The study of social structure, institutions, and the dynamics of group life — from micro-interactions to macro-level systems.

Sociology confronts the tension between studying society and transforming it, between maintaining professional distance and bearing witness to structural harm. Questions of positionality, the ethics of research on vulnerable populations, and the use of sociological knowledge in policy are persistent challenges.

The Sufi tradition's understanding of social reality as shaped by the inner states of its members — that outer corruption is a reflection of inner disorder — provides a complementary frame to structural sociology. The concept of islah (social reform) in Islamic thought is grounded in personal and communal transformation, not merely systemic redesign.