בית הספר לתלמידי חו"ל

Transcription

1 Islam: Introduction to the History of the Religion and Civilization Dr. Yusri Ali Hazran Tentative Syllabus -- Spring 2014 The main purpose of this course, "Islam: Introduction to the History of the Religion and Civilization is to debunk the tendentious and essential concept of Islam as a monolithic entity without nuances of plurality, internal dynamics, and historical complexities. Since its inception in the seventh century, Islamic civilization has been diverse, witnessing the development of many movements and divisions. Hence, this course will trace the intellectual, cultural, and dogmatic developments and changes Islam has witnessed since the emergence of the prophet Muhammad and the advent of Islam in the seventh century up to the rise of present-day political Islam movements. The course will be divided into four main sections. The first will deal with the historical and intellectual sources of Islam; the Prophet Muhammad's religious world; the uniqueness of the holy text of the Quran; non-muslim subjects in Islamic law and state; and the conflict over the Prophet Muhammad's inheritance and the rise of theological sects in Islam. The second part will be devoted to discussing the four fields of cultural creativity and diversity that dominated Islamic civilization during medieval times. These fields include the development of Islamic law; the rise and fall of rationalism in Islam during the early Abbasid period; Islamic mysticism; and science and scientific innovation in Islam. The third part is expected to deal with the institutionalization of orthodox Islam in the later Middle Ages. This process will be linked in the course to the weighty political events by which the Islamic world was transformed in this period, meaning the transfer of political power from Arab hands to Turkish military elites. The course will discuss how this institutionalization found expressions in elaboration of the ulama establishment and its alliance with the political rulers,

2 the rise of the madrasa and the demise of rational thought in Islam and the radicalization of the Muslim state's policy towards non-muslim subjects. The fourth and last part will focus on Islamic thought and religion in the shadow of modernity and Western hegemony. This will lead us to explore the reformist movements that emerged during the nineteenth century, to be followed by the emergence of political Islamic movements and their attempt to ideologize Islam in light of modernity. I will also touch on the encounters between Islam and nationalism, communism, and secularism. In particular, Shiite revolutionarism in Iran and Lebanon will provide examples of the diverse and non-monolithic nature of Islam. The course will conclude with a discussion of how Muslim intellectuals theorize Islam in contemporary times. Ultimately, the educational objective of this course is for its students to emerge with a broad idea of the changing and diverse nature of Islam, both historically and in the present day. 1. The Debate on Orientalism, P. Crone & Michael Cook, Hagarism: The Making of the Islamic World (Cambridge:1977). Edward Said, Orientalism (Vintage Book Editions, 1979). 2. The Arabian Peninsula on the eve of Islam, W.M. Watt, Muhammad at Mecca (Oxford, 1953), relevant pages F.E.Peters, "The Commerce of Mecca before Islam" in: F. Kazemi and R.D. McChesney (eds.), A Way Prepared, Essays in Honor of Bayli Winder (New York: 1988), pp

3 3. Prophet Muhammad's religious world Uri Rubin, The Eye of the Beholder: The Life of Muhammad as Viewed by Early Muslims (Princeton: 1995), pp D. Baneth, "What did Muhammad mean when he called his religion Islam?" Israel Oriental Studies (1971), pp F. M. Denny, An Introduction to Islam (New York & London, 1985),, pp Hugh Kennedy, The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates: The Islamic Near East from the Sixth to the Eleventh Century (London 1984), relevant pages. 4. Sects in Islam M. Bar-Asher, "Variant readings and additions of the Imami Shia to the Quran" Israel Oriental Studies (1993), pp E. Kohlberg, "Some Imami Shia views on the Sahaba" JSAI (1984). H. Halm, The Shia Islam from Religion to Revolution (Princeton, 1997), relevant pages. M. Momen, An Introduction to Shia Islam (New Haven & London, 1985), relevant pages W. Madelung, religious Schools and Sects in Medieval Islam (London, 1985), relevant pages. Farhard Daftary, A Modern History of the Ismailis (London, 2011), pp The development of Islamic law J. Schacht, An Introduction to Islamic Law (Oxford, 1964), relevant pages S. Humphreys, Islamic History: A Framework of Inquiry (London: 1991), pp W. Hallaq, "Was the Gates of Ijtihad Closed?" IJMES, W. Hallaq, "From Fatwas to Furu, growth and change in Islamic substantive law, Islamic Law and Society (1993), pp Islamic mysticism A. Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam (Chapel- Hill, 1975), relevant pages. M.G.S. Hodgson, The Venture of Islam (Chicago, 1974), pp

4 J.S. Trimingham, Sufi Orders in Islam (Oxford, 1998), relevant pages. 7. The rise and fall of rationalism in Islam S.D.Goitein, "The Intermediate Civilization" in S.D. Goitein (ed.), Studies in Islamic History and Society (Leiden, 1968), pp M. Cook, "The Origins of Kalam" BSOAS (1980), PP W. Madelung, "The origin of controversy concerning the creation of the Koran" Orientalia Hispanica (1974), pp G. Makdisi, "Ashari and the Asharites in Islamic religious history" Studia Islamica (1962), pp ; (1963), pp ulama establishment and its alliance with the political rulers S.D.Goitein, "The rise of the middle eastern bourgeoisie in early Islamic times" in: S.D. Goitein, (ed.), Studies in Islamic History and Society (Leiden, 1968), pp C.F. Petry, The Civilian Elite of Cairo in the Later Middle Ages (Princeton, 1981), relevant pages. D.S. Richards (ed.), Islamic Civilization (Oxford, 1973), relevant pages. 9. Islam in the Shadow of Western Modernism A. Hourani, Arabic Thought in Liberal Age (London: 1970), Chapters 5 & 6. C. Kurzban (ed.), Modernist Islam (Oxford, 2002), relevant pages. J. Esposito (ed.), Islam in Transition (New York, 1982), relevant pages. Muhammad Zaman, The Ulama in Contemporary Islam (Princeton, 2002), relevant pages. 10. Political Islam R. Mitchell, The Society of Muslim Brothers (NE, Oxford, 1993), relevant pages. B. Rubin, Political Islam (London, 2007), relevant pages. J. L. Esposito, The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality (1995), relevant pages. P. Peters, Jihad in Classical and Modern Islam (Princeton, 1996), pp G. Kepel, The Prophet and Pharaoh (London, 1985), relevant pages.

5 11. Revolutionary Shi'ism D. Menshari, Iran, a Decade of War and Revolution (New York, 1999), relevant pages Ahmad Hamzeh, In the Path of Hizbullah (Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2004), relevant pages Augustus Norton, Hezbollah: A Short History (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007), relevant pages. Majed Halawi, A Lebanon Defied: Musa al-sadr and the Shi a Community (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1992), relevant pages. Judith Harik, "Between Islam and the System: Sources and Implications of Popular Support for Lebanon'sHizballah" The Journal of Conflict Resolution (1996), pp Islam and Democracy A. Maalouf, In the Name of Identity (New York, 2000), relevant pages. F. Hallidary, Islam and the Myth of Confrontation (London, 1996), relevant pages. J. Esposito, & John Voll, Islam and Democracy (New York, 1996), relevant pages.