Islamic Cultural Studies

 

II: Communities of Interpretation: Law, Society and Government

Groups in Islam and Shari'a

Required Readings:

• Nanji: 381-396
• Khaled M. Abou El Fadl: "Preface" from Conference of the Books, xiii-xx.
• Khalid Masud: "Islamic Law" in Muslim Almanac, 269-274.
• Nasr: "The Shari'ah: Divine Law, Social and Human Norm" in Ideals and Realities of Islam, 93-120.

Recommended Readings:

• Sharia: Kamali: "Law and Society: The Interplay of Revelation and Reason in the Shariah" in Oxford History of Islam, 107-154.

Authority: Shii I

Readings:

• Nasr: "Sunnism and Shi'ism: Twelve-Imam Shi'ism and Isma'ilism" in Ideals and Realities of Islam, 147-178
• Tabatabai: "On the Knowledge of the Imam (Imamology)," Shi'ite Islam, translated and edited by Nasr, 173-190; 210-214.
• Institute of Ismaili Studies: Imam
• Institute of Ismaili Studies: Aga Khan III
• Aga Khan Development Network: Imam

Authority: Shii II: Taziyeh

Required Readings: All

• Vernon Schubel: Religious Performance in Contemporary Islam "The Nature of Shi'ism in Its South Asian Context" 11-34.

Required Readings: Divide and Assign

• Chelkowski, Peter: Taziyeh: Ritual and Drama in Iran,
  • Chelkowski: "Ta'ziyeh: Indigenous Avant-Gared Theatre of Iran" 1-11.
  • Humayuni, Sadeq: "Analysis of the Ta'ziyeh of Qasem" 12-23.
  • Beeman, William O.: "Cultural Dimensions of Performance Conventions in  Iranian Ta'ziyeh" 24-31
• Imam Khomeini "Muharran: The Triumph of Blood Over the Sword" November 23, 1978, 242-245 in Islam and Revolution I: Writings and Declarations of Imam Khomeini (1941-1980)

Recommended Readings:

• Chelkowski, Pter: Taziyeh: Ritual and Drama in Iran, 40-63; 64-87
• Sir Lewis Pelly, The Miracle Play of Hasan and Husein
• Iraj Anvar and P. Chelkowski, "If you are merciful, o bounteous one.." God is Beautiful and He Loves Beauty, ed. A Giese and C. Burgel, 111-129.

Authority: Sunni I

Required Readings:

• Farhat J. Ziadeh: "Sunni Schools of Law" in Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, V.2, 456-462.
• Hallaq, Wael B.: A History of Islamic Legal Theories: An Introduction to Sunni Usul Al-Fiqh, 1-35.
• Case Study on Shariah

Authority: Sufi I

Readings: All

• Michael Sells: "Early Muslim Spirituality and Mysticism" in Muslim Almanac 215 -221 on early Sufism
• Carl Ernst:  "Spiritual Life and Institutions" in Muslim Almanac, 253-260.
• Carl Ernst:: "The Sufi Orders" in The Shambhala Guide to Sufism, 120-146.

Readings: Divide and Assign

• Michael Sells: "Rabi'a: Her Words and Life in 'Attar's Memorial of the Friends of God" in Early Islamic Mysticism, 151-170.
• Reynold Nicholson: selection from Book 1, The Matnawi of Jalalu'ddin Rumi, (Vol. II): 5-6, 17-21.
• Introduction to "Al-Hallaj: Stories of his Life and Excerpts from His Writings" "A Saint and His Fate," Muhammads People: A Tale by Anthology, Translated by Eric Schroeder, 532-541, 552-554.
• Al-Suhrawardi, Abu al-Najib, "Rules for the Novice," A Sufi Rule for Novices: Kitab Adab al-Muridin of Abu al-Najib al-Suhrawardi, Translated by Menahem Milson, 34-45, 62-63.

Authority: Sufi II

Readings: Group One

• Nasr: "The Flight of Birds to Union: Meditations Upon Attar's Mantiq al-tayr'" in Islamic Art and Spirituality, 98-113.
• Attar: Excerpts from Mantiq al-tayr (Conference of the Birds) (TBA)

Readings: Group Two

• Web site devoted to Nizam-ud-Din Auliya
• Archnet information on Nizam-ud-Din Auliya Shrine complex in Delhi
• Qureshi: Excerpts from Sufi Music from India and Pakistan, "Preface" xiii (first four paragraphs); "Introduction" 1-5; 13-15; Chapter One, "The Qawwali Repertoire" 19-32.
• Carl Ernst: "Sufi Music and Dance" in The Shambala Guide to Sufism, 179-192.

Web: Group Two

• Repertoire from CD in Qureshi in order of representation in Chapter One cited above. (Both Transliteration/Translation and Annotation on web site for each song.)

Interpreting the Qur'an:

Readings:

• Rippin: "Three Commentarires of Surat al-Fatiha, The Opening" in Renard, Windows on the House of Islam, 28-34. (Muqatil ibn Sulayman, Ibn 'Abbas, Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuti)
• Ibn Taymiya: "Treatise on the Principles of Tafsir" in Renard, Windows on the House of Islam, 35-43.
• Stowasser: "Gender Issues and Contemporary Qur'an Interpretation" in Haddad and Esposito, eds., Islam, Gender and Social Change, 30-45. (Case Study on Gender, Sura 4:34)

Recommended:

• Mustansir Mir: "Tafsir" in Esposito, ed.: The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, V.4, 169-176.