ET-655 Contemporary Islamic Ethics Hartford Seminary, Fall 2018

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1 ET-655 Contemporary Islamic Ethics Hartford Seminary, Fall 2018 Instructor: Ovamir Anjum Office Address: TBA Office Telephone: TBA Course Info Class meetings: Three weekends Course Description: For Muslims committed to living Islam as a way of life, contemporary society offers many challenges. A commitment to the common good exists in tension with the need to protect individual rights. The desire to uphold family values may conflict with the need to defend pluralism and civil liberties. In a world threatened with violence from many sources, self-defense and security take on new meaning. In this class, we will examine these tensions and the Islamic principles that can help Muslims live ethically and with integrity in contemporary society. After an introduction to the theoretical principles of Islamic ethics, the course will focus on these tensions as they exist in contemporary Islamic ethics. Prerequisites: This is not an introductory class to Islamic studies; coursework in Islamic Studies at the graduate level is a prerequisite. Also, proficiency in the use of Blackboard is expected as we will be using it daily. Class readings, student writings, course announcements and other course information and materials will be posted there. Communication with Instructor: The best way to contact me is through (see above). Attendance Policy: Attendance in all classes throughout the period of the day is required. Exceptions will only be granted in emergencies that are corroborated by proper medical documentation or other documentation that warrants an absence. Missing an entire class period without a proper excuse, will seriously compromise your grade. Required Texts None (Notes by the instructor based on an in-progress book will be made available online) Recommended Texts Sherman Jackson, Islam and the Problem of Black Suffering (Oxford U. Press) James G. Speth, The Bridge at the Edge of the World Grade: 30% In class participation 70% Research paper The research paper will consist of four parts. First, introduction to the research problem,

2 second, literature review, third, review of Islamic scriptural materials on the subject (this may overlap more or less with the first), fourth, critique and analysis and fifth, a list of recommendations for contemporary American Muslim counselors, educators, imams, and the community at large. The paper will be about words, approximately pages (double-spaced, 12 point). More advanced students who wish to do so may consider publishing the paper in a suitable academic journal. Course Schedule (I reserve the right to make changes in this outline and/or assignments in the course as is line with general aims of the course.) The class instruction time consists of three class weekend meetings separated by approximately 40 days: Sept 7-9, Oct 19-21, Nov 30-Dec 2. First Meeting 1.1 Introduction to the course Islamicate Traditions of Ethics Islamic Prophetic Ethics. 1.4 Choosing your project. Reading 1: Anjum, Islamic Prophetic Ethics: Qur an and Prophetic Practice (online) Interim period: Complete the readings for the first meeting as well the second meeting. Start discussing them online with the class. Start working on your projects/papers. Reading 2: Anjum, Introduction to Islamic Ethical Theory and Case for a Prophetic Ethics (online) Second Meeting 2.1 Islamic Ethical Theory. 2.2 Student presentation of work in progress. 2.3 Contemporary ethical dilemmas: An introduction to the theory of ethical clash. 2.4 Submit case studies of American Muslim ethical dilemmas to be discussed at length in the next meeting Interim Period: Finalize your papers, submit drafts two to three weeks before the

3 meeting for feedback. Third Meeting 3.1 Student final project presentations 3.2 Discuss five case studies of ethical dilemmas Some Sample Issues for Contemporary Islamic Ethics Presentations and Research Papers (I encourage you to be creative and ask new and relevant questions): Religious Pluralism and Interfaith Relations Apostasy in Muslim majority countries Evangelization, religious relief work, mission and da`wa Balancing religious beliefs with activism for universal human rights Medical Ethics Abortion Organ transplantation Medical assisted suicide Medical marijuana Family Life and Sexuality Adoption Polygamy Sexuality and the unmarried Muslim Political Ethics Citizenship Military service Partisan politics (joining a political party) Public Policy Issues: What Position Should Muslims Take? Health care Gay marriage Crime and punishment/rehabilitation Death penalty Taxation and/or another economic or financial issue Ethics of War and Peace Prisoners of war; enemy combatants

4 Torture vs. lawful interrogation procedures Means of warfare Who has the right to declare war? Environmental Ethics and Animal Rights What makes food lawful? Capitalism Industrialization vs. environment in developing countries.

5 Bibliography Kecia Ali, Sexual Ethics & Islam: Feminist Reflection on Qur an, Hadith, and Jurisprudence (Oxford: Oneworld, 2006). Jonathan Brockopp, ed., Islamic Ethics of Life: Abortion, War, and Euthanasia (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2003). Jonathan Brockopp and Thomas Eich, eds., Muslim Medical Ethics: From Theory to Practice (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 2008). Michael Cook, Commanding Right and Forbidding Wrong in Islamic Thought (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002). M. Izzi Dien, The Environmental Dimensions of Islam (Cambridge: The Lutterworth Press, 2000). Khaled Abou El Fadl, The Search for Beauty in Islam: A Conference of the Books (New York: Rowan & Littlefield Publishers, 2006). Majid Fakhry, Ethical Theories in Islam (Leiden: Brill, 1994). Richard Foltz, Animals in Islamic Tradition and Muslim Cultures (Oxford: Oneworld, 2006). George Hourani, Islamic Rationalism: The Ethics of Abd al-jabbar (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971). Richard Hovannisian, ed., Ethics in Islam: Ninth Giorgio Levi Della Vida Biennial Conference (Malibu, CA: Undena Publications, 1985). Marcia Inhorn and Soraya Tremayne, eds., Islam and Assisted Reproductive Technologies: Sunni and Shia Perspectives (New York: Berghahan Books, 2012). Toshihiko Izutsu, Ethico-Religious Concepts in the Qur an (Montreal: McGill-Queen s University Press, 2002). James Turner Johnston, The Holy War Idea in Western and Islamic Traditions (University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997). Journal of Religious Ethics, Part One: Focus on Islamic Ethics Foundational Issues, vol. 11, no. 2, Fall John Kelsay, Islam and War: A Study in Comparative Ethics (Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1993). John Kelsay, Arguing the Just War in Islam (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993). Al-Hafiz Basheer Ahmad Masri, Animal Welfare in Islam (Leicestershire, UK: The Islamic Foundation, 2007).

6 Ann Elizabeth Mayer, Islam and Human Rights: Tradition and Politics (New York: Westview Press, 2013). Abdullahi al-na im, Toward and Islamic Reformation: Civil Liberties, Human Rights, and International Law (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1996). Irene Oh, The Rights of God: Islam, Human Rights, and Comparative Ethics (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2007). A. Kevin Reinhart, Before Revelation: The Boundaries of Muslim Moral Thought (Albany: SUNY Press, 1995). Abdulaziz Sachedina, Islam and the Challenge of Human Rights (New York, Oxford University Press, 2009). Abdulaziz Sachedina, Islamic Biomedical Ethics: Principles and Applications (New York, Oxford University Press, 2011). Amyn B. Sajoo, ed., A Companion to Muslim Ethics (London: IB Tauris Publishers, 2010). Amyn B. Sajoo, Muslim Ethics: Emerging Vistas (London: IB Tauris Publishers, 2004).

ET-655 Contemporary Islamic Ethics. Instructor: Omer Awass Course Info: Summer 2015

ET-655 Contemporary Islamic Ethics Instructor: Omer Awass Course Info: Summer 2015 Office Address: TBA Class: Monday-Friday 9:00am-5:30pm Office Telephone: TBA Morning break: 11:00 am-11:15 am Email: awass@aicusa.edu