After Modernity
What comes after the modern world? Explore competing visions of knowledge, society, and human flourishing in an age of global crisis.
The syllabus.
Description
Is modernity the final stage of human civilization, or simply one historical pathway among many? Modernity has long been presented as the universal horizon of human progress, shaping dominant narratives about politics, economics, science, and society. Yet the categories through which modernity is understood, such as liberalism, socialism, secularism, and progress, emerged within specific historical and intellectual contexts in Europe and were later globalized through colonial expansion and modern knowledge institutions.
Drawing on insights from Islamic intellectual traditions as well as contemporary critiques of Eurocentric social theory, this course critically examines the rise and global influence of modern ideologies and sociological frameworks while exploring perspectives that challenge the assumption that modernity represents the inevitable or final stage of human civilization. Over eight weeks, students will investigate the epistemological foundations of modern natural and social sciences in light of Muslim theorists and thinkers such as al-Ghazali, Ibn Khaldun, Ibn ‘Arabi, and Shah Wali Allah. In doing so, the course invites students to explore new conceptual horizons beyond the modernist paradigm.
Target Audience and Prerequisites
This course is designed for students, academics, and anyone interested in engaging seriously with the intellectual traditions of Islamic civilization. No prior academic background in the subject is required unless otherwise specified. Participants need only bring intellectual curiosity, openness to new ideas, and a willingness to engage thoughtfully with the course materials and discussions.
Week 1 – Modernity as Narrative: Progress, Enlightenment, and Historical Teleology
• Origins of the modern worldview
• Enlightenment narratives of progress
• Modernity as a universalizing project
• Is modernity a historical phase or a civilizational ideology?
Lead: Muhammad Faruque (with Syed Farid Alatas)
Core readings
• Faruque, “Decolonizing the Muslim Mind.”
• Adorno and Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, selections.
• Taylor, Secular Age, selections.
Recommended
• Dussel, “Europe, Modernity, and Eurocentrism.”
• Nasr, Essential Seyyed Hossein Nasr.
• Gray, The Silence of Animals: On Progress and Other Modern Myths.
Week 2 – Modern Ideologies and the Political Imagination
• Liberalism, socialism, nationalism, and fascism
• Individualism, capitalism, the modern state, and social organization
• Fundamentalism, sectarianism, and ideological conflict
• Global diffusion of European political models
Lead: Syed Farid Alatas
Core readings
• Weber, Essential Weber, selections.
• Griffin, Modernism and Fascism, selections.
• Polanyi, Great Transformation, selections.
• Rawls, Theory of Justice, selections.
• Anderson, Imagined Communities, selections.
Recommended
• Hanafi, Against Symbolic Liberalism.
• Foucault, Foucault Reader.
• Braudel, Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century (3 Vols).
• Wallerstein, The Modern World-System.
Week 3 – Eurocentrism and the Construction of Knowledge
• Colonial knowledge systems and academic disciplines
• The critique of Orientalism
• Knowledge production in the modern university
Lead: Syed Farid Alatas
Core readings
• Said, Orientalism, selections.
• Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, selections.
• Hussein Alatas, Myth of the Lazy Native, selections.
• Hussein Alatas, “The Captive Mind and Creative Development.”
Recommended
• Mignolo, Darker Side of Western Modernity, selections.
• de Sousa Santos, “Beyond Abyssal Thinking.”
Week 4 – Autonomous and Alternative Sociologies
• Decolonizing social science
• Non-Western sociological traditions
• Ibn Khaldun and social theory
• Shah Wali Allah’s “stages of social development theory”
Lead: Syed Farid Alatas
Core readings
• Farid Alatas, Alternative Discourses in Asian Social Science, selections.
• Farid Alatas, Applying Ibn Khaldun, selections.
• Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddimah, selections.
Recommended
• Connell, Southern Theory, selections.
Week 5 – Muslim Thinkers and Critical Modernity
• Muhammad Iqbal
• Syed Naquib al-Attas
• Seyyed Hossein Nasr
• Taha Abdur Rahman
Lead: Muhammad Faruque
Core readings
• Iqbal, Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, selections.
• Naquib al-Attas, Islam and Secularism, selections.
• Nasr, Knowledge and the Sacred, selections.
• Taha Abdurrahman, Rūḥ al-ḥadāthah, selections.
Week 6 – Beyond the Development Paradigm
• Ecological critiques of progress
• Environmental thought and alternative models of development
• Rethinking prosperity and human flourishing
Lead: Muhammad Faruque
Core readings
• Schumacher, Small Is Beautiful, selections.
• Faruque, Interconnected Universe, selections.
• Escobar, Encountering Development, selections.
• Kuru, Islam, Authoritarianism, and Underdevelopment, selections.
Recommended
• Kuran, Long Divergence: How Islamic Law Held Back the Middle East.
• Scranton, Impasse: Climate Change and the Limits of Progress.
Week 7 – Ethics and Politics Beyond Secular Modernity
• Civilizational perspectives and epistemic pluralism
• Competing conceptions of society and knowledge
• New civilizational frameworks for understanding the human condition
Lead: Muhammad Faruque
Core readings
• Nasr, “Friendship between Religions and Cultures: The Foundation for Friendship between Civilizations.”
• Tu Weiming and Ikeda, New Horizons in Eastern Humanism, selections.
• Faruque, Sculpting the Self, selections.
• Hallaq, Radical Separations of Power, selections.
Recommended
• Jackson, Islamic Secular.
Week 8 – Islamic Futures Beyond Modernity
• Civilizational dialogue after modernity
• Islamic epistemologies and social imaginaries
• Prospects for a new world
Lead: Syed Farid Alatas (with Muhammad Faruque)
Core readings
• Farid Alatas, “Islam and Dialogue Among Civilizations.”
• Farid Alatas, “The Role of the Human Sciences in the Dialogue Among Civilizations.”
• Bakar, Islam and Civilizational Dialogue.
• Nasr, “Harmony of Heaven, Earth and Man—Harmony of Civilizations.”
A working command of the vocabulary of Islamic metaphysics — wujūd, māhiyya, the gradation of being — used precisely, not loosely.
The capacity to read primary texts of Ibn Sīnā and Mullā Ṣadrā with comprehension rather than reverence alone.
An understanding of why the tradition treats metaphysics as the science of realities — and what that claim asks of the knower.
Direct exchange with Professor Nasr in open Q&A after every session — the part no book can replace.
Muhammad Faruque is a scholar of Islamic philosophy, Sufism, environmental humanities, and global philosophy whose work explores the relationship between selfhood, consciousness, and technology in the modern world. Bridging Islamic intellectual traditions with contemporary philosophical and civilizational questions, his scholarship addresses climate change, AI, metaphysics, and the crisis of meaning in late modernity. At Tokat, he teaches the philosophical and contemplative foundations necessary for rethinking the human condition in an age of technological and ecological transformation.
Syed Farid Alatas is one of the leading contemporary sociologists working on Islamic thought, social theory, and the decolonization of knowledge. His scholarship has been especially influential in recovering non-Western intellectual traditions as sources of social theory and in challenging Eurocentric assumptions within the humanities and social sciences. Through his work on Ibn Khaldun, religion, and alternative sociological traditions, Professor Alatas has helped advance global conversations on knowledge production, civilizational dialogue, and the future of the social sciences.
In their own words.
The most valuable aspect of the course was:
“Discovering that Islam is so much deeper than I thought it was. I've been searching for the longest time for something within Islam that was intellectually satisfying… I really hope you'll do more of these courses!”
“Prof. Rustom, with his cheerful manner and fluent expression, made even difficult concepts understandable in simple language.”
"The most valuable aspect of the course for me was understanding how Islamic teachings integrate spiritual, emotional, and physical healing. It helped me see health not just as a medical condition, but as a holistic balance rooted in faith, ethics, and compassion."
“Studying with Professor Chittick was deeply transformative and an immense privilege.”
“This was a wonderful, intellectually stimulating course! I especially appreciated the interactions with other students and Dr. Faruque’s responses to my questions, as well as the care taken to accurately present alternative viewpoints.”
The thing I liked about this most was:
“Its profound exploration of the spiritual and intellectual foundations of reality in Islam—particularly how metaphysical principles connect the Divine, cosmos, and human soul.”
“Very pleasurable to hear God spoken of in the context of an academic frame.”
"Thank you for sharing your knowledge and for the positive influence you've had in my life and the lives of those around me. Your lectures continue to inspire me to explore alternative paths and to support others in their healing journeys."
“It was a great honor and privilege for me to be able to attend Professor Chittick’s class. His mastery and knowledge of the subject of cosmology made the class very interesting.”
Professor Faruque’s course marked a shift from viewing AI as a technical challenge to an ontological one. In an era where “Dataism” threatens to reduce the human soul to a series of algorithms, this course provided a vital intellectual defense of the anthropocosmic self. Professor Faruque brilliantly articulated that while AI can process information, it cannot embody knowledge as a “mode of being.”
“The most valuable aspect of this course for me was gaining a deeper understanding of the foundations and significance of Muslim metaphysics.”
"The course provided a powerful argument in support of alternative healing through holistically making the learners identify with the entirety of life than just material and physical form."
“I felt transported to a different realm during every class, which almost never happens in an academic course. My heart and intellect were both fully engaged. This was due to Professor Chittick's deep knowledge, mastery/love for the subject, and exceptional skills as an orator.”
“This course needs to be translated into other languages spoken in the Muslim world and made more accessible to those audiences.”
“I’m very grateful to attend his astonishing lectures this fall initiated by the Tokat Institute. Barakallah.”
“I have greatly benefited from the alternative approaches to healing and well-being that your lectures provide. Your insights have opened my eyes to the deeper connections between mind, body, and spirit.”
“The most valuable aspect of this course was that Professor Chittick presented Islamic cosmology on its own terms rather than through a diluted Western philosophical lens.”
“This course helped me find answers to many questions that we need to address now and in the near future. Dr. Faruque delivered the course in a highly credible and professional manner.”
“Clarified my understanding of what Islamic metaphysics is, which I hadn’t understood, and the destructive influence of empiricism and related modern ideas/mindsets. This is a very freeing thing!”
“Very happy with the course and I hope there will be more similar courses in the future.”
“Dr. Chittick's presence and vast knowledge of the subject is invaluable.”
“The instructor’s openness to welcoming questions, critiques, and additions was what truly made the course engaging and valuable. The instructor's efforts and knowledge are undoubtedly appreciated.”
“The most valuable aspect of this course was the presence, wisdom, experiences, and discourses of beloved Mohammed Rustom. Following that is the amazing book he has written. What a gem. Great translations. Organized beautifully. The third aspect is the community of beloveds who joined, shared, and contributed with their presences and questions.”
“In this course Professor Chittick offered us a compact and stimulating presentation of Islamic cosmology. His lectures were well-informed and gave us a clear window into the basic concepts related to the field.”
“The themes covered, the resources (articles, books, and lecture slides) shared, and the thought-provoking lectures were all deeply enriching.”
“Absolutely amazing! please offer more of the same! Please!”
“The depth of reflection that was nurtured in the course was very helpful. An excellent course!”
“Your insights and scholarship have tremendously enriched my understanding of the subject. I have found your teaching style to be both informative and inspiring, and I appreciate the effort you put into making complex topics accessible.”
“The way the epistemic foundations of AI were expounded upon helped one see the trajectory of how we have arrived at this point, and how AI is a result and manifestation of this convoluted way of understanding consciousness, humanity, God, nature, and existence. I am grateful to Professor Faruque for sharing his views and perspectives on this topic, as well as his knowledge, which spans technology, religion, and spirituality.”
“I can’t overstate how amazing your class was and its impact on me. ‘Ayn Al-Qudāt is now a household name in our family. My oldest daughter and I would read passages from Inrushes of the Heart (incredible title), many of which are both beautiful and thought-provoking.”
“I would highly recommend it to others.”
