Spirituality and connecting to the Divine
Week 1: The nature of humanity
The various components of the human being and the relations between them: body, mind, heart, soul, and spirit
What are the relations between human, the rest of creation, and God?
Week 2: Piety through perfecting and purifying the soul (tazkiyat al-nafs)
What is the relation between moral character and piety?
What is the end-goal of "purifying the soul" and what do we achieve by doing so?
What are the "diseases of the heart" and how do we go about purifying ourselves from such defects?
Week 3: The Relationship with God through God-consciousness (taqwa) and love (mahabbah)
What are different ways of envisioning our relationship with God? What are different models of spirituality?
How do we understand our relationship of slavehood (`ubudiyya) to Allah? What is the role of worship/service, fear, obedience, and mindfulness of God in our spiritual life?
What does it mean to love Allah? and to be loved by Allah? How do we develop a loving relationship with God?
What does it mean to be a "friend" (khalil) of God? How do we develop such a relationship?
Week 4: Returning to God and Divine Union
How have mystical paths understood our return to God?
What is union with God, both in this life and the next?
How do prepare ourselves to return to God?