Islamic Cultural Studies

 

IV: Religion, Politics and Modernity: Competing Visions of Muslim Societies From the 18th-21st Centuries

18th and 19th Century Revivalism

Readings: All

• Ira Lapidus: "Introduction: Modernity and the Transformation of Muslim Societies" in A History of Islamic Societies, 2nd edition, 453-468.
• Esposito: "Modern Interpretations of Islam" in Islam: The Straight Path, 3rd edition, 115-125.

Readings: Divide and Assign

Arabia & The Wahhabi Movement: Abd al-Wahhab (1703-92):

• Ira Lapidus: "The Arab Middle East: Arabism, Military States and Islam" in A History of Islamic Societies, 2nd edition, 572-585.
• Ayman al-Yassini: "Ibn 'Abd Al-Wahhab, Muhammad" in Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, Vol. 2, 159-160.
• Ayman al-Yassini: "Wahhabiyah" in Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, Vol. 4, 307-308.
• Abd al-Wahhab: TBA

African Jihad Movement in Nigeria:

• Ira Lapidus: "'Uthman Don Fodio and the Central Sudan" in A History of Islamic Societies, 2nd edition, 419-424.
• Mervyn Hiskett: "Dan Fodio, Usuman" in Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, Vol. 1, 336-337.
• Uthman Dan Fodio (1787-1859): TBA

Indian Subcontinent:

• Ira Lapidus: "Islam Under the Mughals" in A History of Islamic Societies, 2nd edition, 374-378.
• Marcia Hermansen: "Wali Allah, Shah" in Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, Vol. 4, 311-312.
• Shah Wali Allah (1702-62): TBA

Islamic Modernism

Readings: All

• Charles Kurzman: "Introduction: The Modernist Islamic Movement" in Modernist Islam, 1840-1940: A Sourcebook, 3-27.
• Esposito: "Modern Islamic Movements" in Islam: The Straight Path, 3rd edition, 125-127; 142-145.

Readings: Divide and Assign

The Middle East:

• Esposito: 127-134.
  
• Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (1838-97): "Lecture on Teaching and Learning and Answer to Renan" in Kurzman, ed. Modernist Islam, 103-110.
• Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905): "Laws Should Change in Accordance with the Conditions of Nations and The Theology of Unity" in Kurzman, ed. Modernist Islam, 50-60.
• Rashid Rida (1865-1935): "Renewal, Renewing, and Renewers" in Kurzman, ed. Modernist Islam, 77-85.

The Indian Subcontinent:

• Esposito: 134-139.


• Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817-98): "Lecture on Islam" in Kurzman, ed. Modernist Islam, 291-303.
• Muhammad Iqbal (1875-1938): "Islam as a Moral and Political Ideal" in Kurzman, ed. Modernist Islam, 304-313.
• Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan (Aga Khan III 1877-1957): "The Task Before the League of Nations" and "The True Purpose of Education".

Neorevivalist and Religious Nationalist Movements

(In discussion questions, help make distinctions between how these categories are problematic)

Readings: All

• Esposito: 149-157.

Readings: Divide and Assign

Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood:

• Sayyid Qutb: "Islam as the Foundation of Knowledge" 197-206; and "War, Peace, and Islamic Jihad" 223-246, in Moaddel and Talattof, eds., Contemporary Debates in Islam.
• Yvonne Y. Haddad, "Sayyid Qutb: Ideologue of Islamic Revival" in Espostito, ed., Voices of Resurgent Islam, 67-98.

Indian Subcontinent: Jamaat-i-Islami: Mawlana Mawdudi (1903-79):

• Mawlana Mawdudi: "Fallacy of Rationalism" 207-222; "The Political Theory of Islam" 263-272; and "Self-Destructiveness of Western Civilization" 325-332 in Moaddel and Talattof, eds., Contemporary Debates in Islam.
• Charles J. Adams: "Mawdudi and the Islamic State" in Esposito, ed., Voices of Resurgent Islam, 99-133.

Iran: Islamic Revolution: Imam Ruhullah Khomeini (1902-1989):

• William O. Beeman: "The Iranian Revolution of 1979" in The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, 232-236.
• Imam Ruhullah Khomeini: "The Pillars of an Islamic State" 247-250; "The Necessity of Islamic Government" 251-262; "Granting Capitulatory Rights to the U.S." 333-340 in Moaddel and Talattof, eds., Contemporary Debates in Islam.
• Michael M.J. Fischer: "Imam Khomeini: Four Levels of Understanding" in Esposito, ed., Voices of Resurgent Islam, 150-174.

Transnational Muslim Networks

Readings: Divide and Assign

Religious:

Al Qaeda (TBA)

Sufi Orders (Selected Web sites: TBA)

Tablighi Jamaa'at

Mumtaz Ahmad: "Tablighi Jama'at" in The Oxford Encyclopedia of The Modern Islamic World, V. 4, 165-169.

Barbara Metcalf: TBA

Wahabbi Salafi (TBA)

Development:

• Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN):
• Grameen Bank

Political:

• Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC)

Global Islam: TBA

Case Studies: Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iran and North America

Saudi Arabia:

• Wright, Lawrence. “The Kingdom of Silence,” New Yorker, January 5, 2004, 48-73
• Esack, Farid. On Being a Muslim: Finding a Religious Path in the World Today, 12-17.
• Bin Baz, Abdulaziz. Indispensable Implication of Sunnah and Caution against Innovation. 2003 June 16 2004.
• Sardar, Ziauddin. “Mecca,” Granta: What We Think of America, (77), 224-254.
• Algar, Hamid. Wahhabism: A Critical Essay, 5-30.

For Further Reading:

• Lapidus: "The Arab Middle East" in Hisory of Islamic Societies, 535-556.

Turkey:

• Hodgson, Marshall G. S. The Venture of Islam: The Gunpowder Empires and Modern Times, 259-271.
• Cornell, Svante, and Ingvar Svanberg. "Turkey" in Islam Outside the Arab World, 127-148.
• “Thou Shalt not Kill,” The Economist, Feb. 19, 2004.
• ”Schools for Trouble,” The Economist, May 20, 2004.

For Further Reading:

• Lapidus: "The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire and the Modernization of Turkey" in A History of Islamic Societies, 489-511.

Iran:

• Keddie, Nikki R., and Yann Richard. Modern Iran: Roots and Results of Revolution, 285-315.
• Fischer, Michael M. J. Iran: From Religious Dispute to Revolution, xxvi-xxxiv, 181-196, 213-231.
• Barzargan, Mehdi: "Religion and Liberty" in Kurzman, ed., Liberal Islam, 73-84.
• Imam Ruhullah Khomeini: "The Pillars of an Islamic State" in Moaddel, ed., Contemporary Debates in Islam, 247-262.
• Jalal al-i-Ahmad: " Westoxication" in Moaddel, ed., Contemporary Debates in Islam, 343-357.

Further Reading:

• Lapidus: "Iran: State and Religion in the Modern Era" in A History of Islamic Societies, 469-488.

United States:

• Esposito,"The Muslims of America" in Islam the Straight Path, 208-222
• John Voll, "Islamic Issues for Muslims in the US," The Muslims of America, ed.Y. Haddad, 205-216.
• Sulayman Nyang, "Convergence and Divergence in an Emergent Community," The Muslims of America, ed. Y. Haddad, 236-249.
• Liu, Marian. Hip-Hop's Islamic Influence. 2003. June 16 2004.
• X, Malcolm, and Alex Haley. The Autobiography of Malcolm X, ch. 17, “Mecca.”
• Moore, Kathleen M. "Representation of Islam in the Language of Law: Some Recent U.S. Cases." Muslims in the West: From Sojourners to Citizens, 187-204.

For Further Reading:

• Swedenburg, Ted. Islam in the Mix: Lessons from the Five Percent. 1996. June 16 2004.
• McCloud, Aminah Beverly. "The Scholar and the Fatwa." Windows of Faith : Muslim Women Scholar-Activists in North America, 136-144

Case Study Presentations

Contemporary Debate: Gender and the Qur'an

Readings:

• Ahmed, Leila. Women and Gender in Islam : Historical Roots of a Modern Debate, 127-143.
• Wadud, Amina. Qur'an and Woman: Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman's Perspective, 62-93.
• Abou El Fadl, Khaled. "Corrupting God's Book" in Conference of the Books: The Search for Beauty in Islam, 289-301.
• Barlas, Asma. "Believing Women" in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Quran, 31-62.