His 460
Reform and Revolution
in Islam
Instructor: Scott S. Reese
Office: BIO 208
Phone: 523-9049
Email: scott.reese@nau.edu
Class Time:MWF 11:30-12:20
Room: LA 204
Office Hours: MW 9:30-11:00 or by
appointment
Instructor's URL: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~ssr7/
Course
Description
Shouting
Mullahs, suicide bombers and gun toting mujāhidīn. These are the images that first come to
mind when we think of Muslim “fundamentalism.” But is this all there is to it?
This course will explore the importance of social and religious reform within
the Islamic tradition. While beginning
with the inception of the faith in the 7th century the majority of
the course will focus on the evolution of reformist discourses within in Islam
in the so-called “modern” era. Topics to be covered will include both an
examination of individual reformist movements (from MuÊammad to the Taliban) an exploration of the various ideologies that
have informed Muslim reformist thought since the time of the Prophet but we
will also devote a considerable amount of time towards problematizing the idea of “reform” itself and what
the term means and how it should be understood within a Muslim context.
Required Texts:
Cambridge
University Press, 2003 (13th Printing--though earlier printings
are acceptable)
The above books are
Required Readings for all students
in the course and are available at the NAU Bookstore. However, often you can
find these titles (e.g. Unthinkable Revolution) on Amazon.com for
significantly less.
*This book was
added after the bookstore deadline. It is also available via Amazon or Powells, given its price ($35.00) I would recommend purchasing
one of the many
used copies that appear to be available.
Optional Texts:
Other weekly readings are listed within the
body of the syllabus. These include both
primary documents in translation and secondary readings intended to add depth
and texture to our understanding of the Islamic faith. As such, they will form
an integral part of class discussions and students will be expected to arrive
for class meetings having read and digested the material and be ready for
discussion. All or most of these
readings can be found through Cline Library print or electronic reserve which
can be accessed via the following link: http://www.nau.edu/library/courses/spring05/his460-reese/
Class Format
HIS 460 will be conducted as a
largely seminar style class. Seminar
format means that discussion rather than formal lectures will constitute the
major part of the course. At most, the instructor will lecture during only half
of each weekly class meeting. In general, the remainder of class time will be
devoted to discussions surrounding issues raised by the readings for a given
week. To do well, you must keep up with the readings and prepare in advance to
discuss and reflect on issues contained in them. To help you prepare for these
discussions, the instructor will occasionally provide “focus questions” for you
to concentrate on while completing the readings.
Assessment of Outcomes and
Course Requirements—First, the good news-- there are no exams in this
course!! Instead, a variety of other
tools will be used to help you achieve the objectives of the course:
Note—Individuals taking this course for graduate credit are
required to complete six (6) critical evaluations.
As with the
review essays, these should not simply survey the arguments of the author, but
should be approached with a critical eye and seek to identify the strengths and
weaknesses of the argument. Towards this end, each review must also cite 2-3
reviews of the book published in academic journals providing some idea of
how a particular work has been received by the scholarly community. A more
detailed criteria sheet will follow.
Note 1: Late policy—All assignments must be
handed in at the beginning of class on the date they are due. Lateness will
result in the deduction of one letter grade per day late.
Note 2: Extensions, incompletes and make-up exams will be granted only in accordance with University policy.
Notes 3: As in any course plagiarism is completely unacceptable. Any form of academic dishonesty may result in a failing grade for the course (this will include weekend days).
Course Evaluation:
Your course grades will be based on the following distribution:
Reviews of the readings--30%
Book Review—20%
Historiographic Essay—25%
Participation (including turn as discussion leader) --25%
A standard grading scale will be in use
90%+= A; 80-89% =B; 70-79%=C; 60-69%=D; below 60%=F
Weekly Topics (Bear in mind this is a guide. Readings and
assignments may be subject to modification):
Wk. 1 01/19 Introduction: Religious Discourse as Social
Discourse
Wk. 2 01/26 Setting the Base Line--
Reading: Cook—Forbidding the Wrong in Islam-- entire
Wk. 3 02/02 Reform, Government and the Medieval Context
Reading:
Cook, review chs. 6-7
Evstatiev, “Ibn Khaldūn
on the Correlation ‘Spiritual Authority—Secular Power’ in the Theory and
Historical Practice of Medieval Islam” (on e-reserve)
Wk. 4 02/09 Reform, proper conduct and the popular context
before the 19th century (and a bit later…)
Homerin, “Sufis and Their Detractors in Mamluk Egypt” (on e-reserve)
Little, “Did Ibn Taymiyya have a Screw
Loose?” in Studia
Islamica (Paris), v. 41 (1975) pp. 93-111 (on e-reserve)
Peters, “The Battered Dervishes of Bab al-Zuwayla,” in Eighteenth-Century Renewal and Reform in
Islam, Nehemia Levtzion
and John O. Voll eds. (on print reserve) pp.93-116
Cole, “Mafia, Mob and Shi’ism in Iraq” in Sacred
Space and Holy War
Wk. 5 02/16 The under-rated 18th
century—roots of modern reformist thought
Readings:
Metcalf, Islamic Revival in British India, pp. 3-86 (on print
reserve)
Cole, “The Shi’ite Discovery of the West” in Sacred
Space and Holy War
Wk. 6 02/23 Ibn Abd al-Wahhab
Readings:
De Long-Bas, Intro.,
chs. 1-3
Cook, “On the
origins of Wahhabism” in Journal of the Royal
Asiatic Society, no. 2, pp. 191-202, 1992 (on e-reserve)
Wk. 7 03/02 Uthman
dan Fodio
Readings:
Levtzion
and Voll, Eighteenth-Century Renewal and Reform in
Islam, Intro, chs. 1-3, pp.1-68
(on print reserve)
Wk. 8 03/09 The Era of Muhammad
Ali and the early response to colonialism
Reading:
Hourani,
Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age, chs. 1-4
Kurzman, Modernist Islam, 1840-1940: A Sourcebook chs. 1,4
Wk. 9 03/16 al-Afghani, Abduh et. al.
Readings:
Hourani-- Arabic Thought in the
Liberal Age, chs. 5-8
Kurzman, Modernist Islam, 1840-1940: A Sourcebook chs. 3,6,11
03/23 Spring Break—Hooray!!!
Wk. 10 03/30 The Salafiyya and anti-colonialism
Readings:
Hourani-- Arabic Thought in the
Liberal Age, chs. 9-13
Haddad, “Arab Religious Nationalism in the Colonial Era,” in The
Journal of the American Oriental Society, v. 117 no. 2 (Apr.-Jun. 1997) pp.
253-277 (on e-reserve)
Encylopaedia of Islam, “Islah” on print reserve
Wk. 11 04/06 The Iranian
Revolution-A Post colonial response
Readings:
Kurzman, The Unthinkable Revolution
-- entire
Cole, “The Modernity of Theocracy,” in Sacred Space and Holy War
Cole, “Shi’ites as National Minorities,” in Sacred
Space and Holy War
Wk. 12 04/13 Afghanistan and the
Taliban
Readings:
Maley Fundamentalism
Reborn? Afghanistan and the Taliban pp.v-x,
1-132 (on
e-reserve)
Wk. 13 04/20
Hamas, Hizbullah
and the Palestinian Conflict
Readings:
Robinson, “Hamas and the Islamist
Mobilization,” in Building a Palestinian State: The
Incomplete Revolution, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997) pp.
132-173 (on e-reserve)
Usher, “What kind of Nation? The Rise of Hamas
in the Occupied Territories,” in Dispatches from Palestine: The Rise and Fall of the Oslo Peace Process (Pluto
Press, 1999) pp. 18-33 (on e-reserve)
Andoni, “Searching for Answers: Gaza’s Suicide Bombers,”
in Journal of Palestine Studies, v. 26 no. 4 (summer, 1997) pp. 33-45
(on e-reserve)
Wk. 14 04/27 Recent Perspectives: Politics and “Jihad”
Readings:
Safi,
Progressive Muslims pts. I and III
DeLong-Bas,
chs. 5-6
Wk. 15 05/04 Recent
Perspectives on Gender
Readings:
Safi, Progressive Muslims, Pt. II
DeLong-Bas, Wahhabi Islam, ch.
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