original web document: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~brvs/intro98.html
Barbara R. von Schlegell
Office: 212 Logan Hall
Telephone:
(215) 898-5838Facsimile: (215) 898-6568 E-mail: brvs@ccat.sas.upenn.edu
Postal Address: Department of Religious
Studies, Logan Hall, 249 South 36th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6304
Office hours: Thursday 12:30-2:30 Web: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~brvs
Introduction to Islamic Religion
Religious Studies 143 ( AMES 136)
We will meet in Room 421 Williams Hall on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:30 to 12:00
Course Requirements
- 30 % Class participation (attendance and discussion)
- 30 % Take-home midterm
- 40 % Students have two options for the end-of-term work:
You can either write a 10-15 page research paper on a topic chosen in consultation with me (due the day of the final exam) or you can sit for the final exam (questions handed out last day of class).
If you choose to write a paper, you may, if you turn the paper in on or before Tuesday Dec 1, re-write it and turn it in again the day of the final exam for a better grade based on my comments and your own revisions.
Books for Purchase
Penn Book Center 3726 Walnut 222-7600
- An Introduction to Islam, Frederick Denny (new ed.)
- Windows on the House of Islam: Muslim Sources on Spirituality and Religious Life, John Renard, ed.
- American Jihad, S. Barboza
- Muslim Communities of North America, J. Smith and Y. Haddad
- Principles of Sufism, al-Qushayri (optional)
Reserve Books
Rosengarten
Under my name, all the required books, and
- The Essential Koran, Th. Cleary
- The Holy Qur’an, Yusuf Ali
- Qur’an and Woman, Amina Wadud-Muhsin
- The Life of Muhammad, Ibn Ishaq/Ibn Hisham
- Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources, Martin Lings
- A Reader on Classical Islam, FE Peters
- An Introduction to Shi’i Islam, J. Momen
- Voices of Resurgent Islam, Esposito and Voll
Bulkpack
Will be available for purchase
Course Outline
Thursday Sept 10: Introduction to Islam and the Modern Muslim World
Reading (Read for next Tuesday):
- Frederick Denny, An Introduction to Islam, Part One, especially "Pre-Islamic Arabia" 43-58
- Begin American Jihad . Select two individuals from the book: The person with whom you feel the most affinity and the person whose story seems most alien to you. For Thursday Sept 24 write a two-page commentary explaining why you have chosen these two people. Their background is not as important as their ideas. In their shoes, could you imagine yourself following a similar path? This assignment is required, but it will not be given a letter grade.
Biography, Family of the Prophet, Mecca and Medina
Reading:
- Denny, "Muhammad and the Early Muslim Community" 59-80
- John Renard, ed. Windows on the House of Islam 119-129, 336-344 and 353
Bulkpack: Annemarie Schimmel "The Prophet Muhammad as a Centre of Muslim Life and Thought," from We Believe in One God: The Experience of God in Christianity and Islam, E. Waugh, "The Popular Muhammad"
Creation and cosmology, Revelation and prophecy in Islam, Oral to written scripture, Major themes of the Qur’an, Interpretation, Jews and Christians in the Qur’an
Reading:
- Denny, "Nature and Function of the Qur’an" 138-155
- Windows 1-27, 35-58, 144-148
Conquest and conversion, Imperial civilization, After the caliphs
Film "Smithsonian World of Islam"
Reading:
- Denny, "The Arab Conquests and Islamic Rule" 83-103 and 206-212
BP : N. Levtzion, "Toward a Comparative Theory of Islamization" and B. Lewis, "The Judeo-Islamic Tradition" from The Jews of Islam
Windows 223-234
Codification of the divine law (Shari’ah), sayings of the Prophet (hadith), Religious professionals and jurisprudence (fiqh) in the sunni law schools (madhabs)
Reading:
- Denny, "The Prophet’s Sunna as Preserved in the Hadith" 158-168 and 195-204
BP : Law text selections (hadith and fiqh on intoxication; hadith on social interactions; hadith on marriage)
Web: Begin "The Ajwiba: An Islamic Catechism" paying attention to norms concerning actions
Tuesday Oct 13: Theology
Heresy and normative beliefs (‘aqa’id), Ontology, Heaven and hell, Free-will and determinism
Reading:
- Denny, "Muslim Creeds and Theologies" 172-193
- Windows 269-277
Web: Finish "The Ajwiba" paying attention to theological positions, read "Fiqh al-akbar" also on my web page
Sects in Islam, Religious and political authority, Shi’i doctrine and practice
Reading:
- Denny, "Shi’i Law Schools" 204-206 and 313- 320
- Windows 95-106 and 149-154
BP : S. Haeri "Temporary Marriage"
Take-home midterm due in class
Calligraphy, iconoclasm, mosques, tombs and colleges
Visit to Overbrook Mosque (on Friday)
Reading:
- Denny, "The Mosque" 294-298
- Windows 250-268
BP: O. Grabar, "Islamic Attitudes toward the Arts" in The Formation of Islamic Art
Mystical Islam, Drunk and sober Sufism, unio mystica, Three masters (al-Ghazali, Ibn ‘Arabi, and Jalal al-Din Rumi), Crystallization of Sufi orders and their role in Muslim societies
Film "Sufism in Sudan"
Reading:
- Denny, "The Sufi Way of Mysticism and Fellowship" 219-262 and 305-320
- Windows 59-64, 139-143, 155- 158, 162-184, 194-207, 235-243, 296-324, 345-352, 355-375
- Al-Qushayri Principles of Sufism (optional)
Personal and communal responsibilities, rituals
Film "Guests of God"
Reading:
- Denny, "Basic Beliefs and Worship Practices of Islam" 107-137 and "Islamic Life Cycle and the Family" 269-293
- Windows 85-91 and 107-118
The "four perfect women," Women in early Islamic history - warriors and scholars, Sufis, Islamic feminism and the revision of tradition
Film "Boys, Girls and the Veil"
Reading:
- Denny, "Islam and the Status of Women" 351-355
- Windows 92-94, 130-138, 244-248, 286-290
BP: R. Hassan, "An Islamic Perspective," from Women, Religion, and Sex; N. Keddie, "Deciphering Middle Eastern Women’s History," from Women in Middle Eastern History
Conversion to Islam, the immigrant population, African-American sunni Muslims, The Nation of Islam, media Muslims
Reading:
- Denny, "Islam and Muslims in North America" 355-366
- Muslim Communities of North America, J. Smith and Y. Haddad, eds. (chapters assigned in class for discussion)
- American Jihad (second look)
Defining fundamentalism, Renewal and reform in Islam, Colonialism and modernism, Militancy and revolution
Film "Fundamentalism in Egypt"
Reading:
- Denny, "Fundamentalism," 345-351
- Windows 217-222 and 325-335
BP : Y. Haddad, "Sayyid Qutb: Ideologue of the Islamic Revival" from J. Esposito, Voices of Resurgent Islam and "The Clash of Civilizations?" (Huntington and Mottahedeh)
Final exam questions handed out in class
