Our Scholars

Research Team

A community of dedicated scholars advancing rigorous integrative inquiry at the intersection of classical Sufi knowledge and contemporary science.

Core Research Team

Dr. Gulam Mohmad Kumar

Founder and Director of Research

Sufi Science CenterUSA

12

Papers

4

Projects

Dr. Gulam Mohmad Kumar is the founding director of the Sufi Science Center and architect of its research programme. With graduate training in both classical Islamic sciences and contemporary consciousness research, he has dedicated his scholarly career to developing rigorous methodologies for the integrative study of Sufi knowledge traditions. His work challenges conventional boundaries between sacred science and secular inquiry.

Specialisations

Consciousness StudiesSufi PsychologyIntegrative EpistemologyInner Development

Dr. Fayaz Ahmad Khan

Co-Founder

Sufi Science CenterUSA

10

Papers

3

Projects

Dr. Fayaz Ahmad Khan is the Co-Founder of the Sufi Science Center, bringing deep expertise in classical Islamic sciences and their integration with contemporary research frameworks. His foundational contributions have shaped the scholarly vision and institutional direction of the Center, fostering a rigorous yet spiritually grounded approach to integrative inquiry.

Specialisations

Islamic SciencesSufi EpistemologySpiritual PsychologyKnowledge Integration

Dr. Amina Hassan

Senior Research Fellow — Contemplative Neuroscience

Sufi Science Center / University of California BerkeleyUSA

8

Papers

3

Projects

Dr. Hassan holds dual appointments at the Sufi Science Center and UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center. Her interdisciplinary research bridges first-person phenomenological inquiry with third-person neuroimaging methodologies, with particular focus on the neurological correlates of advanced contemplative states in Muslim practitioners.

Specialisations

Contemplative NeurosciencePhenomenological Research MethodsAttention and Awareness StudiesSufi Practice Traditions

Prof. Sarah Chen

Research Fellow — Complexity Science and Knowledge Systems

Sufi Science Center / Santa Fe InstituteUSA

9

Papers

2

Projects

Prof. Chen brings expertise in complexity science and digital humanities to the Sufi Science Center's research programme. She leads the Sufi Lineage Preservation and Digital Archive project and is currently developing a complexity-theoretic framework for understanding emergent properties of contemplative systems.

Specialisations

Complexity and Systems TheorySufi Manuscript StudiesCross-Traditional ComparisonDigital Humanities

Omar Farid

Research Associate — Islamic Philosophy

Sufi Science CenterUK

3

Papers

2

Projects

Omar Farid is a doctoral researcher specialising in the epistemological dimensions of classical Sufi thought. His work examines the philosophical coherence of kashf (illuminative knowledge) as an epistemological category and its implications for contemporary philosophy of mind. He is completing his doctoral thesis at Oxford University.

Specialisations

Islamic PhilosophyEpistemologySufi Literary TraditionsEthics of Knowledge

Advisory Board

Prof. William Chittick

Professor Emeritus, Stony Brook University

Islamic Mysticism and Sufi Philosophy

Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar

Scholar and Translator

Sufi Psychology and Islamic Ethics

Prof. Richard Davids

University of Chicago Divinity School

Comparative Mysticism

Dr. Sara Walker

Arizona State University

Complexity Theory and Origins of Life

Join the Research Community

We are building a community of scholars dedicated to integrative inquiry. Explore fellowship, collaboration, and membership opportunities.