RELG 273 - Drinking With God: An Introduction to Sufism

FC ARHU CD

4 credits
Who is the 13th-century Muslim mystic Rumi - and why is he so popular on Instagram? Can inebriation lead to revelation? Who are the friends of God, and how did they develop fantastic superpowers? How have mystical practices sought to both abandon the world and radically transform it? We will explore these questions through the study of Sufism - Islamic mystical traditions - from its formative period to the present. Through poetry, ethnography, music, politics, and devotional practices, we will analyze Sufism as a global phenomenon that both adapts to local cultural contexts and locates itself within the Islamic tradition.