This panel discussion will examine the role of Sufism in shaping Islamic renewal (tajdīd) across the modern Islamic world, from the late seventeenth to the early twentieth century. It will challenge the view of Sufism as either marginal, conservative, or simply “purified” and rationalized, and will highlight Sufi networks as active sites of intellectual, ethical, and spiritual transformation. The event will interrogate categories such as “neo-Sufism” and “Sufi reformism” and will explore their analytical value and historical complexity through a comparative and transregional perspective on the modern Islamic world.
Panelists:
Gianfranco Bria (Roma Tre University) — “Renewal before Reform? Tajdīd and Sufi Networks in Modern Islam” (Chair and Convener)
Marouen Jedoui (Yale University) — “Renewal, Not Reform: The Karkariyya, Light, and the Reflection of a Sufi Tradition in the Mirror of Late Modernity”
Ali Naji Moughania (Columbia University) — “Interventions in the Study of Ethics: Al-Narāqī’s Reformed Mysticism and Superintelligent AI”
Aziza Shanazarova (Columbia University) — “After the Eclipse: Tracing the Saktarigi Branch of the Late Kubravi Tradition in Central Asia”
Event Details
Wednesday, November 18, 2026
4:30–6:00 PM
IAB, Room 707, Columbia University
Registration is required for both Columbia and non-Columbia guests. Non-Columbia guests must register with their full names by November 16 to receive a campus access code for entry. You will receive a QR code from the email subject line “CU Guest Access.” Please bring a valid photo ID.
