Feeling Islam: An Emotional Journey of the Qur’an with Dr. Karen Bauer | Thinking Islam | Ep.8

Does the Qur’an only invite us to think, or does its message also create an emotional state? In this episode of Thinking Islam, we explore the profound emotional trajectories within the Quranic paradigm with leading scholar Dr. Karen Bauer. From the roles of fear and hope in religious experience to the surprising emotional vulnerability of the prophets, we unpack how the Qur’anic text masterfully orchestrates human feelings to create lasting inner transformation. This conversation explores Dr. Bauer’s groundbreaking research on emotional plots in Islamic texts. It delves into the emotional trajectories within Quranic narratives, examining how the heart serves as both the seat of perception and feeling, and how emotions are portrayed throughout scripture.Together, we explore how the Quran aims to evoke emotional responses in its listeners. We examine the connection between emotions and both internal and external orientations, and how this shapes the Quranic understanding of what it means to be human. Dr. Karen Bauer is an Associate Professor in Quranic Studies at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London. She earned her PhD from Princeton University and is widely recognised for her work on gender and emotional rhetoric in the Quran. Her recent publications include Women, Households, and the Hereafter in the Qur’an (2023) and Gender Hierarchy in the Qur’an (2015). Dr. Bauer bridges medieval scholarship with contemporary understanding through rigorous textual analysis and extensive fieldwork.