ARAB 370: Justice in the Islamic Tradition Felicitas Opwis Spring 2012 Friday: 9:30-12:00 Location: Walsh 492 Office Hours: Thursday 1:00-2:30pm or by appointment fmo2@georgetown.edu Course Description: What is justice and how do Muslim intellectuals articulate their vision of justice throughout the ages? These questions are a common thread in this course which introduces students to various types of literature from the Islamic tradition that address issues of justice, including political, legal, historical, and literary texts. The course explores the theoretical and practical dimension of how to achieve justice, looks at the way conceptions of justice may change over time, and what factors drive changes in the articulation of justice. The course and readings are in English. This seminar is a 4 credit course and is part of the Berkley Center Doyle Undergraduate Fellows project. The class meets once per week as a normal seminar and includes a substantial collaborative research component (see course requirements on syllabus). 75% of your grade will be based on the seminar work. The final 25% of the grade will consist in research and writing contributions for a printed report. Each student will work collaboratively with classmates in the research and interview process as well as the writing and editing of the report. There will be additional, mandatory meetings scheduled throughout the semester for the completion of group tasks and for other meetings with professionals, scholars, and thought leaders about this topic. Course Requirements: It is required that the student has read, thought about, and is able to discuss the weekly readings prior to coming to class. Attendance and participation in class discussions (15% of grade) Posting discussion questions on the assigned readings at least 24 hours prior to class every week (5% of grade) Presentation (in class) of weekly readings (at minimum 2 times per semester); write-up of the presentation to be handed in on day of presentation (10% of grade) Midterm exam (February 24, 2012) (20% of grade) Final paper (due May 5, 2012) (25% of grade) Collaborative work, interviews, and report production 1
25% of a student s grade will consist in contributions to the collaborative production of a printed report (the equivalent of 1 credit). Content of report: The report will detail background issues about justice in the Islamic tradition (issues we will explore in seminar readings); The report will analyze interviews conducted with theorists and practitioners who share their views on justice in the Islamic tradition. Web-based resources will also be produced based on material from the course and the printed report. Group collaboration: Each student will work collaboratively in smaller groups to lead the writing and editing of various sections of the report. Individual student papers may be adapted for portions of the report. There will be additional, mandatory meetings scheduled throughout the semester for the completion of group tasks. These sessions will generally be student-led and may involve the course TA or professor. Throughout the semester, students may be invited by the professor to participate in meetings (both formal interviews and informal discussions) with scholars and professionals to discuss issues related to the course. Each student should avail him/herself of each of these opportunities. Scope of student contributions: Each student will conduct a minimum of 2 interviews with a scholar or practitioner working on the topic of the class (by email, or phone, or in person) A write-up of each interview will be completed and submitted in a timely manner Each student will contribute to the drafting of the background sections of the report Each student will be responsible for conducting a thorough review and edit of the penultimate draft 2
Books Available at Georgetown University campus bookstore: Khadduri, Majid. The Islamic Conception of Justice. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984. ISBN 0-8018-3245-4 ($19.95) Lebacqz, Karen. Six Theories of Justice. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1986. ISBN 0-8066-2245-8 ($16.95) All other course readings (except for encyclopedia entries) are available on Blackboard Syllabus Week 1: January 13, 2012: Introduction to the Course and Shopkeeping Week 2: January 20, 2012: Theories of Justice I Kamenka, Eugene. What is Justice, in Justice, eds. Eugene Kamenka and Alice Erh-Soon Tay (New York: St. Martin s Press, 1980), pp. 1-24. Lebacqz, Karen. Six Theories of Justice (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1986), The Utilitarian Challenge: John Stuart Mill, pp. 15-32; A Contract Response: John Rawls, pp. 33-50; An Entitlement Alternative: Robert Nozick, pp. 51-65. Week 3: January, 27, 2012: Theories of Justice II Aristotle, The Various Types of Justice, from the Nicomachean Ethics (ca. 322 B.C.), in What is Justice? Classic and Contemporary Readings, eds. Robert C. Solomon and Mark C. Murphy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), pp. 34-44, and 347-350 (selected bibliography). Immanuel Kant, A Retributivist Theory of Punishment, from The Philosophy of Law (1797), in What is Justice? Classic and Contemporary Readings, eds. 3
Robert C. Solomon and Mark C. Murphy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), pp. 221-224. Alasdair MacIntyre, Justice, Tradition, and Desert, from After Virtue (1981), in What is Justice? Classic and Contemporary Readings, eds. Robert C. Solomon and Mark C. Murphy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), pp. 309-314. Michael Walzer, Complex Equality, from Spheres of Justice (1983), in What is Justice? Classic and Contemporary Readings, eds. Robert C. Solomon and Mark C. Murphy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), pp. 325-331. Lebacqz, Karen. Six Theories of Justice (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1986), A Catholic Response: The National Conference of Catholic Bishops, pp. 66-82. Week 4: February 3, 2012: Justice in Islam Justice, Retribution, and Mercy, from the Koran, in What is Justice? Classic and Contemporary Readings, eds. Robert C. Solomon and Mark C. Murphy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), pp. 44-48. Khadduri, Majid. The Islamic Conception of Justice (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984), pp. 1-12, and 241-249 (glossary). ʿAdl, in Encyclopaedia of Islam 2. (available on-line through library) Ẓulm, in Encyclopaedia of Islam 2. (available on-line through library) Justice and Injustice, in Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān. (available on-line through library) Khadduri, Majid. Political Justice, in ibid., The Islamic Conception of Justice (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984), pp. 13-38. Week 5: February 10, 2012: Justice as Reflected in Mirrors for Princes I 4
Boyce, Mary. The Letter of Tansar (Rome: Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 1968), pp. 26-70 Ibn Qutayba, Maxims on Statecraft, in Islam from the Prophet Muhammad to the Capture of Constantinople, ed. and translated by Bernard Lewis. Vol. 1: Politics and War (London: MacMillan Press, 1974), pp. 184-186, 243-259 (glossary). Bosworth, C.E. An Early Arabic Mirror for Princes: Tahir Dhu al-yaminain s Epistle to his Son Abdallah (206/821). Journal of Near Eastern Studies 29 (1970), pp. 25-41. Week 6: February 17, 2012: Justice as Reflected in Mirrors for Princes II A Mirror for Princes. The Qābūs Nāma by Kai Kāʾūs ibn Iskandar Prince of Gurgān. Translated from the Persian by Reuben Levy (London: The Cresset Press, 1951), pp. 45-48, 140-144, and 211-236. The Book of Government or Rules for Kings. The Siyāsat-nāma or Siyar al- Mulūk of Niẓam al-mulk. Translated from the Persian by Hubert Darke (London: Routledge, 1960), pp. 9-13, 32-43, 52-62, 75-91, 143-148, and 247-251. Ghazālī s Book of Counsel for Kings (Naṣīḥat al-mulūk). Translated by F.R.C. Bagley (London: Oxford University Press, 1964), pp. 12-31, 45-47, 54-63, 72, 104-105, 174-197 (biographical sketches). Week 7: February, 24, 2012: in-class Midterm exam Week 8: March 2, 2012: Justice in Politico-Historical and Ethical-Religious Writings 5
Waldmann, Marilyn Robinson. Toward a Theory of Historical Narrative. A Case Study in Perso-Islamicate Historiography (Columbus, OH: Ohio State University Press, 1980), Appendix 2, pp. 152-160; Appendix 5, pp. 166-176. The Intimate Life of an Ottoman Statesman Melek Ahmed Pasha (1588-1662) As Portrayed in Evliya Celebi s Book of Travels (Seyahat-Name). Translation and Commentary by Robert Dankoff, with a Historical Introduction by Rhoads Murphey (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991), pp. 137-165, 287-289 (glossary). Advice on the Art of Governance. Mauʾiẓah-i Jahāngīrī of Muḥammad Bāqir Najm-i S ānī. An Indo-Islamic Mirror for Princes. Persian Text with Introduction, Translation, and Notes by Sajida Sultana Alvi (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), pp. 1-34, 45-47, and 123-124. Marlow, Louise, Kings, Prophets and the Ulama in Medieval Islamic Advice Literature, Studia Islamica 81 (1995), pp. 101-120. Week 9: March 16, 2012: Ethico-Religious Writings Khadduri, Majid. Theological Justice, in ibid., The Islamic Conception of Justice (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984), pp. 39-77. Miskaway. Tahdhib al-akhlāq. Translated into English by Constantine Zurayk as Refinement of Character (Beirut: American University of Beirut, 1968), pp. 95-119. Khadduri, Majid. Ethical Justice, in ibid., The Islamic Conception of Justice (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984), pp. 106-134. Hashmi, Sohail H. Islamic Ethics and International Society, in Islamic Political Ethics, ed. Sohail H. Hashmi (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002), pp. 148-172. 6
Week 10: March 23, 2012: Legal Justice I Abū Yūsuf, Kitāb al-kharāj, in Islam from the Prophet Muhammad to the Capture of Constantinople, ed. and translated by Bernard Lewis. Vol. 1: Politics and War (London: MacMillan, 1974), pp. 151-170. Amedroz, Henry F. The Mazalim Jurisdiction in the Ahkam Sultaniyya of Mawardi, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1911), pp. 635-674. Al-Mawardi, The Ordinances of Government. A Translation of Al-Aḥkām al- Sulṭaniyya wʾ al-wilāyāt al-dīniyya. Translated by Wafaa H. Wahba (Reading, UK: Garnet Publishing, 1996), pp. 87-106, and 281-285 (glossary). Week 11: March 30, 2012: Legal Justice II Najm al-dīn al-ṭūfī, in Felicitas Opwis, Maṣlaḥa and the Purpose of the Law: Islamic Discourse on Legal Change from the 4 th /10 th to the 8 th /14 th Century (Leiden: Brill, 2010), pp. 200-209, and 216-235. Khadduri, Majid. Legal Justice, in ibid., The Islamic Conception of Justice (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984), pp. 135-160. Lambton, A.K. Changing Concepts of Justice and Injustice from the 5 th /11 th to the 8 th /14 th Century in Persia: The Saljuq Empire and the Ilkhanate, Studia Islamica 68 (1988), pp. 27-60. Week 12: April 13, 2012: Philosophical Justice The Nasirean Ethics by Naṣīr al-dīn Ṭūsī. Translated from the Persian by G.M. Wickens (London: Allen and Unwin, 1964), pp. 95-108, and 211-226. 7
Al-Farābī On the Perfect State: Mabādiʾ Ārāʾ Ahl al-madīna al-fāḍila. A Revised Text With Introduction, Translation, and Commentary by Richard Walzer (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985), pp. 229-259, and 287-315. Khadduri, Majid. Philosophical Justice, in ibid., The Islamic Conception of Justice (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984), pp. 78-105. Week 13: April 20, 2012: Social Justice Shepard, William. Sayyid Qutb and Islamic Activism. A Translation of Critical Analysis of Social Justice in Islam (Leiden: Brill, 1996), pp. 24-84, and 359-372 (bibliography and glossary). Rahman, Fazlur. Islam and Social Justice, Pakistan Forum 1 (1970), pp. 4-5, 9. Khadduri, Majid. Social Justice, in ibid., The Islamic Conception of Justice (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984), pp. 174-191. Week 14: April 27, 2012: Students present synopsis of their paper topics 8