Carl W. Ernst (born September 8, 1950, Los Angeles, California) is the Kenan Distinguished Professor of Islamic Studies at the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is also the director of the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations.

Ernst’s recent book, Following Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World (UNC Press, 2003), has received several international awards, including the 2004 Bashrahil Prize for Outstanding Cultural Achievement.

Carl W. Ernst is a specialist in Islamic studies, with a focus on West and South Asia. His published research, based on the study of Arabic, Persian, and Urdu, has been mainly devoted to the study of three areas: general and critical issues of Islamic studies, premodern and contemporary Sufism, and Indo-Muslim culture. His most recent book is How to Read the Qur’an: A New  Guide, with  Select Translations (UNC  Press, 2011).  His  other  publications,  which have received several international awards, include Rethinking Islamic Studies: From Orientalism to Cosmopolitanism (co-edited with  Richard  Martin, 2010); Following  Muhammad: Rethinking Islam in the Contemporary World (2003); Sufi Martyrs of Love: Chishti Sufism in South Asia and Beyond (co-authored with Bruce Lawrence, 2002); Teachings of Sufism (1999); a translation of The  Unveiling  of  Secrets:  Diary  of  a  Sufi  Master by  Ruzbihan  Baqli  (1997); Guide  to Sufism (1997); Ruzbihan Baqli: Mystical Experience and the Rhetoric of Sainthood in Persian Sufism(1996); Eternal  Garden:  Mysticism,  History,  and  Politics  at  a  South  Asian  Sufi Center (1993); and Words of Ecstasy in Sufism (1985).