Education
- Ph.D., Religious Studies: Critical Studies in Asian, Islamic, and Jewish Traditions, Vanderbilt University, USA (May 2023)
Dissertation: “The Violence of the Enchanted Souls: A Genealogical Approach to Sufi Debates in Premodern Iran (9th–15th cent)” - M.A., Religious Studies, Vanderbilt University, USA (December 2017)
- M.A., Islamic Philosophy and Kalām, Shiraz University, Iran (September 2009)
- B.A., Law, Shiraz University, Iran (2006)
Research Interests
- Critical Theories of Religion
- History of Premodern Sufism
- Study of ‘World Religions’ in the Modern Academy
- Persian and Arabic Sufi Literature
Biography
Dr. Ashkan Bahrani is an Assistant Professor specializing in religious studies, with a focus on critical theories of religion, premodern Sufism, and the academic study of world religions. His research investigates the genealogy of Sufism in premodern Greater Iran, challenging monolithic portrayals by examining debates, conflicts, and the influence of modern world religions discourse. He has held postdoctoral positions and coordinated international projects on interreligious histories, contributing to editions, translations, and critical analyses of Sufi texts.
Selected Publications
Monographs and Editions
- ‘Umar al-Suhrawardī: Studies, Editions, Translations (English, Arabic, and Persian), with Aydogan Kars. Brill, December 2021.
- The Mirrors of Nothingness (Āyenehāie Nīstī): Apophatic Theology in the Works of Mawlānā Rūmī and Meister Eckhart (in Persian). Tehran: ʻElm Publication, 2011.
Celebrated as the Best Book of the Season in Mysticism, Winter 2011; nominated for Best Book of the Year 2010–2011.
Peer-Reviewed Articles (English)
- “The Politics of Aestheticization or the Aesthetics of Depoliticization? A Critique of M. Shafīʿī Kadkanī’s Take on Sufism,” Journal of Sufi Studies (Brill), Vol. 16, no. 2 (2027, forthcoming).
- Guest Editor, Special Issue: “Metempsychosis Across Religious Traditions,” Journal for the Academic Study of Religion (JASR), Vol. 38, no. 2 (2025).
- “Four Epistles of Sahlagī: Newly Recovered Sources on Early Sufism, Theology, and Traditionism,” with Aydogan Kars. Studia Islamica (Brill) 120 (2025, forthcoming).
- “Knowledge and Causality in Ibn al-ʿArabī’s Book of Giving, and the Buddhist Notion of Dependent Origination,” with Aydogan Kars. Journal of Religions 13(9), 2022. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13090768
- “A Sufi Master without a Hospice: Abdolkarim Soroush between Sufism and Mysticism,” with Aydogan Kars. Journal for the Academic Study of Religion (JASR) 33(2): 166–184, 2020. https://journals.equinoxpub.com/JASR/issue/current
Articles (Persian, Selected)
- “A Critical Investigation on the Approach of Murtada Mutahhari towards Islamic Mysticism.” Iran Namag, Spring 2016.
- “Anti-Mysticism Vs. Experientialism: The Encounter between Two Major Viewpoints on Mysticism and Mystical Experience in the 20th Century,” with Ghassem Kakaie. Javidan Kherad (Sophia Perennis), Winter 2010.
Translations (English into Persian)
- Rashid Khalidi, One Hundred Years War on Palestine. London: Nogaam Publication, September 2024.
- “Elements of Neo-Traditional Sufism in Iran” by Matthis van den Bos. Published in Persian, April 2024.
- “The Naysayers: Walter Benjamin, Theodore Adorno, and the Critique of Pop Culture” by Alex Ross. Published in Persian, Fall 2020.
- “The Tragedy of Woman’s Emancipation” by Emma Goldman. Published in Persian, Summer 2020.
Book Reviews
- Review of Tehseen Thaver’s Beyond Sectarianism. Journal of Religious History, 2025.
- Review of Vernon Schubel’s Teaching Humanity: An Alternative Introduction to Islam. Journal for the Academic Study of Religion (JASR), 2024.
Selected Conference Presentations
- “Reincarnation as a Theory of Immortality among Muslims, a Minority Report.” https://youtu.be/-yBgGJqHtPs?si=0uEF6IhTv6yA5RfO
- “Occidentalism and Sufism: the Life and Works of M. Baqir Bawanati (d. 1893).” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TyVE523zE8&t=1605s
- “Demarcating Sufi Communities in Medieval India: Jamali’s Lives of the Recognizers.” Medieval & Renaissance Studies, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, August 2023.
Teaching Experience
- Assistant Professor of Religion and History, Al-Akhawayn University (Fall 2024–Present)
- Comparative Religion
- Religion in International Affairs
- History of the Arab World
- Global Islam in the Contemporary World
- Islamic Societies
- Persian Tutoring Service, Vanderbilt University (Fall 2018–2022)
- Persian for Reading Knowledge (Elementary & Advanced)
- Adjunct Lecturer, Sewanee: The University of the South (Spring 2018)
- Studying Islam in the West
- Special Topics: Islamic Mysticism
Languages
- Persian: Native
- Classical Arabic: Advanced
- French: Reading Knowledge
- German: Limited Reading Knowledge
Awards and Fellowships
- Best Book of the Season in Mysticism, Winter 2011 (Āyenehāie Nīstī)
- Nominated as Best Book of the Year 2010–2011
- Best Book of Iranian Seminaries, 2014
- Tuition Scholarship and Departmental Stipend, Vanderbilt University (2014–2019)
- International Institute of Islamic Thought Summer Program Grant
- Summer Research Grant, Vanderbilt University
