Experiencing Islam, Syllabus, Fall 2001

No paper version of the syllabus will be handed out, and I will count on you checking with this web page to get the readings. The web page will be continually changed, so don't print it up! (besides, that kinda defeats the whole saving trees thing anyway!)

The journey to God's presence:
pilgrimage narratives

Tuesday, August 28th:
*Wolfe, The Hadj, xi-95.

Thursday, August 30th:
*Wolfe, The Hadj, 95-189.

Tuesday, September 4th:
*Wolfe, The Hadj, 190-316.

The foundations
of Islamic thought and practice

Thursday, September 6th:
*Chittick, The Vision of Islam, ix-84.
*Music: Kudsi Erguner, Sufi Music of Turkey. (Ney)

Tuesday, September 11th:
*Chittick, The Vision of Islam, 85-192.

Thursday, September 13th:
*Chittick, The Vision of Islam, 193-294.

Approaching the Qur'an:

The sound and the mystery of revelation:

We are honored to have two lectures by Prof. Michael Sells, of Haverford College.
Your presence at both lectures is MANDATORY.

1) Monday, September 17th, 4 pm.
105 Lawrence
Center for Ethics and World Society
Lecture on Bosnia

Tuesday, September 18th:
We will not meet during our regular classtime today.
Instead, read the web page on Qur'an, and come to:

Tuesday, September 18th, 4 pm.
Humanities Colloquium
105 Lawrence Hall (Ho lecture room)
"Integrating the Qur'an into Liberal Arts Curricula"

Thursday, September 20th:
catch up day.
*We will discuss your reflections on Michael Sells; two lectures, and the Chittick book.
*Using the index, read through the relevant sections of Reliance of the traveller, looking up information on ritual prayer (Salat) and fasting (Sawm).

Continuous Guidance:
narratives of Messengers in the Qur'an

Tuesday, September 25th:
*Narratives on Adam and Eve

Thursday, September 27th:
*Narratives on Abraham and Moses

Tuesday, October 2nd:
* Narratives on Jesus and Mary in Qur'an

Blessed Life of the Prophet Muhammad

Thursday, October 4th:
*Karen Armstrong, Muhammad, 9-90.
*Music: "Ay Muhammad", by the Bauls of Bengal.

Tuesday, October 9th:
No Class, Mid-Term Recess

Thursday, October 11th:
*Armstrong, Muhammad, 91-210.
*Music: Music: "Ya Sahib al-Jamal", by Sabri Brothers
(Midterm due on this day)

Tuesday, October 16th
Armstrong, Muhammad, 211-266.
*Music: "Wa salla Allahuu 'ala nurin", by Qari Wahid Zaffar Qasm

*Hadith examples:
www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/fundamentals/hadithsunnah

www.cco.caltech.edu/~calmsa/sahih.html

Dimensions of Islamic Thought:
Law, philosophy, and aesthetics

Thursday, October 18th
*Kamali, “Law and Society”, OHI, 107-154.

Tuesday, October 23rd
Islamic Philosophy and Theology:
*Fakhry, OHI, 269-305.
*Blair and Bloom, OHI, p. 215-268.
*Ernst, Sufism, 179-198.
http://isfahan.anglia.ac.uk:8200/

Tasawwuf

Tthe Sufi dimension of Islam:
To be at ease with God.

Thursday, October 25th:
*Ernst, Shambhala Guide, 1-80.

Tuesday, October 30th:
*Ernst, Shambhala Guide, 81-178.
*Music: "Namidanam koja budam" Qawwali

Islamic Literatures:

Farid al-Din 'Attar's Mantiq al-Tayr

(Conference of Birds).

Thursday, November 1st:
*Attar, Conference of the Birds, "Introduction", plus 1-57.
*(up to The Story of Sheikh Sam'an)

Tuesday, November 6th:
**Attar, Conference of the Birds, "Introduction", plus 57-139.

Thursday, November 8th:
**Attar, Conference of the Birds, "Introduction", plus 139-229.

Tuesday, November 13th:
*Go to the web page presented by Muslim Women’s League ,
and read their "position papers" on these issues:
*"Issues of Concern for Muslim Women"
*"Gender Equality in Islam"
*"Crisis in Afghanistan"
*"Hijab"

*See Film with Leila Ahmad in class.

Thursday, November 15th
*"Woman: Half the Man?" by Abdul Aziz Sachedina
*Revolutionary Association of the Women of Aghanistan (RAWA)
*Film in class: Sa'diyya Shaikh's lecture from Colgate

Islam and Europe:
The contexts of Colonialism and revivalism

Tuesday, November 20th: (no class today)
*But, read Jane I. Smith, “Islam and Christendom”, OHI, 305-346

Thursday, November 22nd: Thanksgiving Recess

Tuesday, November 27th:
* S.V.R. Nasr, “European Colonialism
& the Emergence of Modern Muslim States”,
OHI, 549-599.
*In class discussion of readings from the last two units.

Islam in the Contemporary World:
post-modern Muslims

Thursday, November 29th:
*Farid Esack, On Being a Muslim, 1-62

Tuesday, December 4th:
*Farid Esack, On Being A Muslim, 63-136
Film in class, Islam in America.

Thursday, December 6th: Last Day of Classes
(many sad tears...).
*Farid Esack, On Being a Muslim 137-197.

Final exams are due to the religion office in Hascall Hall, no later than TBA. . Hand the papers to our saintly secretary, Jeanie. They must be typed, stapled, with your name on top. They should also feature page numbers at the bottom. No late papers will be accepted.

Helminski, "Sexuality, Marriage, and the Sacred: An Islamic Sufi Persp." [reserve]
(will be handed out)