LAHORE UNIVERSITY OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES (LUMS) DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SCIENCES WINTER 2006-2007 SS 182 - ISLAMIC STUDIES Kamaluddin Ahmed kamaluddin@lums.edu.pk Room 237A (next to Auditoriums A-14 and A-15) Tel: 5722670-9 Ext. 2237 Office Hours: MW: 11:45am-1:15pm (walk-in) Th: 11:45am-12:45pm (walk-in) Th: 3:30-5pm (sign-up) Or by appointment Iftikhar Zaman iftikhar.zaman@gmail.com TBA TBA Introduction This course is designed to familiarize you with the Islamic tradition, to encourage you to independently engage that tradition and to ascertain its relevance to the modern individual and society. Students are expected to directly engage the authors of the texts, determine what each author is trying to convey, and raise questions on the author s arguments. There will be no attempt to impose a single viewpoint or methodology and students are encouraged to bring their perspectives and experiences to bear on the course. An O-Levels background in Islamic studies is assumed. Deeper knowledge of Islam is welcome, but not expected or presumed. In summary, the goals of the course are: 1. To understand the Islamic tradition on its own terms. 2. To encourage students to make their own unbiased analysis and/or critique of that tradition independent of the confines and paradigms of existing contemporary discourses on Islam. 3. To briefly discuss some of the issues and challenges confronting Islam in today s world. 4. To form the basis for further elective study in Islamic studies, if so desired. Requirements and Grading 1
Attendance 5% Class Participation 5% In-Class Response Quizzes 20% Qur an Paper (3-5 pages) 15% Thought Paper (4-6 pages) 20% Comprehensive Final Exam 35% Attendance is, by consent of the Dean, mandatory. Students will be granted one free pass to use at their own discretion after which absences will be recorded. Excused absences include documented illnesses, family emergencies and the like. The final decision lies with the instructor. All other absences will be considered unexcused and will result in grade reductions according to the following chart: Number of Unexcused Absences Grade Reduction 1-1 of the 5% for attendance 2-3 of the 5% for attendance 3-5 of the 5% for attendance more than 3 5% reduction of overall grade per extra absence Class sessions will be a combination of lecture and discussion. Assigned readings form the basis of my lectures, our class discussions and your written work. Keeping up with the readings is thus crucial for satisfactory performance in the course and everyone is expected to come to class having digested the readings, ready to explain and analyze them, and to participate intensively in discussions. Occasionally, and at random, response quizzes will be given at any time during class. The Qur an paper will develop your ability to read and respond to the Qur an on your own. It will be assigned once we have completed the major portion of our Qur an studies component. A handout will be distributed in class discussing the format of the paper, surah topics, and deadlines. The Thought paper will test your skill in understanding and synthesizing course readings and lectures. They should provide a succinct analysis and/or critique of a specific aspect of the readings and should not be lists of quotes or summaries of the readings. Instead, offer your own thoughtful reaction to what you read, supported by references to the readings. For example, you may challenge the author s definition of terms, question his analysis or argument, raise relevant questions left unanswered by the author, present your own analysis of the issue under examination, or discuss a common trait in the different readings for a particular theme. Paper topics and guidelines for both the Qur an and Thought papers will be handed out five days before they are due. All the questions will be based exclusively on course readings, lectures, and discussions. The focus is on how well you analyze the readings and lectures and integrate them into coherent answers to the questions. No further research is required for papers, and is in fact Ustrictly prohibitedu. Cases of plagiarism will be dealt with seriously and as per LUMS policy. 2
Note: Late submission of papers will adversely affect your grade. Late papers will be downgraded a third of a letter grade per day. For example, a paper due Tuesday that would earn a B when handed in on Thursday will receive a C+. UPapers submitted more than three days after the due date will not be accepted.u The comprehensive final exam will cover material from the entire course. Course Outline All readings are in a reading packet available for purchase from the Gestetner photocopy center and for loan from the library. Students are strongly encouraged to acquire their own packet so that they may mark and highlight passages while reading. You must bring the readings with you to class as we may refer to specific passages during class discussions. Additional readings may be assigned during the quarter. There will be 20 class sessions of 75 minutes each. There is no midterm for this course. KA = Kamaluddin Ahmed Session 1 IZ = Iftikhar Zaman INTRODUCTION KA Introduction, Course Overview The Hadith of Gabriel in Sachiko Murata and William C. Chittick, The Vision of Islam (St. Paul: Paragon House, 1994), xxv-xxxix. The Challenge of Our Time in Roger Du Pasquier, Unveiling Islam (Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 1992), 1-15. Session 2 BELIEFS [IMAN] I KA Islam and Iman, The Vision of Islam, 37-42. Tawhid, Shirk, and The Signs of God, The Vision of Islam, 47-57. On the Kinds of the Sciences of Faith in Nasir al-din Qunawi, The Easy Roads of Sayf al-din, translated by William C. Chittick in Faith and Practice of Islam, 118-123. Session 3 BELIEFS [IMAN] II KA Trial and Freedom The Vision of Islam, 111-117. 3
Heedlessness and Guidance, The Vision of Islam, 144-158. The Letter (Risala) of al-hasan al-basri on Free Will and Predestination in Andrew Rippin, ed., Textual Sources for the Study of Islam (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1986), 115-121. Session 4 CREED [AQIDA] IZ Al-Aqidah al-tahawiyyah, a translation of an early primer in creed and tenets of belief. Session 5 CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IZ War and Peace in the Qur an, in Muhammad Abdel Haleem, Understanding the Qur an (London: I.B. Tauris, 1999), 60-70. Defending the Transgressed by Censuring the Reckless Against the Killing of Civilians, a Fatwa by Shaykh Muhammad Afifi al-akiti (2005), 17-29, 45-51. Session 6 QUR AN I IZ Treatise on the Principles of Tafsir, Imam Ibn Taymiya translated by Jane Dammen Mcauliffe in John Renard, ed., Windows on the House of Islam (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998), 35-43. Qanun at-ta wil, Imam Abu Hamid al-ghazali translated as The Canons of Ta wil by Nicholas Heer, Windows on the House of Islam, 48-54. Etiquette in Recitation, Imam an-nawawi translated by Frederick M. Denny, Windows on the House of Islam, 55-57. Interpreting the Qur an, Imam al-qurtubi, translated in Classical Islam (London: Routledge, 2003), 97-102. Session 7 QUR AN II IZ Sunnah and Praiseworthy Mental Tasks in Qur an Recitation in Muhammad Abul Quasem, Salvation of the Soul and Islamic Devotions (London: Kegan Paul, 1981), 254-257. Qur an Paper Handout Surah Taghabun and Additional Material 4
Ahkām and Mutashābihāt, in Ahmad von Denffer, Ulum al-qur an (London: Islamic Foundation, 1983), 79-83. Inimitability (i jaz) of the Qur an and Occasions of Revelation (asbab alnuzul) in Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence (Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 1991), 38-41. Session 8 PROPHECY KA Foreword to William Montgomery Watt, Companion to the Qur an (Oxford: Oneworld, 1994), 3-4. The Finality of the Prophet s Message, Imam Ibn Kathir and others, edited and translated by Nuh Keller in Reliance of the Traveler (Baltimore: Amana, 1994), 846-851. The Sunna as Primordiality, Timothy Winter (Cambridge), pp. 6-12. [starting from: Islam is hence the religion of the Alastu bi-rabbikum On Prophecy, The Easy Roads of Sayf al-din, translated by William C. Chittick in Faith and Practice of Islam, 125-126. The True Nature of Prophecy, Imam al-ghazali translated as The Faith and Practice of al-ghazali by W. Montgomery Watt (London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd., 1967), 63-68. Al-Tusi and al- Allama al-hilli on Prophecy, translated in Classical Islam, 167-169. The Authority of the Prophet [saw] in Muhammad Mustafa Azami, Studies in Hadith Methodology and Literature (American Trust Publications, 1978), 7-10. Session 9 HADITH I IZ The Nuskhah of Suhayl ibn Abi Salih, compiled and translated by Dr. Iftikhar Zaman, 1-13. Discovering Practice: Textual and Non-Textual Sources, Chapter 4 in Ahmad Mujtaba Hasan, Bukhari (Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming, 2006), 1-4. Introduction and The Event of the Hadith in Muhammad Zubayr Siddiqui, Hadith Literature: Its Origin, Development & Special Features (Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 1993), 1-7, 9. The Companions, Hadith Literature, 14-21, 23-24. 5
The Controversy over Kitāba, Hadith Literature, 24-27. After the Companions, Hadith Literature, 28-31. Session 10 INNER DEVELOPMENT I KA Ihsan, Ikhlas, and Taqwa, in Faith and Practice of Islam, 9-12. The Poverty of Fanaticism, T.J. Winter in Joseph E.B. Lumbard, ed., Islam, Fundamentalism, and the Betrayal of Tradition (Bloomington, IN: World Wisdom Inc., 2004), 287-294. On Following the Book and Sunna in ar-risala al-mu aawana, Imam Abdallah ibn Alawi al-haddad, translated as The Book of Assistance by Mostafa Badawi (London: The Quilliam Press, 1989), 36-39. Maktubat-e-Rabbaniyyah, Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi, selections translated by Muhammad Abdul Haq Ansari, Sufism and Shari ah (Leicester, UK: The Islamic Foundation, 1986), 175-176. Introduction to Purification in Matharat al-qulub, Imam Muhammad al- Mawlud, Purification of the Hearts, translation and commentary by Hamza Yusuf (Chicago: Starlatch, 2004), 13-21. On Certainty [Yaqin], The Book of Assistance, 7-9. On the Inner and Outer Self, The Book of Assistance, 15-16. The World is But a Moment, Knowledge and Wisdom, 99-100. People and the World in Imam Abdullah ibn Alawi al-haddad, Knowledge and Wisdom, translated by Mostafa al-badawi (Chicago: Starlatch, 2001), 15-16. Session 11 HADITH II IZ The Kitab al- Ilal of Ali ibn al-madini, compiled and translated by Dr. Iftikhar Zaman, 1-9. Bukhari s Sahih and the six books, Bukhari, 1-7. o Appendix: Hadith from the Blessed Prophet to the Six Books Critical Traditionists, Hadith Literature, 36-42. Methodology of Hadith Criticism, Studies in Hadith Methodology and Literature, 57-63. The Hadiths and Orientalism, Hadith Literature, 124-131. 6
Session 12 ISLAM, ACTIONS, & PRAYER KA & IZ On the Excellence of Purity, The Easy Roads of Sayf al-din, 127-129. On the Excellence of the Obligatory Ritual Prayers, The Easy Roads of Sayf al- Din, 134. Actions and Intentions, Knowledge and Wisdom, 41-44. Merits of Prayer, Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship, 19-33. Internal Prerequisites of Prayer: Actions of the Heart, Inner Dimensions, 34-39. Inner States at Each Stage of the Ritual Prayer, Inner Dimensions, 44-48. Al-Fatiha, Understanding the Qur an: Themes and Style, 15-23. Session 13 KNOWLEDGE AND SCHOLARSHIP IZ Warathatu l-anbiya, Ibn Rajab al-hanbali translated as The Heirs of the Prophets by Zaid Shakir (Chicago: Starlatch, 2001), 1-18 37-47. Session 14 HADITH & SUNNAH KA & IZ The Legal Significance of Traditions, Hadith Literature, 110-113. Weak Hadiths, Mulla Ali Qari and others, Reliance of the Traveler, 954-957. The Sunnah, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, 44-50, 68-78. Techniques of Matn Analysis and Criticism, Hadith Literature, 113-114. Bukhari s Understanding of Hadith and Sunnah, Bukhari, 1-3. Readings on Hadith and Sunnah, translated by Dr. Iftikhar Zaman, 1-10. o Letter of Malik to Layth ibn Saad o Letter of Abbad (from the Sunan of Darimi) Session 15 ISLAMIC LAW I KA Introduction to Usul al-fiqh in Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence (Cambridge, UK: Islamic Texts Society, 1991), 1-3. Proofs of the Shariah, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, 9-12. 7
The Primary Sources of Islamic Law: The Qur an in Imran Ahsan Khan Nyazee, Outlines of Islamic Jurisprudence (Islamabad: ALSI, 1998), 60-64. The Definitive (qati i) and the Speculative (zanni), Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, 21-23. The Primary Sources of Islamic Law: The Sunnah, Outlines of Islamic Jurisprudence, 64-66. The Sunnah, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, 58-65. Ijma, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, 168-173. Ijma in Reliance of the Traveler edited and translated by Nuh Keller (Amana, 1994), 23-25. [Recommended] The Ijma in Bernard G. Weiss, The Search for God s Law: Islamic Jurisprudence in the Writings of Sayf al-din al-amidi (Salt Lake City, UT: The University of Utah Press, 1992), 196-211. Session 16 ISLAMIC LAW II KA History of Islamic Law, Outlines of Islamic Jurisprudence, 9-18. Qiyas, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, 197-200. Ijtihad, Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, 366-373. Understanding the Four Madhabs: The Facts about Ijtihad and Taqlid, Timothy Winter (Cambridge, 1999), 1-9 [Required], 10-22 [Optional]. Following Qualified Scholarship, Reliance of the Traveler, 15-23. Authority, Continuity, and Change in Islamic Law, Wael Hallaq (Cambridge, 2001), ix, 85, 119-120. Islamic Law and the State, Sherman Jackson (Leiden: Brill, 1996), 79-83. [Recommended] Divine Sovereignty and Human Subordination in Bernard G. Weiss, The Spirit of Islamic Law (Athens, GA: The University of Georgia Press, 1998), 24-37. Session 17 KNOWLEDGE AND IDEOLOGY KA 8
The Decline of Knowledge and the Rise of Ideology in the Modern Islamic World, Joseph E.B. Lumbard in Islam, Fundamentalism, and the Betrayal of Tradition (Bloomington, IN: World Wisdom, 2004), 39-44, 66-71. The Muslim Dilemma, Islam, Secularism and the Philosophy of the Future, 99-112. [Recommended] Towards Islamic Ways of Islamization, Iftikhar Zaman, Pakistan Administration, Vol. XXII, No. 2, pp.1-19, July-December, 1985. INNER DEVELOPMENT KA Youth and Maturity in Imam Abdullah ibn Alawi al-haddad, The Lives of Man, translated by Mostafa al-badawi (London: Quilliam Press, 1991), 20-24. Assessing One s Spiritual State, Knowledge and Wisdom, 71-72. The Ailments of the Heart, Knowledge and Wisdom, 75-77. The Balance Between Good and Evil Acts, Knowledge and Wisdom, 79-80. The Company One Keeps, Knowledge and Wisdom, 81-82. Heedlessness, Purification of the Hearts, 115-121. Session 18 ISLAM, WOMEN, AND GENDER I KA Woman in Islam, Gamal A. Badawi in Islam: Its Meaning and Message, edited by Khurshid Ahmed (Leicester, UK: The Islamic Foundation, 1992), 131-144. Woman Scholars of Hadith, Hadith Literature, 117-123. Session 19 ISLAM, WOMEN, AND GENDER II KA Katherine Bullock, Rethinking Muslim Women and the Veil: Challenging Historical and Modern Stereotypes (Herndon, VA: International Institute of Islamic Thought, 2002), xiii-xxxiii, 183-219. Session 20 INNER DEVELOPMENT II KA Imam Ibn Qudama Maqdisi, Delusions in Reliance of the Traveler, 778-779. Inward Enormities, Imam Ibn Hajar Haytami, Reliance of the Traveler, 966-969. On Repentance, Hope, and Fear, The Book of Assistance, 105-110. 9
Imam al-nawawi, The Conditions of a Valid Repentance in Reliance of the Traveler, 710-712. On Counsel, The Book of Assistance, 97-100. Gentleness, Knowledge and Wisdom, 63-65. On Divine Love and Contentment, The Book of Assistance, 123-127. Afterword, The Lives of Man, 80-84. Love for Allah in Present Times in Love for Allah (Chicago: Faqir Publications, 2001), 95-99. THE END Course Review and Evaluation: Where do we go from here? 10