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Religious Studies 180 (Asia 180)
Introduction to Islamic Civilization
Schedule
Upcoming
lectures, exhibits, and performances relating to the Middle East
and Muslim civilizations Notes:
Parallel public events and
performances are in green
Deadlines and important dates are in
red
* = Instructor out of town
I. Introduction to
the Study of Islam
1. Aug. 19
The Study of Islamic Civilization Today
Reading: Ernst, Following Muhammad, Preface and
Chapter 1, "Islam in the Eyes of the West." Notes
2. Aug. 21
Religion and Islamic Civilization
Reading: Ernst, Following Muhammad, chapter 2, "Approaching
Islam in Terms of Religion." Notes.
Study question: changing meaning of "religion" and "religions" from
antiquity to the colonial era
Recitations, Aug.
22: Website: Read the first article about the 2002 UNC Qur'an controversy
and scan the other items. Why was this such a big deal? Why did this
become a national issue?
II. Outlines of Early
Islamic History
3. Aug. 26 Islamic
Civilization and History
Reading: Egger, pp. xi-xii, 4-30 Notes
images
and links: Islam and the
World of
Muhammad
al-Khazina
("the Treasury"): Princeton web site on Islamic studies
Historical
maps
4. Aug. 28. The Prophet Muhammad
and the Qur'an
Reading: Ernst, Following
Muhammad, pp. 71-105, 108-119; Notes
Maps
of Religion and Empire: The
History of Religion; Who
conquered the Middle East?
Recitations, Aug.
29: Listen to two versions of Surah 97 (al-Qadr) from the
Qur'an, in simple tartil and
more dramatic tajwid styles (UNC
onyen and password required). Then read three
translations of this short text. Recitations will discuss the
text and its oral recitation as well as this week's readings.
5. Sept. 2
The Early Arab Empire
Reading:
Egger, pp. 33-60 Notes today's music selection
6. Sept. 4 The Emergence of
sectarianism
Reading: Egger, pp. 62-84 Notes
today's music selection
Recitations,
September 5: for discussion, read "The Rightful Caliph: the
Shi'ite Version," (Egger, p. 67). Consider the actual words spoken by
Muhammad, apart from the surrounding interpretation. How might
this be understood differently by Sunnis?
7. Sept. 9
Baghdad, Cairo, Cordova: Three Rival Caliphates
Reading: Egger, pp. 86-112 Notes today's
music selection
8. Sept. 11 The Formation of Religious
and Intellectual Traditions
Reading: Egger, pp. 115-138 Notes Music: Shahram Nazeri,
"Andak Andak"
9. Sept. 16 New Forms of Political
Authority
Reading: Egger, pp. 142-170 Notes
Music: Jalal
Zulfonoon
Shah
Nama website
10. Sept. 18 Crusades and Reconquista
Reading: Egger, pp. 172-198 Notes
In
Class Quiz No. 1 (bring blue books!) Study sheet
11. Sept. 23 Sufism
Reading: Egger, 205-213; Following
Muhammad, pp. 164-168, 174-182; Ibn Khaldun, pp.
358-367 Notes
Web sites on
Sufism and religious rituals
Study question: institutional forms of spirituality in Sufism
12. Sept. 25. Islamic
Arts,
especially calligraphy
Reading: Following Muhammad, pp. 182-197 (notes); Ernst, "The
Spirit of Islamic Calligraphy: Baba Shah Isfahani's Adab al-Mashq"
(requires a UNC address; alternate
site)
Web Site on "The
Art of Arabic Calligraphy"
"The
Hilya, or the Adornment of the Prophet" from the web site of
calligrapher Rasheed Butt
Also recommended: The Grove Dictionary of Art Online, "Islamic
Art," I.
Introduction, esp. sections 1 (Definition) and 8 (Subject-matter) (requires a UNC address)
Film: ART AND THE ISLAMIC WORLD 1993 (V-4475)
Study Questions: The art of calligraphy and the status of
images in Islamic art
Recitations,
Sept.
26: Museum Tour. Recitation
sections will meet in the Ackland Art Museum (click here for a map) at
the times listed below, for a tour of selected examples of Islamic art.
Because of the large number of students in our class, and the limited
space in the gallery, time will be
limited to 20-25 minutes for each section. Therefore, as a
courtesy to fellow students and the museum staff, please be on time!
601 09:00AM-09:25AM
602
09:25AM-09:50AM
603
10:00AM-10:25AM
604
10:25AM-10:50AM
605
11:00AM-11:20AM
606
11:20AM-11:40AM
607
03:00PM-03:25PM
608
02:00PM-02:20PM
609
03:25PM-03:50PM
610
11:40AM-12:00PM
611
02:20PM-02:40PM
612
02:40PM-03:00PM
Note: A journal entry may be
written on the Museum tour, which must
connect items seen in the collection with some other discussion, either
in the readings, the film, or lecture; this can be turned in the
following Tuesday.
13. Sept. 30. Shi`ism.
Reading: Egger, 214-218; Following Muhammad, pp. 168-174
O. Safi, Memories of Muhammad,
chapter
on Karbala (UNC onyen and password required) Notes
Study
question: spiritual mediators as connections
to God
Muharram
in New York Web
sites on Shi`ism
14. Oct. 2 Social and Political Structures
Reading: Egger, pp. 230-255 Notes
14. Oct. 7 The Impact of the Mongols
Reading: Egger, pp. 261-288 Notes
Art Exhibits and other resources:
15. Oct. 9 Law and Intellectual Life
Reading: Egger, pp. 291-317 Notes
Recitations, Oct. 10. Read
Sa`di's
Persian elegy on the fall
of Baghdad to the Mongols. How do you reconcile this poet's lament with
the
fact that his patron assisted the Mongols?
III. Ibn Battuta's Tour of the Muslim World
Ibn Battuta websites:
Carolyn
McIntyre "Girl Solo in Arabia". Scroll down on the right to visit
places on IB's itinerary.
Tim Mackintosh-Smith,
travel writer who has followed IB's path
The Longest Hajj: The Journeys of Ibn Battuta — Saudi
Aramco World article by Douglas Bullis (July/August 2000)
ArchNet Islamic Architecture
Community (MIT) searchable digital library of architectural sites
16. Oct. 14
Reading: Dunn, pp. 1-55 Notes
Midterm
essays due
Fall break, Oct. 16-17
17. Oct. 21
Reading: Dunn, pp. 55-110 Notes
18. Oct. 23
Reading: Dunn, pp. 111-165 Notes
19. Oct. 28
Reading: Dunn, pp. 166-220 Notes
20. Oct. 30
Reading: Dunn, pp. 221-275 Notes
In
Class Quiz No. 2 (bring blue
books!) Study
sheet
Oct. 31: Recitation
sections cancelled (instructors at American Academy of Religion
conference)
*21. Nov. 4 Film: Islam,
Empire of Faith (note: this can be the subject of a journal
entry to be handed in at the next class)
Reading: Dunn, pp. 276-320
IV. Ibn Khaldun on Islamic Civilization
22. Nov. 6 Overview
of
the early Caliphate
Reading: Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddima,
pp. 123-170, 180-183 Notes
Recommended: pp. vii-xxv (Bruce Lawrence, Introduction to 2005 edition)
Notes
Study question: the religious characterization of the caliphate (pages
154-160) versus its transformation into royal authority (pages 160-166)
Web sites: Exhibit
on Ibn Khaldun in Seville and its catalog
"Ibn
Khaldun and the rise and fall of empires" (Saudi Aramco World)
Map:
breakup of the Caliphate
23. Nov. 11 Ibn Khaldun's view of
the
world
Reading: Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddima,
pp. 45-90 Notes
Study questions: ancient concepts of cosmos and ecology; philosophical
explanations of prophecy and the supernatural
24. Nov. 13 Religious
and civil institutions
of the caliphate
Reading: Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddima,
pp. 170-230 Notes
Study
questions: Ibn Khaldun's understanding of Christianity; his
understanding of war; symbols of royal power; manners of the ideal
secretary according to `Abd al-Hamid (pp. 203-6)
25. Nov. 18 Nomads
and
cities
Reading: Ibn Khaldun, 91-122, 263-95; Egger, 286 Ibn Khaldun's political career Notes
Study question: the character of nomadic ("Bedouin") society and its
interaction with sedentary civilization; the nature of "group feeling"
26. Nov. 20 Science
and philosophy
Reading: Egger, 199-204; Following Muhammad, pp. 119-126; Ibn
Khaldun, pp. 259-61, 333-354, 371-98 Notes
Classification of the sciences according to al-Farabi
and Ibn
Khaldun
Study question: the difference between al-Farabi's and Ibn Khaldun's
understandings of the relation of the sciences to religion
*27. Nov. 25 Islamic
religious
scholars (`ulama'). Guest Speaker: Professor Omid Safi
Reading: Ibn Khaldun, 354-358 (interpretations of the
Qur'an), 398-405 (critique of philosophy), 411-426 (education) Notes
Study questions: Ibn Khaldun's recommendations for education in North
Africa
28. Dec. 2 Conclusions
Reading: Following Muhammad,
pp. 200-213;
Ibn Khaldun, pp. 242-256
Notes
Final
Exam Essay Due
Thu., Dec. 11, 12:00 pm
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