LFU:online

This seminary is a basic introduction into the Sufi tradition which will provide an overview of the mystic current in Islam. Students will be enabled to understand its historic evolution, institutionalisation, dimensions of spiritual experience, concept of man and God, and in particular its concrete lived Sufi practice in various cultural contexts of the Muslim world.

Beginning with the discussion of basic religious concepts and ideas of Islamic mysticism as well as situating this dimension within Islam, the main themes of this seminar are: historical development of Sufism, structure of Sufi orders, relation between master and disciple, stations of spiritual experience on the Sufi path, Maulana Rumi as an exemplary Sufi master and techniques of spiritual practice. In addition, we will highlight the message of peace and tolerance embedded in the Sufi tradition. The lived mystical Islam will also be a theme in the seminar.

- Reading, analysis, evaluation and comparison of classical and contemporary texts to enable the students to contextualize and update teachings of Islamic mysticism in pluralistic societies and thereby also to give them the opportunity to compare other mystical concepts with Islamic mystical discourses and approaches

- This methodological approach is also intended to enable the students to place, reflect and discuss issues of Islamic mysticism in a wider theological and societal perspective and context

term paper

Frembgen, Jürgen Wasim: Journey to God. Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Gramlich, Richard: Der eine Gott. Grundzüge der Mystik des islamischen Monotheismus. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1998.

Gramlich, Richard: Islamische Mystik: sufische Texte aus zehn Jahrhunderten. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1992.

Ritter, Hellmut: Das Meer der Seele. Leiden: Brill, 1955.

Schimmel, Annemarie: Mystische Dimensionen des Islam: die Geschichte des Sufismus. München: Diederichs, 1992.

Schimmel, Annemarie: Sufismus. In: Grundriß der arabischen Philologie. Hrsg. von Helmut Gätje. Bd. 2: Literaturwissenschaft. Wiesbaden: Reichert, 1987, S. 338-357.

Schimmel, Annemarie: Gärten der Erkenntnis: das Buch der vierzig Sufi-Meister. München: Diederichs, 1991.

Schimmel, Annemarie: Mystical Dimensions of Islam. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1975.