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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
Classroom rules:
*NO laptops will be used for note-taking in the lecture
auditorium.
*Cell phones must be turned off.
*Upon arriving in the auditorium, fill the seats in the front of the
class first.
*Absolutely no emailing/chatting/web-browsing in the class.
*The auditorium has a "no food, no drink" policy.
Hints for studying and learning
new names and terms:
Use the glossary in Egger (p. 319).
Use the index both in Egger and Following
Muhammad.
Write down notes in the margin of the book after you look things up, or
take notes on your computer.
Think about names and terms in relation to key issues in the course.
Use study questions to stimulate your intellectual journal entries.
Explore maps on websites to expand your knowledge of world regions and
history.
Outline complicated readings so you can create an overview of the
subject for greater familiarity.
Before coming to class, read the
assignment that is on the calendar for that day. Each class
assignment also has a link to notes in the form of a webpage or a
PowerPoint presentation. These notes may not make a great deal of sense
by themselves, apart from the class lecture, but they provide key names
and terms (with correct spellings) and the sequence of topics for that
day.
You may want to print out the notes for that day in advance, since they
form a brief outline of the topics will be discussed (you can print out
the PowerPoint as a handout, with several slides per page). During
class, you can then make more detailed notes on your printout based on
what is discussed. It is also useful to bring to class the book under discussion
that day.
I. Introduction to
the Study of Islam
1. Aug. 25
The Study of Islamic Civilization Today
Reading: Ernst, Following Muhammad, Preface and
Chapter 1, "Islam in the Eyes of the West." Notes
2. Aug. 27
Religion and Islamic Civilization
Reading: Ernst, Following Muhammad, chapter 2, "Approaching
Islam in Terms of Religion." Notes.
Map
of world Muslim population (Der
Spiegel) [Africa and Eurasia]
Study question: changing meaning of "religion" and "religions" from
antiquity to the colonial era
Recitations, Aug.
28: 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. Sept. 1 Islamic
Civilization and History
Reading: Egger, pp. xi-xii, 4-30 Notes
al-Khazina
("the Treasury"): Princeton web site on Islamic studies
Historical
maps
4. Sept. 3 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, Sept.
4: 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. 8
The Early Arab Empire
Reading:
Egger, pp. 33-60 Notes
6. Sept. 10 The Emergence of
sectarianism
Reading: Egger, pp. 62-84 Notes
today's music selection
Recitations,
September 11: 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. 15
Baghdad, Cairo, Cordova: Three Rival Caliphates
Reading: Egger, pp. 86-112 Notes today's
music selection
Website: Princeton
Online Arabic Poetry project (click on "Abu Nuwas - The Wretch
Paused")
8. Sept. 17 The Formation of Religious
and Intellectual Traditions
Reading: Egger, pp. 115-138 Notes Music: Shahram Nazeri,
"Andak Andak"
9. Sept. 22 New Forms of Political
Authority
Reading: Egger, pp. 142-170 Notes
Music: Jalal
Zulfonoon
Shah
Nama website
10. Sept. 24 Islamic
Arts,
especially calligraphy
In
Class Quiz No. 1 (bring blue books!) Study sheet
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)
Type your name in Arabic
here!
Study Questions: The art of
calligraphy and the status of
images in Islamic art
Recitations,
Sept.
25: Museum Tour. Recitation
sections will meet in the Ackland Art Museum (click here for a map) at
the usual times, for a tour of selected examples of Islamic art.
As a
courtesy to fellow students and the museum staff, please be on time!
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 or lecture; this can be turned in the
following Tuesday.
11. Sept. 29 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. Oct. 1.
Crusades and Reconquista
Reading: Egger, pp. 172-198 Notes
13. Oct. 6.
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. 8 Social and Political Structures
Reading: Egger, pp. 230-255; Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddimah, pp. 33-44. Notes
14. Oct. 13 The Impact of the
Mongols
Reading: Egger, pp. 261-288 Notes
Art Exhibits and other resources:
15. Oct. 15 Law and Intellectual Life
Reading: Egger, pp. 291-317 Notes
Recitations, Oct. 16. 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. 20
Reading: Dunn, pp. 1-55 Notes
Midterm
essays due
Fall break, Oct. 22-23
17. Oct. 27
Reading: Dunn, pp. 55-110 Notes
18. Oct. 29
Reading: Dunn, pp. 111-165 Notes
Recitations,
Oct. 30. Examine the account of one of the sites visited by Ibn
Battuta from Carolyn
McIntyre's "Girl Solo in Arabia" website. Come to the recitation
prepared to discuss how this place illustrates some of the themes and
categories of Islamic civilization that we have discussed.
19. Nov. 3
Reading: Dunn, pp. 166-220 Notes
20. Nov. 5
Reading: Dunn, pp. 221-275 Notes
In
Class Quiz No. 2 (bring blue
books!) Study
sheet
Nov. 6: Recitation
sections cancelled (instructors at American Academy of Religion
conference)
*21. Nov. 10 Film: Islam,
Empire of Faith, part 2 "The Awakening" (note: this in-class
showing can be the subject of a journal
entry to be handed in at the next class. Suggestion: what parts of this
presentation would you criticize, in the light of the materials we have
studied?)
Reading: Dunn, pp. 276-320
IV. Ibn Khaldun on Islamic Civilization
22. Nov. 12 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
"Ibn
Khaldun and the rise and fall of empires" (Saudi Aramco World)
Map:
breakup of the Caliphate
23. Nov. 17 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. 19 Religious
and civil institutions
of the caliphate. Guest lecturer: Prof. Bruce Lawrence, Duke
University
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. 24 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. Dec. 1 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. Dec. 3 Islamic
religious
scholars (`ulama').
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. 8 Conclusions
Reading: Following Muhammad,
pp. 200-213;
Ibn Khaldun, pp. 242-256
Notes
Code for course evaluations: 21310313
Final
Exam Essay Due Sat., Dec. 12, 12:00 pm
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