a brilliant and wide-spanning philosophical understanding of the current epistemological challenges in understanding selfhood. Faruque has amassed an extraordinary amount of source material in several European and Islamic languages by bringing the Islamic tradition into dialogue with the metaphysics of the East and West, including modern disciplines such as cognitive science, consciousness studies, evolutionary theory, and neuroscience—that offer a remarkable study of selfhood... This work will be important for mental health professionals seeking to better understand human identity as it is informed by the diverse cultures and their knowledge systems."
—The Humanistic Psychologist
"Explaining theories and conceptions of selfhood and subjectivity across Western, Islamic and Indian sources is no easy task; it is even more difficult to do so clearly, cogently and in a manner comprehensible to non-experts. ...Yet this is what Muhammad Faruque does in Sculpting the Self."
—Islam and Christian-Musim Relations
"In the perusal of contemporary philosophical literature, one rarely comes upon a work that engages in an analytic penetration of a philosophical topic with such erudition and cosmopolitanism. Faruque’s study draws on primary philosophical work from English, German, French, ancient Greek, Persian, Arabic, Urdu sources and then supplements them with the latest and most cutting-edge scientific and historical studies; this is all done in an elegant and inclusive manner. Indeed, this study is not only a comprehensive philosophical treatment of selfhood, but it is also a blueprint for an exemplary philosophical analysis which is not cramped by scholarly parochialism endemic to the run-of-the-mill academic essays."
—Comparative Philosophy
PhD Dissertation by Muhammad U Faruque
Papers by Muhammad U Faruque
This study thus seeks to provide a survey of selfhood using the following taxonomy. Since philosophers have discussed the self in a wide variety of ways, this study first divides theories into “self” and “no-self” categories. Theories that affirm the self are further divided into “minimalist,” “maximalist,” and “in-between” conceptions. Under the “minimalist” category, I discuss phenomenological theories of the self (e.g., the minimal self), while under the “maximalist” category, I analyze metaphysical treatments of the self (i.e., Neoplatonism, Advaita Vedanta, Sufi metaphysics, Daoism, Native American thought, etc.). Moreover, I examine various “in-between” theories of the self, such as the substantialist view, the non-substantialist view, the narrative view, the ownership view, the embodied self, the selves view (pearl on a string), the eliminativist view, and the neuroscientific view. Furthermore, under the “no-self” category, I survey Buddhist theories of the self, the bundle theory (e.g., Hume), and postmodern conceptions of the self, while noting their nuances. In addition, I also survey recent theories of the self proposed by Jonardon Ganeri, Jay Garfield, Charles Taylor, Dan Zahavi, and Daniel Dennett. This study also devotes several small sections to issues such as selfhood and consciousness, selfhood and inwardness, and selfhood and human flourishing. Overall, this study discusses selfhood in relation to philosophers as diverse as Plato, Aristotle, Mencius, Vasubandhu, Dharmakīrti, Shankara, Śāntideva, Avicenna, Mullā Ṣadrā, Descartes, Locke, Kant, Heidegger, and Parfit.
From the publisher:
“Sculpting the Self is a masterpiece. It is among the finest explorations of selfhood and subjectivity in contemporary philosophical literature. Muhammad Faruque’s approach is breathtakingly erudite, analytically precise, and extraordinarily synoptic. He draws effectively on a wide range of Western philosophical literature-classical, modern, and contemporary; on classical and recent Indian philosophy; on contemporary cognitive science; and especially, and with great nuance, on a great swath of the Islamic tradition from the medieval period through the work of Muhammad Iqbal. Each of these many threads is spun with great care. But most impressive is the skill with which they are woven into a profoundly illuminating tapestry. Sculpting the Self is not only a superb exploration of selfhood, but a master class in the practice of cross-cultural philosophy.”
—Jay L. Garfield, Doris Silbert Professor in the Humanities, Smith College and Visiting Professor of Buddhist Philosophy, Harvard Divinity School
"Philosophically dense but yet eminently accessible, this book is a landmark publication in the fields of Islamic Studies and the study of religion more broadly."
—New Books Network in Religious Studies
“Sculpting the Self is a rare but essential treat that presents a creative analysis of major thinkers in Islam, and demonstrates how one might fruitfully read their work to move towards a truly global study of selfhood and philosophy.”
—Sajjad Rizvi, University of Exeter
“Sculpting the Self is an impressive book. Situated at the crossroads between Western and Islamic philosophies of the self, both modern and non-modern, it offers a new way forward: a ‘multidimensional’ model that is richer, more expansive, and more inclusive than most theories available today. Smart, deeply informed, and engaging, Faruque’s book will be a cornerstone for future thinking about the elusive entity we call the self.”
—James I. Porter, Irving Stone Professor of Literature, Departments of Rhetoric and Classics, UC Berkeley
“In Sculpting the Self we are guided along the maze of the concept of the self in Islamic philosophy by one of the most promising, young global philosophers writing today. Muhammad Faruque’s breadth in this work is extraordinary, bringing many key pre-modern and modern Muslim philosophers from Iran and India into conversation with various currents in philosophy, consciousness studies, evolutionary theory, and neuroscience. The result is nothing less than a sophisticated, first of its kind account of Islamic philosophical conceptions of selfhood, personhood, and identity.”
—Mohammed Rustom, author of Inrushes of the Heart: The Sufi Philosophy of 'Ayn al-Qudat
“Faruque has delivered a tour de force study of selfhood across time and tradition. His expertise in Islamic thought, together with his facility with a wide range of sources and approaches, succeeds in bringing the self’s full spectrum into view. The ambition of his project is as rare as it is refreshing.”
—Charles M. Stang, Professor of Early Christian Thought and Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School
“Faruque’s book is a welcome attempt to engage the various strands of Islamic philosophical psychology with contemporary work on subjectivity and selfhood in the philosophy of mind and the cognitive sciences. The approach is novel and should initiate a vigorous discussion concerning the contemporary relevance of the history of Islamic thought.”
—Jari Kaukua, University of Jyväskylä
“The variety of voices and sources, both Western and non-Western, bring to life the model of a multidimensional self especially in contrast to the reductionist models that Faruque critiques.”
—Sayeh Meisami, University of Dayton
“. . . a great survey on the study of self. Faruque develops a unique perspective in combining neuroscience and philosophy and offers a great conversation between Western, Islamic, and Eastern philosophers.”
—Ramazan Kilinc, University of Nebraska at Omaha
"This cross-cultural analysis of human identity or the self provides a brilliant and wide-spanning philosophical understanding of the current epistemological challenges in understanding selfhood. Faruque has amassed an extraordinary amount of source material in several European and Islamic languages by bringing the Islamic tradition into dialogue with the metaphysics of the East and West, including modern disciplines such as cognitive science, consciousness studies, evolutionary theory, and neuroscience—that offer a remarkable study of selfhood... This work will be important for mental health professionals seeking to better understand human identity as it is informed by the diverse cultures and their knowledge systems."
—The Humanistic Psychologist
"Explaining theories and conceptions of selfhood and subjectivity across Western, Islamic and Indian sources is no easy task; it is even more difficult to do so clearly, cogently and in a manner comprehensible to non-experts. ...Yet this is what Muhammad Faruque does in Sculpting the Self."
—Islam and Christian-Musim Relations
"In the perusal of contemporary philosophical literature, one rarely comes upon a work that engages in an analytic penetration of a philosophical topic with such erudition and cosmopolitanism. Faruque’s study draws on primary philosophical work from English, German, French, ancient Greek, Persian, Arabic, Urdu sources and then supplements them with the latest and most cutting-edge scientific and historical studies; this is all done in an elegant and inclusive manner. Indeed, this study is not only a comprehensive philosophical treatment of selfhood, but it is also a blueprint for an exemplary philosophical analysis which is not cramped by scholarly parochialism endemic to the run-of-the-mill academic essays."
—Comparative Philosophy
This study thus seeks to provide a survey of selfhood using the following taxonomy. Since philosophers have discussed the self in a wide variety of ways, this study first divides theories into “self” and “no-self” categories. Theories that affirm the self are further divided into “minimalist,” “maximalist,” and “in-between” conceptions. Under the “minimalist” category, I discuss phenomenological theories of the self (e.g., the minimal self), while under the “maximalist” category, I analyze metaphysical treatments of the self (i.e., Neoplatonism, Advaita Vedanta, Sufi metaphysics, Daoism, Native American thought, etc.). Moreover, I examine various “in-between” theories of the self, such as the substantialist view, the non-substantialist view, the narrative view, the ownership view, the embodied self, the selves view (pearl on a string), the eliminativist view, and the neuroscientific view. Furthermore, under the “no-self” category, I survey Buddhist theories of the self, the bundle theory (e.g., Hume), and postmodern conceptions of the self, while noting their nuances. In addition, I also survey recent theories of the self proposed by Jonardon Ganeri, Jay Garfield, Charles Taylor, Dan Zahavi, and Daniel Dennett. This study also devotes several small sections to issues such as selfhood and consciousness, selfhood and inwardness, and selfhood and human flourishing. Overall, this study discusses selfhood in relation to philosophers as diverse as Plato, Aristotle, Mencius, Vasubandhu, Dharmakīrti, Shankara, Śāntideva, Avicenna, Mullā Ṣadrā, Descartes, Locke, Kant, Heidegger, and Parfit.
of Muḥammad Iqbāl (d. 1938), hardly any significant academic studies exist that
critically evaluate his philosophical thought in relation to his Muslim predecessors.
The present article thus intervenes in the field of Iqbāl studies by challenging
current scholarly assessments that present Iqbāl as a heroic reformer of Islam. This
article is composed of three parts. It begins by providing a critical review of various
scholarly treatments of Iqbāl’s reformist thought and draws attention to problematic
aspects of the current state of such scholarship. The article then proceeds to
examine the ways in which Iqbāl’s works frequently misconstrue or misrepresent
various premodern Islamic texts and doctrines. It does so in two ways. The first of
these involves an examination of Iqbāl’s Eurocentric reading of premodern Islamic
intellectual traditions and demonstrates that this is not only methodologically
problematic but moreover undermined by Iqbāl’s own limited grasp of modern
scientific theories, such as evolution and the theory of relativity. This is followed
by an examination of the concepts of selfhood (khūdī) and annihilation of the self
(fanā’). Prominently featured in Iqbāl’s thought and writings, his treatment of these two concepts illustrates the problematic aspects of his particular mode of interpreting
premodern Islamic philosophy and Sufism. Overall, this article demonstrates that
Iqbāl’s status as a heroic reformer of Islam is misleading, as his interpretation of the
premodern Islamic tradition is not as credible as it has often been presented to be over
the past century.
(al-ḥikma al-mutaʿāliya), an expression that Ṣadrā himself saw fit to describe his philosophical works. The
meaning and method of Ṣadrā’s transcendent philosophy, which inform his unique philosophical positions,
can be better understood when it is placed against the backdrop of discursive philosophy (ḥikma baḥthiyya)
of the Muslim peripatetics (al-mashshāʾīn). In explaining the project of transcendent philosophy, Ṣadrā
suggests that the mutaʿllih (deiform one) like any other ordinary philosopher builds theoretical models to
describe the nature of reality and its diverse phenomena. However, what sets him/her apart from the latter
is that he/she believes that through spiritual practices his/her soul can be transformed to the extent that he/
she can attain presential knowledge (al-ʿilm al-ḥuḍūrī) of the reality of being (ḥaqīqat al-wujūd). That is, he/
she can well penetrate the true essences (al-dhawāt) of things insofar as this is a possibility.
In his opening remarks, the atheist stands up and points to the sheer amount and degree of suffering in the world. He reminds the jury of particular instances of horrendous suffering, telling us stories so awful that we’re tempted to turn away. “Now imagine God witnessing such suffering,” he tells us. “If he exists, he’s right there. He’s perfect. He’s all-powerful. He could stop this suffering at any moment. But he doesn’t.” The courtroom is silent. “The only explanation,” the atheist concludes, “is that the God you’ve been led to believe in does not and cannot exist.”
As one might imagine, the purpose of this article is not to offer another apology à la a defense attorney on behalf of those who see the trace of transcendence in nature, since the problem of evil is a doubly difficult problem for atheists if naturalism happens to be true (more on this later). Nonetheless, with the pandemic of COVID-19 unleashing the deadly effects of its virus that has already claimed over fifteen million casualties all over the globe, the question of evil and suffering does make one wonder about its underlying purpose in human life. At the same time, it is also true that in recent years numerous people, especially in the West, have turned away from religion as a result of what they see as pointless suffering all across life. This supposition of “pointless suffering” ―framed more distinctly as the “evidential problem of evil”―can be traced back to the influential writings of David Hume in the Enlightenment period, which find their modern, stronger formulations in such philosophers as William Rowe and Paul Draper. The purpose of this article is, therefore, to engage and challenge this Humean tradition that on the surface seems to pose a serious dilemma for those who do not accept naturalistic explanations. In essence, I will argue that the Humean tradition misunderstands the meaning of suffering by assuming that the goal of creation should be a custom-made paradise populated by weak, hedonistic humans seeking to maximize their pleasure. Instead, this paper will argue that the telos of creation is the human being’s spiritual development and ultimate perfection for which suffering in life can be a means to actualize one’s latent spiritual and ethical flourishing. But let us proceed step by step.
DOES ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ENHANCE OR IMPEDE SPIRITUALITY?
Wednesday, 5 June 2024 | 3pm UK
ONLINE
How do AI advances contribute to spiritual explorations and impact individuals’ relationships with God? Can and should AI systems affect divine experiences? Does AI limit or expand notions of the sacred and can it become a substitute for established ideals of human spirituality?
SPEAKERS: Dr Signe M. Cohen (@signecohen) is Associate Professor of South Asian Religions at the University of Missouri, and has published on South Asian religious texts, and on robots, mechanical beings & automatons in classical India; Dr Muhammad U. Faruque (@MUFaruque1989) is Inayat & Ishrat Malik Assistant Professor and a Taft Center Fellow at the University of Cincinnati, and is currently researching on Artifical Intelligence & the ethical challenges of Information Technology; Dr Jenna Supp-Montgomerie (@SuppMontgomerie) is Associate Professor in Religious Studies and Communication Studies at the University of Iowa, and has published on the entangled relationships of religion & infrastructure amidst technological change in everyday life.
CHAIR: Alnoor Bhimani (@AlnoorBhimani) is Director, LSE South Asia Centre, and Professor of Management Accounting at LSE.
This online event is free to attend but registration is required to receive the livestream link. Please e-mail [email protected] to register.
https://www.lse.ac.uk/south-asia-centre/events
understatement to suggest that we are getting close to Alan Turing’s dream of creating
an intelligent machine, a machine indiscernible from a human being in conversation. But will engineers ever be able to design an AI with human-level consciousness, as proclaimed by such AI enthusiasts as Kurzweil, Bostrom, Harari, and others? In this talk, Dr. Muhammad Faruque argues for the impossibility of this dream, which rests on a fundamental misunderstanding concerning the nature of consciousness. In contrast to most contemporary theories of consciousness that either treat it as an “epiphenomenon” or “psychologize” it in terms of qualia or subjective feel, Dr. Faruque makes the case that
consciousness is always fundamental, at once self-luminous and self-cognizant. The
problem of AI ultimately hinges on how we define our values, selfhood, and personhood,
which ultimately determines what it means to be human in a technocentric world.
Students will engage with key texts and thinkers from around the world, alongside case studies and practical applications. By analyzing various dimensions of identity, including self-concept, social roles, and digital personas, students will gain insights into the evolving nature of the self and its implications for personal and societal development. We will also explore a variety of forms of philosophical and spiritual thinking and the ways that they can be directly relevant to our lives.
(The Making of a World Civilization)
This course seeks to introduce major themes of Islam as they developed from the time of its emergence to the contemporary setting. It will explore the ways in which Muslims have interpreted the message of Islam through varying degrees of philosophical, legal, political, mystical and literary writings. Attention will also be given to the controversies that eclipse present-day Islam. The class will emphasize a seminar-style discussion based on lecture notes. Lectures will be supplemented with visual materials, music, and movies where appropriate.
MTWT 1.00-3.00 PM
NES 146| 3 units| July 6 – August 14
Summer.berkeley.edu
What is the nature of imagination? Is there a world of imagination beyond the physical universe? How is the imagination related to belief, dreaming and creativity? Taking into account questions such as these, this course offers an introductory background to the thought of one of the medieval world’s most influential and controversial figures, the famous mystic Ibn ‘Arabi (d. 1240 CE). First we will begin with Nolan’s famous film “Inception”, and how it explains multiple levels of existence and relativity of time. Then we will briefly explore Ibn Arabi's views on the nature of existence, knowledge, and the function of the imagination in the mystical life. This will set the stage for a close reading of selected translated texts dealing with his original ideas concerning imagination and the world of imagination. Through close engagement with the work of contemporary scholars and analytical writing exercises, we will endeavor to gain a better understanding of how the spiritual concerns of one of Islam’s greatest mystics shaped the course of mystico-philosophical thought over the centuries.