Final Year Project

Project Title

Baqa and Being: Embodying Authentic Being Through the Sufi Journey.

Description

My capstone intends to provide a comparative analysis between Heidegger’s "Being-towards-death" and the Sufi concepts of Fana (annihilation) and Baqa (subsistence). It aims to bridge existential phenomenology and mysticism, utilizing Heidegger to provide an ontological structure to Sufi thought while opening Heidegger’s finitude toward transcendence. The research identifies that both paradigms view the "ordinary self," the "they-self," or the ego (nafs) as a state of concealment that masks truth. Findings of this study reveal that confronting finitude acts as a privileged site for the unconcealment of Being, leading to authentic existence. Essentially, the study embodies the idea that authenticity and meaningful living are achieved through the surrender of egoic autonomy rather than its assertion.