General information

• Study points: 4.00
• Language: English
• Category: Lectures
• Duration: 26.0 hours 
• Periodicity: Taught every three years (2012-2013, 2015-2016, ...)
• POC: POC Theology and Religious Studies

Taught by

El Kaisy-Friemuth Geb. El Maha

Aims

  (a)   to introduce students to the themes, approaches and literature in Islamic Studies;
(b)  to develop in students a critical understanding of religion and of Islamic tradition;
(c)   to provide students with a solid foundation in basic concepts of Islamic theology, on which students can build in more advanced courses on Islam
 

Content

The course will start by examining the origin of Islam through asking questions such as: who were the Arabs; where did they live and what was their culture in the time of the rise of Islam? We will also examine the life of the prophet Muhammad by asking questions like what are the sources of the Ibn Ishaq’s biography of Muhammad? and what are the different theories which Muslims and orientalists, through out the Islamic history, applied to him?. The Qur’an as the authoritative Islamic scripture will be thoroughly examined: its collection, themes, interpretations and its importance for Muslims. Then we will turn to study the new cultures in which Islam was spread in the first three Islamic centuries. This will take us to the second column of Islam which is the Hadith, the sayings of the prophet, which emerged mainly in those cultures. Here we will examine the function of the Hadith in the Islamic law and in every day life. 
 
 After discussing the roots of Islam we will turn to study the culture of Islam through out the different historical periods starting with the forming of Islamic theology in the first two Islamic centuries. This course will also introduce, briefly, the rise of Islamic philosophy in the third and fourth Islamic centuries and present the main issues studied by Muslim and Arab philosophers..
We will also look at the mystic tradition of Islam: the reason of its rise and the themes and aims of their upholders. This course will also refer to Islamic art and architecture by discussing the structure and importance of some early mosques such as the Dom of the Rock in Jerusalem.
In course of this semester I will show some films which give some reflection on Islam from Muslim and European production
 

Course Material

Suggested textbook for the whole course

• Brown, Daniel (2004) A New Introduction to Islam, Blackwell Press.
• Rippin, Andrew: Muslims. Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 2nd Edition 2001 which contains the two volumes. (costs: 22 Euro)

• Esposito, John (1988) Islam. The Straight Path, New York: Oxford University Press (recommended: expanded edition 1991).
• Hitti, Philip (1937) The History of the Arabs, 10th edition, London: Macmillan Press
• Watt, W. M. (1973) The Formative Period of Islam, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
• Denny, Frederick M. (1985) An Introduction to Islam, New York: Macmillan Press (recommended:  2nd Edition 1994).
• Waines, David (1995) An Introduction to Islam, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, (recommended: Edition 1996).
• Martin, Richard C. (1982) Islamic Studies. A History of Religions Approach, Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, (recommended: 2nd Edition 1996).
• Gilsenan, Michael (1982), Recognizing Islam: Religion and Society in the Modern Middle East, New York: Pantheon. 

• Baldick, Julian (1989) Mystical Islam. An Introduction to Sufism, London: LB. Tauris, recommended: reprint of 1992.
• Halliday, Fred (1995) Islam and the Myth of Confrontation. Religion and Politics in the Middle East, London: 1. B. Tauris.
• Lapidus, Ira M. (1988) A History of Islamic Societies, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Mernissi, Fatima (1991) Women and Islam, Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
• Renard, John (1996) Seven Doors to Islam. Spirituality and the Religious Life of Muslims, Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Schimmel, Annemarie (1975) Mystical Dimensions of Islam, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

• Glassé, Cyril (1991) The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, San Francisco: Harper.
• Encyclopaedia of Islam, Brill,  new and old Editions.

Course activities

Student are expected to attend all classes and participate in class discussion. They should have obtain at the end of the course very a good knowledge of both books,  D. Brown, A New Introduction to Islam, and A. Rippin, Muslims. Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, first volume. In addition they should attend all sessions which include films or other multi media material and participate in the discussion thereafter.  
 

Evaluation description

Examination type:
    oral with written preparation
When?: final examination during examination period
Evaluation type:
    Closed book

Explanation

Students will be examined during the first examination period (January) and will be given 30 minutes prepration for mix. two questions. the answer should be given in an essay form with an introduction, main ideas and a short conclusion. each student will have about 15 minutes for their total answer.