Published Paper Details:

Tasawwuf (Islamic mysticism) represents the ethical and spiritual core of Islam, emphasizing moral refinement, inner transformation, and experiential consciousness of the Divine. While modern scholarship often approaches Islam through legal, political, or ideological lenses, Tasawwuf offers an alternative paradigm grounded in ethical self- cultivation and social responsibility. Drawing upon the classical definition of Tasawwuf attributed to Ab? al-?asan A?mad al-N?r? and cited by P?r Karam Sh?h al-Azhar? in the Preface to the English translation of Kashf al-Ma?j?b, this paper argues that Tasawwuf is best understood as khulq (excellent moral character) rather than ritualism or abstract knowledge. Through a historical and conceptual analysis, the paper situates Tasawwuf within the Qur??nic and Prophetic framework and examines its relevance in addressing contemporary crises such as moral alienation, psychological anxiety, extremism, and social fragmentation in the Arab and wider Muslim world. The study contends that Tasawwuf, when grounded in Islamic orthodoxy, provides a viable ethical and spiritual response to the challenges of modernity without retreating into escapism or sectarianism.