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Jonathan A.C. Brown

Syllabus

Introduction to Islam
NEAR E / RELIG 211

Dr. Jonathan Brown

Tues/Thurs. 3:00 – 4:50
Architecture 147

Course Description:
Islam is a world religion with approximately 1.3 billion adherents.  It has also served as the organizing theme of a world civilization, numerous massive empires and important geo-political resistance movements since the faith’s founding in seventh-century Arabia.  This class provides an introduction to the tenets, practice and historical development of the religion of Islam.  It also introduces students to the principal genres of scholarly and religious expression in Islamic civilization. 

Textbook for the course, available at UW Bookstore:

  • Daniel Brown, A New Introduction to Islam

Assignments and Evaluation: grades will be based on…

  • Midterm: 30%
  • Final Exam: 35%
  • Class Participation/Attendance in the Friday Discussion Sessions: 25%
  • ‘1 minute’ essays in lectures (based on readings and lecture): 10%

 

Course Schedule and Assignments:
The following assignments are due on the date listed and are for the Tues/Thurs. lectures only.  Assignments for the Friday discussion sections will be given in class on Tuesday.

Tues. 1/8 Introduction: The Near East and Arabia on the Eve of Islam

Thurs. 1/10 Movie: Shahrbanoo

  • Read: Brown, Intro to Islam, 3-34.

Tues. 1/15 The Life of the Prophet Muhammad

  • Read: Brown, Intro to Islam, 69-96
  • Selection from Ibn Ishaq’s Sira (e-reserve)

Thurs. 1/17 The Quran

  • Read: Brown, Intro to Islam, 53-68.
  • Qur’an, selections: Surat al-Najm, Surat al-Anfal, Surat al-Ahzab, Surat al-Duha, Surat al-Mudaththir (e-reserve) (nb: surat means ‘chapter’)
  • Muqatil b. Sulayman and Ibn Kathir (Quranic Commentaries) (e-reserve)

Tues. 1/22 Islamic Conquests and Integration into the Near East

  • Read: Brown, Intro to Islam, 35-50
  • Selection from al-Tabari’s History 15: 18-24; 29:3-5 (e-reserve)
  • Selection: Herodotus on Median Capital (e-reserve)

Thurs. 1/24 The Islamic State and the Rise of Sectarianism

  • Read: Brown, Intro to Islam, 99-115

Tues. 1/29 Film: Islam in America

Thurs. 1/31 Hadith, Transmission and the Idiom of Islamic Law.

  • Read: Brown, Intro to Islam, 116-134
  • Selection from al-Shafi’i’s Risala (e-reserve)

Tues. 2/5 Shiite Islam

  • ‘The Martyrdom of al-Husayn’ (e-reserve 139-44)
  • ‘Treatise on the Occultation of the Hidden Imam (e-reserve)

Thurs. 2/7  Midterm 

Tues. 2/12 Islamic Theology, Philosophy

  • Read: Brown, Intro to Islam, 135-153
  • Basri and Qudama (e-reserve): ‘The Letter of al-Hasan al-Basri on Free Will,’ ‘The Creed of Ibn Qudama’

Thurs. 2/14 Sufism and Popular Islam

  • Read: Brown, Intro Islam, 154-74
  • ‘Sufi Prayers and Catechisms’ (e-reserve pgs. 164-66)

Tues. 2/19 Islam in the Middle Period

  • Read: Brown, Intro to Islam, 177-190
  • God’s Unruly Friends (e-reserve)

Thurs. 2/21 Islam in World Civilization: Gunpowder Empires and Revival and Reform

  • Read: Brown, Intro to Islam, 190-206
  • Busbeq’s letter (e-reserve)

Tues. 2/26 Islamic Art and Spirituality

  • Read: Seyyed H. Nasr, Islamic Art and Spirituality, (e-reserve), 3-59.

Thurs. 2/28 The Five Pillars of Islam

  • no readings!

Tues. 3/4 Islam and Modernity

  • Read: Brown, Intro to Islam, 207-233
  • Keddie, An Islamic Response to Imperialism, 36-45 (e-reserve)

Thurs. 3/6 The Question of Jihad

  • Selection from Reuven Firestone, Jihad pg. 47-97 (e-reserve)
  • Writings of Osama b. Laden, in Messages to the World (e-reserve)

Tues. 3/11 Gender and Islam

  • Chapters on Birth Control and Divorce, (e-reserve) 108-10, 113-15
  • Amina Wadud, “Qur’an and Woman,” Liberal Islam (1998), pp. 127-138;

Thurs. 3/13 Conclusion and Review

Thurs. 3/20   4:30-6:20 in same classroom   Final Exam

 

Administrative Issues and Grading:

This class is conducted by the professor and two teaching assistants, who will be responsible for the Friday discussion sessions and grading.

Questions concerning grading should be addressed to the TA’s, with any unresolved questions addressed to the professor.

 

Contact Information:

Dr. Jonathan Brown

  • Email: brownj9@u.washington.edu
  • Phone: 206-616-2390
  • Office Hours: Tuesday 1:30-3:00 pm in M-27 on the second floor of Denny above the Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations Office

Laura Korey, Teaching Assistant

Kristian Petersen, Teaching Assistant

  • kristianpetersen20@yahoo.com
  • Office Hours: TBA

 

Academic Honesty

            In case of academic misconduct, such as copying homework or cheating on quizzes or exams, the offending student will be penalized in accordance with the policy of the College of Arts & Sciences: (http://depts.washington.edu/grading/issue1/honesty.htm ). Those students who allow others to copy their work will also be penalized.

 

Disability Accommodations

            If you would like to request academic accommodations due to a disability, please contact Disabled Student Services, 448 Schmitz, (206) 543-8924. If you have a letter from Disabled Student Services indicating you have a disability that requires academic accommodations, please present the letter to the professor so we can discuss the accommodations you might need for the class. Their website is:  (http://www.washington.edu/students/gencat/front/Disabled_Student.html ), in 448 Schmitz, or 206-543-8924 (V/TTY).

 

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