A Sufi Shrine in the Desert
MELC 429 A Revised 3/31/2025
Islamic Mystical Literature in English
Spring Quarter 2025
Instructor: Terri DeYoung Class Location: Hybrid: Denny 210 and on Zoom
SLN Number: 17152
Office:246 Denny Hall Class Time: T-Th 4:00-5:20
Telephone: (206)543-6184
or (206)543-6033 (dept. office—leave message)
E-mail: tdeyoung@u.washington.edu
Office Hours: By appointment (contact Prof. DeYoung via her email)
Course Description:
An overview of the development of mystical and spiritual literature in the Islamic world as it functions within the institutional structure of Sufism. Representative readings from principal Sufi authors and poets will be analyzed, focusing on how they show how Muslims pursued the cultivation of an individual relation with God and how this human-divine relationship was reflected in personal devotion.
This quarter, the course will focus on Arabic and, to a lesser extent, Persian language and literature. Since this is a MELC prefix course (not an ARAB or PERS course) we will only be reading texts in English translation. Therefore, no knowledge of Arabic, Persian (or any other language except English) is required. Students should be aware, however, that this is an upper-division course where writing and independent research is expected. It carries credit for both undergraduates and graduate students and the level of instruction is pitched accordingly. It is not a lower-division, introductory course. This should not present any problem for most well-motivated students (especially those who have some background in Islam, mysticism or literary and language study) but it is something to keep in mind.
Learning Objectives for the Course:
At the end of the course, students should have familiarity with:
- The basic tenets and practices of mysticism in Islam (Sufism).
- How this trend in Islam developed over time,
- The major authors and works of literature in Arabic and Persian that were influenced by Sufi thought,
- The characteristic metaphors and forms of figurative language that are used in Sufism and Sufi literature.
Textbooks: There will be five required textbooks for the course. They are: 1) An Introduction to Islam (4th edition, 2016) by Frederick Mathewson Denny, 2) Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam 3) William Chittick, Sufism: A Short Introduction, 4) Nizami, Layli and Majnun, trans by Dick Davies, and 5) Farid ud-Din al-‘Attar, The Conference of the Birds, translated by Afkham Darbandi and Dick Davies All are available on-line to students through the University of Washington Library website. Kindle and hard-copies are in print and may be purchased online, especially at amazon.com.
The edition of Denny used for reference in the syllabus will be the 4th edition, which is the one available at the University Bookstore and on-line. Older editions of Denny can also used for the readings, but the page numbering may be different. We will begin using Denny the first week of classes, so you should make access to this text a priority
. Other material will be posted by the professor during the quarter through the Modules tab on our Canvas website and distributed via email attachment. Please speak to her as soon as possible if you do not think you can access material through either of these methods.
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Course Requirements
Exams: There will be one exam for the course. This will be a take-home Final Exam (due date will tentatively be the last day of exam week, in this case Friday 13 June).It will be based on a set of questions distributed no later than 3 class sessions before the end of the course.
the Take-Home Final Exam will count for 20%.
Students will also be required to submit (following the instructor’s permission, obtained at least two weeks in advance of the end of classes) a final paper (5-8 pages in length) along with the take-home final exam. This paper will be due on the same day as the final exam and will count for 30% of the grade.
Other Assignments:
Position Papers:20% of the grade for the course will be based on two 2-page papers and two 3-page. papers due during the quarter
The topic of the first essay will be “Why am I taking this course and what do I hope to learn from it?” It will be due on Monday 7 April 7 2025 at midnight.
The topic of the second essay will be “Which video is a better introduction to the study of Sufism“ The Inner Life” (Landmark Media, 1980) or “The Long Search: Islam” (Ronald Eyres), or “What is Sufism?” (from the series Let’s Talk Religion by Filip Holm) ?” It will tentatively be due on Monday 28 April, 2025 at midnight.
The tentative topic of the third essay will be: Can the Prophet Muhammad be described as a Sufi?”“
The tentative topic of the fourth essay will be “Is a lack of an agreed-upon definition for the term Sufi a help or an impediment in the study of the subject of Islamic mysticism?”
If you have any questions about the topics or the due dates of these essays, please feel free to ask Professor DeYoung as soon as possible
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If you are dissatisfied with your grade on any of these writing assignments, you may correct the marked passages and comments on the text Prof. DeYoung returns to you, and re-submit the essay for a higher grade. Sunday , June 1 2025 is the last date on which a re-submitted essay will be accepted for re-grading.
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Presentation
10% of the grade for the course will be based on a 10-minute presentation (given either in person or on Zoom) on a notable writer in the Sufi tradition. Students should plan on consulting with Professor DeYoung in the selection of their topics for these presentation
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Question Sets: You will be asked to turn in a set of three questions about the readings at the beginning of each week when we look at the work of 1) Rabi'ah, 2) Nizami and 3) Farid al-Din 'Attar. A list of sample questions will be distributed for you to use as a guide for these assignments.
These question sets will count for 5% of the final course grade.
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The remaining 5% of the grade will be based on in-class participation. This means that you will be expected to have read the “Primary Readings” before coming to class, and do whatever other reading is necessary so that you can participate actively in the class discussions. Regular attendance (according to University Regulations) will not be included in this portion of the grade, so it is up to the student to participate in the class discussion, in order to receive full credit for "class participation." If for any reason, you are not able to attend a Zoom session, but you want to receive credit for in-class participation, you should make arrangements for an office hour conference with Professor DeYoung.
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Any of these assignments, if turned in or completed late, may be subject to an automatic .3 deduction from the grade originally assigned.
It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that all assignments are submitted on time and in readable format to the instructor.
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Plagiarism: Plagiarism occurs whenever someone uses the ideas or writings of another as their own without giving due credit. This applies to both exams and papers. All policies in place concerning academic honesty at the University of Washington apply to this course. It is the student’s responsibility to become fully informed about those policies. Refer to the University of Washington Student Conduct Code (WAC 478‐120), for more information on the subject, or Search “Student Academic Responsibility” on the University of Washington homepage.
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Religious Accommodation starting in Autumn 2019, the University of Washington implemented the following new policy about arrangements for religious observances:
“Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities. The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available at Religious Accommodations Policy (https://registrar.washington.edu/staffandfaculty/religious-accommodations-policy/). Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the Religious Accommodations Request form (https://registrar.washington.edu/students/religious-accommodations-request/).”
More information on the policy is available on the webpage for the Office of the University Registrar.
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Access to the class: You will need to make arrangements to have access to our course Canvas and to our virtual meeting space which will be conducted via Zoom Video Conference. You can do this through the Zoom tab on Canvas once you have signed up for the course. You will also need to have access to a camera and audio on your computer in order to participate in the sessions.
You will be prompted to sign into our Zoom sessions with your UW Net- ID which will allow you to join our online sessions when we begin TTh 4:00-5:20. Access to both platforms (Canvas and Zoom) will be necessary for completing homework assignments and for earning class participation points.
For Students with Special Needs: If you would like to request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact Disabled Student Services, 448 Schmitz, (206) 543-8924 (V/TTY). If you have a letter from Disabled Student Services indicating you have a disability that requires academic accommodations, please present the letter to the instructor as soon as possible so we can discuss the accommodations you might need for the class.
Classroom Courtesy: If you think you may have to leave early or arrive late to a class, please let the instructor know in advance.
Since the consumption of food during the lecture can interfere with class participation and maybe distracting to others, students are requested to avoid this in the Zoom sessions. Your cooperation will be appreciated by everyone.
Class Breaks. Whenever possible, there will be a break of approximately 10 minutes halfway through the Zoom sessions. This will be an opportunity for students to conduct any personal business necessary outside of the classroom.
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Background Readings
Sufism has been a constant and integral element of Islamic culture and society for many centuries and its practices bear traces of the earliest efforts of Muslims to codify what their religion entails, along with jurisprudence, theology and philosophy. No one can presume to be familiar with the range of Islamic thought without obtaining some familiarity with the phenomenon of Sufism and its preoccupations.
For anyone who is not familiar with the outlines of the historical development of Islam and Islamic history, including the rise of Sufism, I recommend three books.. The first is an introduction to Islam as religion that includes extensive historical background. This is An Introduction to Islam by Frederick M. Denny, BP161.2 D46 1985 (available through the University of Washington library website as an ebook, and on reserve in Odegaard) You may also want to read through Albert Hourani’s History of the Arab Peoples (Call Number DS37.7 .H67 1992), which is a well-written and highly informative introductory history of the early period of the rise of Islam by one of the most highly respected scholars in the field. A third option (especially for graduate students) is Marshall Hodgson’s The Venture of Islam, Volume 1 (Call Number DS 36.85 H63).* This was the first book to apply modern methods of historiography and cultural analysis to the study of the medieval Islamic world. It is not well-written, but its astute analyses of medieval Islamic culture have not yet been superseded. Copies of both books are available in Suzzallo and Odegaard libraries. You can also generally find copies for sale at Amazon. com, the University Bookstore and other large on-line and local outlets. A recent, more critical, and influential view of the “survey literature” of Islam may be found in Shahab Ahmed, What is Islam?: The Importance of Being Islamic (2016), “Six Questions About Islam,” pp. 5-109; Call Number: BP161.3 A375 2016;
Introductions to Sufism: Still the most highly regarded general scholarly introduction to the evolution of Sufism in English is Annemarie Schimmel’s Mystical Dimensions of Islam (1975) available as an ebook at the University of Washington Libraries webpage. A more accessible text (with less lengthy scholarly footnotes and references) is William Chittick’s Sufism: A Short Introduction (2000) Call Number: BP189 .C527 2000, also available on line. We will be using both texts in class. Other notable introductory texts are by colleagues and students of Schimmel, including Sayyed Hossein Nasr’s Shi’i-oriented The Garden of Truth: The Vision and Promise of Sufism, Islam’s Mystical Tradition (2007) Call Number:BP 189.3 N364 and Carl Ernst’s modern take on the political traditions of Sufism, Sufism: An Itroduction to the Mystical Traditions of Islam (2011) Call Number: BP 189 E76 2011. It is valuable for its relevant insights into an often neglected aspect of Sufism, as a populist expression of social protest. A more historically oriented (and somewhat skeptical of the tradition) approach may be found in Julian Baldick’s Mystical Islam (1989). Call Number BP 188.5 B35 1989.
Studies of Individual Sufi Writers
Given the multi-sided variability of the Sufi phenomenon, it may be best to approach the subject through the works of individual Sufi writers. There are many such fine studies. The most influential include:
Margaret Smith, Rabia (Oxford: Oneworld, 1994) BP80 R3 S598 1994 (in Suzzallo)
Louis Massignon, Hallaj: Mystic and Martyr, trans. Herbert Mason (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1994), Call Number BP80 H27 M3713 1994)
Th. Emil Homerin, From Arab Poet to Muslim Saint: Ibn al-Farid, His Verse, and His Shrine (Durham University of Carolina Press, 1994) Call Number: PJ7755 I18 Z68 1994
*The ebook of this text linked on the UW Libraries webpage is only to Volume 3 (The Modern Period).