This 20-week email course provides the student with an introduction to the phenomenon of Sufism which is often referred to as Islamic mysticism.

We will begin by exploring a number of definitions and theories of origin as well as the relationship of Sufism with Islam along with the question of whether one must be a Muslim to become a Sufi.

“Sufism is the modern form of Gnosis, the secret knowledge passed down from the ancients…the Zoroastrians, the old Hindu yogis, the Platonists, and the Essenes, the followers of the secret path having continued up to the present time under diverse mystical appellations, with tenets modified by the ages within which they live. The form the ‘archetype’ of existence, a regular system of spiritual creation.”
--Sir Richard Francis Burton