Scholar to speak on Islamic aesthetics, spiritual refinement at SVSU

October 22, 2026

Scholar to speak on Islamic aesthetics, spiritual refinement at SVSU

As a part of the Raana Akbar Memorial Lecture Series, Saginaw Valley State University will host Feryal Salem, Ph.D., associate professor of Arabic and Islamic studies at American Islamic College in Chicago, for her lecture, "The Art of the Soul: Islamic Architecture, Beauty, and Spiritual Formation in Islamic Civilization." The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be held on Thursday, Nov. 5, at 6 p.m. in Ott Auditorium, located in Gilbertson Hall on SVSU's Kochville Township campus.

In her lecture, Salem will highlight how Islamic aesthetics sought to cultivate spiritual refinement and the nourishment of the soul. Drawing on examples ranging from gardens, mosques and calligraphy to light symbolism, geometric design and sacred space, she examines how beauty was understood in Islamic civilization as a means of cultivating mindfulness, harmony and awareness of the divine.

In addition to serving as an associate professor, Salem also directs the American Islamic College's Master of Divinity in Islamic Studies and Muslim Chaplaincy programs.

In 2018 she was named one of "25 Influential American Muslims" by CNN for her work in higher education. Her research interests include Islamic philosophy and theology in the post-classical period, interfaith dialogue and the development of Muslim thought in the contemporary era.

Salem is the author of "The Emergence of Early Sufi Piety and Sunnī Scholasticism: 'Abdallāh b. al-Mubārak and the Formation of Sunni Identity in the Second Islamic Century" in Brill's "Islamic History and Civilization" series. She also published "Isagoge: A Primer in Classical Logic" (2022), in which she translated and wrote a lengthy commentary on Athir al-Din al-Abhari's foundational treatise.

She holds a Ph.D. in Islamic studies from the University of Chicago's Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.

The Raana Akbar Memorial Lecture on Islam and Culture was established in 2011 by Waheed Akbar, M.D., in memory of his wife, Raana, a former member of the SVSU Board of Control, physician and community leader.