Content
In the conversatorium students will break into groups of two or three, if necessary
and based on common interest, as we explore key issues and moments in Islamic
history that are not covered in sufficient depth in the lecture course. Each
student or group will be responsible for presenting a panel discussion and leading
the class discussion on the issue(s) chosen and for which a preliminary list
and bibliography is suggested below. The students will also have make one five
minutes presentation in class identifying a person or a concept.
The final grade
will be calculated as follows:
Class participation 20 %
Oral presentations 40 %
Final Examination 40 %
Week
1: Introduction
Muslim World Today
C. Geertz, “Religion as Culture”
Week 2: Overview of the Islamic Civilization
“Charter of Medina” and “Farewell Address of the Prophet” in Ibn Ishaq,
Life of Muhammad
Hadith: Moral teachings of Islam from Sahih al-Bukhari (http://www.religionfacts.com/islam/library/hadith.htm)
Week 3: Diffusion of Islamic Civilization
Presentations by students on following themes:
• Ethics and Sufism : al-Ghazzali,
Ihya', on marriage and family planning; Ihya' (parts III and
IV) (http://www.ghazali.org)
• Political theory: Ghazali, Counsels for kings
(http://www.ghazali.org)
• Theology (kalam): S troumsa, Sarah, Freethinkers
of medieval Islam; H?illi, al-H?asan Ibn-Yusuf al- : A treatise
on the principles of Shî'ite theology
Five minutes presentations of: al-Jahiz; al-Farabi; Ibn Sina; Ibn ‘Arabi;
Week 4: Islam in Europe and Europe in
the Islamicate
Oral presentations by students on following themes:
• Architecture and Arts :
O. Grabbar, The Alhambra
• Jewish Philosophical tradition in Islamic world
: Nasr, Husain and Leaman O. (eds.), Histroy of Islamic Philosophy (p.696-782);
Anidjar, Gil : "Our place in al-Andalus" : Kabbalah,
philosophy, literature in Arab Jewish letters;
• Geography : al-Sharif al-Idrisi, “ India and
the neighbouring territorie”s in the ‘Kitab nuzhat al-mush taq fi'k
htiraq al-'af-aq'
Five minutes presentations of: Ibn Rushd; Ibn Tufail; al-Idrisi; Ibn ‘Ar abi; Maimonides; Judah Halevi; Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi; Ibn Khaldun
Week 5: Early Modern Age – The Eighteenth
Century Reform and Revival
Books to be read and presented in class by students:
• Levtzion and Voll, Eighteenth
Century Renewal and Reform in Islam
• Voll, Islam- Continuity and Change in the Modern World
Five minutes presentations of following terms and persons: “Tanzimat” in Ottoman Empire; Shah Waliyy Allah of Delhi; Neo Sufism; Wahhabism
Week 6: Western Domination and Modern
Transformation of Islamic Societies
Presentation and comparative discussion by one group of 3 students
of following texts:
• Jamal Al-Din Al-Afghani. “An Islamic
Response to Imperialism” and “Islamic Solidarity”
• Muhammad Abduh. “Islam, Reason and Civilization”
• Sayyid Ahmad Khan. “India and English Government” and “Islam: The
Religion of Reason and Nature”
• Ali ‘Abd al-Raziq, “The Caliphate and the Bases of Power”
Presentations are also called on following topics: Napoleon's conquest of Egypt; India partition; Creation of Israel; dismantlement of the Ottoman Empire
Week 7: Islam and the Modern State – Nationalism,
Socialism and the Secularism
Presentation and comparative discussion by a group of 3 students of
following texts:
• Nationalism: Amir Shakib Arslane,
“Our decline and its causes”; Rashid Rida, “Patriotism, Nationalism and Group
Spirit”
• Socialism: Michel Aflaq, “The Arab personality between the past
and the present”; Brohi A.K., “The Concept of Islamic Socialism”
• Secular State: Abdallah Laroui, “Cotemporary Arab Ideology”; S.
‘Abid Husain, “Indian Muslims in a Secular State”
((Ask me for copies of these texts))
Five minutes presentations of : Jamal Abdul Nasser; Mustapha Ataturk; Muhammad Iqbal; Baath Party
Week 8: Islamic Self-Criticism and Islamic
Feminism
Oral presentation by students on following themes:
• Self Criticism: Mahmasani
Subhi, “Adaptation of Islamic Jurisprudence to Modern Social Needs”; Muhammad
Nuwayhi, “A Revolution in Religious Thought” and Rachid Al- Ghannouchi. “Secularism
in the Arab Maghreb” (from Tamimi, Azzam, Islam and Secularism in the Middle
East ); Ziya Gokalap. “Islam and Modern Civilization” and Halide Edib.
“Turkey faces West” (from Ch. Kurzman, Modernist Islam )
• Feminism : Fatima Mernissi. Veil and the Male Elite
, pp. 25-61; Margot Badran, Islamic Feminism (http://www.countercurrents.org/gen-badran100206.htm)
Presentation in 20 minutes of followings books:
• Mohamed Iqbal, The reconstruction
of religious thought in Islam and “Introduction” to Secrets of the
Self
• Seyyed Hossein, Nasr. Islam and the Plight of Modern Man
Week 9: Islamic Revolution and the Rise
of Political Islam
Oral presentations by students on following themes:
• Iranian revolution : Ayatollah
Mahmud Taliqani, “The Characteristics of Islamic Economics”; Ali Shari'ati,
“Intizae, the Religion of Protest” and “Return to the Self” ((Ask me for a copy))
; Khomeini. “The Pillars of an Islamic State” (from Moaddel, Mansoor, Modernist
and Fundamentalist Debates in Islam ,
• Islamic Revival in Pakistan and Egypt: Mawdudi Abu-l-‘Ala,
“Political theory in Islam” ; Sayyid Qutb. Selection from Milestones ( http://www.youngmuslims.ca/online_library/books/milestones/hold/index_2.asp)
• Triumph of the West? : Fukuyama, “The End of History”;
Bernard Lewis, “The Roots of Muslim Rage”; and Huntington, “The Clash of Civilizations”
((Google the texts))
Five minutes presentations of: Zaynab al-Ghazali, Yusuf al-Qaradawi.
Week 10: Progressive and Liberal Islam
Oral presentations by students on:
• Suruš, Abd-al-Karim : Reason,
freedom, & democracy in Islam
• Esack, Farid : Qur'an, liberation & pluralism
(chapters 3 and 4)
Five minutes presentations of: Fazlur Rahman, Fethullah Gulen.
Week 11: Final Exam