Scott KugleSamuel Candler Dobbs Professor

Scott Kugle serves as Samuel C. Dobbs Professor of Islamic Studies in the Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies at Emory University in Atlanta, USA. His fields of expertise include Sufism, Islam in South Asia, and issues of gender and sexuality. He is the author of nine books: these include about sexuality Homosexuality in Islam: Critical Reflection on Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Muslims, Living Out Islam: Voices of Gay, Lesbian and Transgender, and about Sufism When Sun Meets Moon: Eros, Ecstasy and Gender in Urdu Poetry and Hajj to the Heart: Sufi Journeys across the Indian Ocean. He has lived and conducted research in India, Pakistan, Morocco, South Africa and the Netherlands. His research languages are Arabic, Urdu, and Persian.

Education/Degrees

• Ph.D., History of Religions, Duke University
• B.A., Religion, Literature and History, Swarthmore College

Teaching/Research Areas

• Islamic Studies
• South Asian Studies
• Gender and Sexuality in Islam
• Comparative Religion
• Sufi Literature and Music

Books Published

• Hajj to the Heart: Sufi Journeys across the Indian Ocean (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2022).
• The Merciful Door: Living with a Sufi Master in India (London: Beacon Books, 2022).
• When Sun Meets Moon: Gender, Eros and Ecstasy in Urdu Poetry (Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 2016).
• Living Out Islam: Voices of Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Muslims (New York: New York University Press, 2013).
• Sufi Meditation and Contemplation: Timeless Wisdom from Mughal India, trans. from Persian with critical introduction (New Lebanon: Omega Press, 2012).
• Homosexuality in Islam: Critical Reflection on Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Muslims (Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2010).
• Performing Ecstasy: Poetics and Politics of Religion in India, co-edited with Pallabi Chakravorty (New Delhi: Manohar Press, 2009).
• Sufis and Saints’ Bodies: Mysticism, Corporeality and Sacred Power in Islamic Culture (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 2007).
• Rebel Between Spirit and Law: Ahmad Zarruq, Juridical Sainthood and Authority in Islam.  (Bloomington: Indian University Press, 2006).
• The Book of Illumination: an English Translation of Kitab al-Tanwir fı Isqat al-Tadbir by Shaykh Ibn `Ata’ Allah al-Iskandari (Louisville: Fons Vitae Press, 2005).