HISTORY 4223 X1: Fall 2017 Islam & The West J. Whidden BAC 404 585-1814 jamie.whidden@acadiau.ca Office Hours: Tues & Thurs: 9:00-10:00 & 11:30-12:30 Course Objectives: The increasing profile of Islamist political movements on the international stage has transformed international relations and domestic politics in the Middle East and the West. The course asks several questions through a reading of seminal works on the topic: To what degree are the Islamic organizations a product of Middle Eastern culture or the impact of Western modernity? Is there such a thing as Islamic modernity or is political Islam a straightforward rejection of modernity? Do Muslims constitute a real threat to the security and political institutions of the West? Are the Islamic groups the result of Islamic culture, or rather a bi-product of Westernization and secularization? Readings: Gilles Kepel, Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam, Harvard University Press, 2002. Olivier Roy, Globalized Islam: The Search for the New Umma, NewYork: Columbia, 2004. Sami Zubaida, Beyond Islam, London: I.B. Tauris, 2011. Evaluation: Final Exam: 30% Mid-term: 10% Participation 30% Paper 30% Exams There will be a final exam. It will consist of essay questions and will be designed to test your knowledge of all the texts, lectures, and presentations. The mid-term will test your knowledge of the texts. Participation The participation grade will be based upon your presentation, as well as your attendance and discussion of the texts during term. Also, students will present their own research on various topics throughout the term. Discussion of texts will involve students answering the questions listed below in the weekly schedule. Answers must be submitted upon the request of the instructor. Research Paper 26 November The paper (3,000 words) will be a study of themes investigated in any one of the texts.
The paper will include: 1) Thesis statement. 2) Themes that support the thesis statement. 3) A bibliography with at least 10 sources (articles or books) in addition to the required textbooks. Encyclopedia-type entries (either books or internet sources) may be included, but will not count as one of your sources. You may of course use books, articles or other documentary sources on the internet. Follow the guidelines in Turabian s A Manual for Writers. The Course Outline is numbered according to the weeks of the term. The readings should be completed beforehand in preparation for discussions, assignments or tests. 1. Introduction. 2. The Islamic State. Albert Hourani, Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age, 2 nd edition, Cambridge University Press, 1983 (on the reference shelf of the library), pp. 1-24 & 103-130. https://www.scribd.com/document/153340363/arabic-thought-in-the-liberal-age- 1798-1939. 3. Post-Islamist Era. Olivier Roy, 58-99. a) Define the significance of as many of the following concepts, as identified by Roy: States without nations, Brothers without states, Diasporas, Strategic Factor, Political Integration, Muslim Vote, Democracy. b) Show how the example of Iran proves the point that in the contemporary period religion has been divorced from politics, one of Roy s central arguments. Or, another way to say this is that political logic has won out over religious. c) Identify the key concepts, ideas or tactics developed by Maududi, Khomeini and Qutb. 4. Muslims in The West. Roy, 100-148. a) What are some of the different identities that Muslims in the West are likely to adopt? b) What is the value of the idea of pristine cultures in Roy s argument? c) Define the process of assimilation or acculturation. What are the different sort of responses to this process? c) What are the dominant paradigms to understand Muslims as minorities? d) Neo-ethnicity is an important concept. Define it. Identify issues that illustrate the formation of neo-ethnic identities. Or, how is the perception in the West that Islamic core values are embedded in neo-ethnic groups not supported by evidence? 5. Neo-Fundamentalism. Roy, 232-289 & Zubaida, 31-76. a) Relate the idea of neo-fundamentalism to Kepel s theory in Jihad. What differences are there between Roy s and Kepel s interpretations? b) How does Roy s critique of the way Islam is represented in the West supported by Zubaida s critique of Gellner s work? c) Define the meaning of essentialism and describe the way Zubaida uses themes such as specificity and historical change to critique the essentialist approach. Use examples from Egypt and Iran to illustrate your observations, following Zubaida s analysis.
d) Are Roy s and Zubaida s views of Islamic culture similar? How so? 6. Expansion. Kepel, 23-158. a)what were the essential similarities between Khomeini, Maududi, and Qutb that leads Kepel to identify them with an Islamic cultural revolution? What are the basic differences between them? b)from Morocco to Indonesia, the position of the ulema in relation to state and society is quite diverse. Explain with concrete examples. In which regions did Islamism have a firm hold in the late 1960s? c)why did Islamism adopt a strictly conservative political agenda in Sunni Islam, rather than a truly revolutionary one? d)why did the radical and revolutionary strains of Sunni Islam fail to win broad based support? Consider the examples of Egypt, Malaysia, and Pakistan. e)what made the Shiite form of Islamism in Iran uniquely suited to develop a revolutionary movement? Is this argument different from Roy s? f)why did the Islamic zone of influence come to embrace Afghanistan, Algeria, and Palestine? 7. Jihadists. Gilles Kepel, 205-322. a)what is the argument for decline (review the Introduction)? b)why did the Gulf War result in a split in the Arab Islamist movement? How did this split impact upon Saudi Arabia and the globalized Arab Islamist organizations? c)the Islamist movement in Algeria shifted from democratic opposition to salafistjihadist, and finally to takfiri Islam. Explain why these changes took place and what impact this had upon social support for the Islamists in Algeria. d)how did the Islamist organizations come to control Egyptian civil society? Why did this control fail to translate into political power? e)contrast the tactics of Hamas during the first and second intifada. Why did this change of tactics take place? f)referring to the epistle of 1995 Kepel suggests that Osama Bin Laden belongs to a school of Islamists that stood at the intersection of the jihadist-salafist movement and the Muslim Brothers. Explain. Compare his jihad to that of the jihadists in Egypt and Algeria. g)in several cases, Kepel refers to the traditional relationship between the ulema and the Islamic prince, in what ways did modern Islamism break this traditional relationship? h)explain the significance of the following themes that run through Kepel s analysis: a) the conflict between secular nationalists and Islamists; b) the alliance between urban youth and the devout middle class. 8. Beyond Islam. Choose one of the chapters in Zubaida and explain how he proves (or not) that Islam is not relevant for the discussion of social change in the Middle East. Relate this theme to events in Lebanon, Afghanistan, Palestine, Iran, Egypt or in the West. Relate how discussion of class or nation are equally important as is Islam in explaining historical events. And, demonstrate how he argues that values are not necessarily Islamic, even if they attributed to Islam, and depend on the interest of historical actors. How is it that he argues that modernity is a better concept to explain
modern change in the Middle East, than Islam? 9. Coexistence. Final versions of the projects on coexistence between Muslims and other peoples, based on research over the previous weeks on this theme. Worth 10% of participation grade. 10. Paper Preps. 12. Paper Preps. 13. Paper Presentations. 14. Review.
Concepts Islam & The West Caliph Rashidun Salaf or Salafiyya Asabiya Watan Shura (Mashwara) Maslaha Ijtihad Ijma Taqlid Wataniyya Jihad Fard al-ayn Jahiliyya Hijra Velayat e-faqih (Wilayat al-faqih) Thinkers/Activists Mawardi Al-Ghazzali Ibn Taymiyya Ibn Khaldun Jamal al-din al-afghani Muhammad Abduh (Abdu) Rashid Rida Abd al-raziq (Abduraziq) Khomeini Ali Shariati Hassan al-banna Sayyid Qutb Maududi Azzam Bin Laden Regarding historical practice and medieval Islamic political theory, is there any such thing as an Islamic state? Prepare arguments for and against. Reading, Albert Hourani, The Islamic State in Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age. Did modern Muslim thinkers/activists (Islamists), like Jamal al-din al-afghani, create a modern type of culture and politics in the Middle East? How might Afghani s debate with Renan have shaped the contemporary dialogue between Islam and the West? Read Hourani, Jamal al-din al-afghani.