Course Description:

This course examines the emergence and development of Islam as both a religion and a tradition. It discusses the basic Islamic beliefs and practices and introduces the essential sources of Islamic faith, the Qur'ān, the hadīth, and the traditions (Sunnah) of the Prophet Muhammad, as well as the relation of Islam to other religions, particularly Judaism and Christianity. It will analyze the development of the Islamic intellectual tradition including Islamic law (sharī'ah), Sufism, theology (kalām), philosophy, arts and sciences, and shall introduce and study the most important representatives of these sciences from the founders of the four Sunni schools as well as the Shī'i school of law, and from Sufis to Muslim philosophers, theologians, and scientists.

The course also reviews the early history of Islam as it relates to the establishment and consolidation of Sunni Islam and the rise of early theological currents and political factions including the Shī'ites and the Kharijites. It discusses the historical background of major Muslim dynasties from the Umayyads and the Abbasids to the Safavids and the Ottomans with particular emphasis on theological, legal, and intellectual developments. Finally, to understand the current situation in the Muslim world, the course examines Islam in modern times. It introduces modern movements such as Pan-Islamism, Islamic modernism, and fundamentalism, with special attention to the role of European colonization and ascendancy as well as the challenges of nationalism and modernism.

Course Requirements:

The mid-term and final exams will consist of essay questions in which there is a range of choice, e.g. choose three of four questions.

Undergraduate students are expected to write a term paper of ten pages on a subject of their choice which must be approved by the instructor in advance of its completion. Graduate students must write a research paper of some twenty five pages on a subject of their choice which they must treat in depth.

Required Reading:

1. Islam and the Destiny of Man by Gai Eaton (Albany, The State University of New York Press, 1977), for the relationship of European and Christian civilization to the Islamic world, as well as a good reader for early Islamic history and for the larger social questions in the religion.
2. Islam: The Straight Path by John Esposito (Oxford University Press, 1997), for an overall presentation of Islamic history more weighted to political history.
3. The Vision of Islam by William Chittick and Sachiko Murata (Albany, The State University of New York Press, 1994), for its presentation of the core beliefs and theology of Islam.
4. Ideals and Realities of Islam by Seyyed Hossein Nasr (Chicago, ABC International, 1989), which deals effectively with the spiritual and temporal significance of the Qur'ān, hadīth, and Sufism. Also valuable for its discussion of Shī'ism.
5. The Heart of Islam by Seyyed Hossein Nasr (Harper San Francisco, 2002), a book written specifically to address the new era ushered in by the September 11th attacks.

Recommended Reading:

1. Approaching the Qur'an by Michael Sells (Ashland, White Cloud Press, 1999), for a poetical translation of the early Meccan chapters capturing some of their power in Arabic with commentaries drawn from traditional sources and a CD with leading Qur'anic reciters
2. Muhammad's People: An Anthology of Muslim Civilization by Eric Schroeder (Mineola, Dover Publications, 2002), a carefully constructed anthology of Islam and Islamic civilization.

Course Outline: