Intro to Islam

Instructor:  Dr. Erica Ferg Muhaisen

Course Synopsis:

This course introduces the religious traditions of Islam: elements of faith, history, and contemporary issues in the Islamic world. Alongside an examination of Islamic scripture, beliefs, and practices, this course investigates modern topics such as Sunni-Shi'a sectarianism, women and gender, politics and conflict, and contemporary democratic movements. With 1.6 billion adherents, Islam is the world's second-largest religion, which means that studying this tradition offers insight into roughly 23% of the world's population, and to a significant area within world history. Not many people are aware, however, that studying this tradition also reveals that Islam is very closely related to both Christianity and Judaism, and that without the innovations developed in the Islamic world in the fields of science, mathematics, medicine, music, and literature, our modern world would not look much like the world we know today. This course will explore these topics, as well as investigating influential elements of the past 200 years' political and social history, to enable us to come to a better understanding of the contemporary Muslim world.

Required Resources:

1) Daniel W. Brown: A New Introduction to Islam , 2nd Ed., Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. ISBN: 978-1405158077. (There is a third edition of this text being published, but it will not be available until May, 2017. Please purchase the second edition.)

2) Abdullah Yusuf Ali: The Meaning of the Holy Qur'ān : CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013. ISBN: 978-1492361138.

3) Vali Nasr: The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future (updated edition) , W. W. Norton & Company, 2016. ISBN: 978-0393329681. (Please ensure that you are purchasing the updated edition, from 2016.)

4) *Other readings as assigned, available on Canvas for our course.

Suggested Resources (We will have readings from these texts, and I recommend you purchase the entire book if the subject matter interests you. However, to keep costs minimal, you need purchase only the three require texts listed above):

5) Jonathan Brown: Hadith: Muhammad's Legacy in the Medieval and Modern World , Oxford, UK: Oneworld Publications, 2009. ISBN: 978-1851686636.

6) Leila Ahmed: A Quiet Revolution: The Veil's Resurgence, from the Middle East to America , Yale University Press, 2012. ISBN: 978-0300181432.

7) Ibrahim Elbadawi and Samir Makdisi: Democratic Transitions in the Arab World , Cambridge University Press, 2016. ISBN: 978-1316615782.

Degree Learning Goals: Please take some time to look over the Professional Degree Learning Goals (MDiv, MASC, MAPSC) and the Academic Degree Learning Goals (MTS, MA).

Incompletes:  If incompletes are allowed in this course, see the Master's Student Handbook for Policies and Procedures.

Pass/Fail:  Masters students wishing to take the class pass/fail should discuss this with the instructor by the second class session.

Academic Integrity and Community Covenant:  All students are expected to abide by Iliff’s statement on Academic Integrity, as published in the Masters Student Handbook, or the Joint PhD Statement on Academic Honesty, as published in the Joint PhD Student Handbook, as appropriate.  All participants in this class are expected to be familiar with Iliff’s Community Covenant.

Accommodations:  Iliff engages in a collaborative effort with students with disabilities to reasonably accommodate student needs.   Students are encouraged to contact their assigned advisor to initiate the process of requesting accommodations.  The advising center can be contacted at advising@iliff.edu or by phone at 303-765-1146. 

Writing Lab:  Grammar and organization are important for all written assignments.  Additional help is available from the Iliff Writing Lab, which is available for students of any level who need help beginning an assignment, organizing thoughts, or reviewing a final draft. 

Inclusive Language:  It is expected that all course participants will use inclusive language in speaking and writing, and will use terms that do not create barriers to classroom community.