Islam&Judaism

Religion 105 Fall 2006

An Introduction to Islam and Judaism

In this course, I hope students will gain a basic familiarity with the Islamic and Judaic religious traditions, particularly their sacred texts, forms of ritual, prayer, legal and scriptural interpretation, and art and architecture (Islamic), and their encounter with Western modernity. To focus on one important response to modernity, we shall read articles on fundamentalism as a modern religious movement, and on Jewish and Muslim examples, including the influential book Milestones (1964) by Sayyid Qutb, the main theorist of Sunni Revivalism. The last three weeks of the course will take up recent writings by Muslims and Jews critiquing and trying to reform their traditions. In the first part of the course, we approach our subject through categories of “comparative religion,” and in the last part, through categories of a “philosophical” approach (or theology). In addition, as we examine two religious traditions which seem to resemble each other in basic ways but also show distinct differences, we shall explore definitions of religion and of Islam and Judaism in an attempt to question and clarify our understandings.

Required Books

* Final comprehensive exam (18%)
* Essay Tests (2) on Classical Islam and Judaism (30%)
* Essay Test on Modernism and Fundamentalism (15%)
* Five Quizzes (20%)
* Class participation (10%). Absences and lack of participation lower this grade; over 4 absences seriously lowers your overall grade in the course.
* Posting of questions on Blackboard about selected readings, second half of course (3%)
* Viewing of two videos, on Islam and on Judaism (required).
* Attendance at several public lectures to be announced (including one by Erika Meitner, on Muslim and Jewish women’s literature, Nov. 30) – with ½ page written responses to each (2%)

September
8 Introduction to the course
(please purchase course-pack before next meeting!)

11            Muhammad and the Quran
                             Denny, Islam, pp. 5-32
                             Coursepack (CP): Selections from the Quran, p. 11 (Surah 1) and pp. 1-6

13            The Quran and Quran-Recitation
                             Selections from the Quran, pp. 6-11 [CP]
                             Everyday Fiqh, “Etiquette and Requirements for Recitation of the Quran” [CP]
                             Islam, 40-45, 57-64, 78-88

15 Ritual in the Comparative Study of Religion
David Livingston, Chap. 5 from Anatomy of the Sacred, “Sacred Ritual” [CP]

18            Religious Life: the Five Pillars and Life Cycle Rituals
                             Islam 45-53, 98-105
                             Performing the Prayer; Keeping the Fast [CP]
                             “Naked and Vulnerable on Ramadan,” in Taking Back Islam 203-05
                            “Prayers” [CP]
                 * Quiz

19             Religious Life: the Hajj
                             Fulfilling the Pilgrimage [CP]
                             Malcolm X, "Mecca" [CP]
                             Wolfe, “The Real Mecca,” in Taking Back Islam 206-13
                             from Everyday Fiqh, Chap. 18, on the meaning and regulations of the Hajj [CP]
                             Islam 53-57

22             Law
                             Islam 64-70
                             “Funeral Rites” and “Things Disliked and Things Forbidden” [CP]
                             Islam, 88-96, on the popular Islam (saint-veneration) vs. official Islam

25 Art and Architecture
Kenneth Craig, “Art and Architecture,” from Islam from Within [CP]
View powerpoint on "Muslim Art" (on Blackboard)

27 Early Muslim History; Shi'ite Islam
Islam 32-39, 3-4; the Shi’a: 33-34, 35, 70-71, 96-9
*Quiz

October
2 (to be rescheduled)      Rabbinic Judaism: history and challenges
                             Settings Chap. 1; 185-217
                             Selections from the Mishnah [CP]

4/6            The Talmud
                             Settings 218-32
                             “The Oven of Akhnai" [CP]
                             “Example of a Mishnah and its Gemara” [CP]
                             Cheating in Buying and Selling (Mishnah and Gemara) [CP]

9              Torah and Midrash
                             Settings Chap. 2
                             “Midrash” (Mekilta on the Ten Commandments) [CP]
                             Five Examples of Midrash [CP]
                 * Quiz

11             Religious Life: Daily Rituals and Rites of Passage
                             Settings Chaps. 5-6
                             Selected Prayers from the Siddur [CP]
                             “Prayers of Gratitude” [CP]
                             “Traditional Wedding Blessings” / “Blessing over Wine” [CP]

18             Religious Life: Passover; Eschatology
                             Settings Chaps. 10, 7
                             “Aleinu” [CP]
                 *Quiz

23             Modernist Judaism: Religious Movements
                             Settings Chap. 20
                             “The Pittsburgh Platform, 1885” [CP]

25 Modernist Judaism: Anti-Semitism and Zionism
Settings Chap. 21 (anti-Semitism) and Chap. 22 (Zionism: 380-401 only)

27             Modernist Islamic Thought (Egypt)
                             Islam, 321-23, 329-34, 351-55
                             Muhammad Abduh, Introduction, “The Necessity of Religious Reform” [CP]
                             Qasim Amin, “The Liberation of Women” [CP]

30             Fundamentalism
Martin Marty and Scott Appleby, “The Fundamentals of Fundamentalism” [CP]
Karen Armstrong, “Fundamentalism,” from Islam, a Short History [CP]
   Islam 117-20
   Sayid Qutb, Milestones, Introduction (7-13)
* Quiz

November
1 Milestones
Chap. 1: pp. 19-22, Chap. 2: pp. 24-25, 31-36, Chap. 3, Chap. 4

6/8            Milestones Chap. 12; and Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel
                            Milestones Chap. 12
                             K. Armstrong, on the Haredim, “Counterculture,” from The Battle for God [CP]
                             Three Excerpts from rabbis (Karelitz and Teitelbaum) of the Haredim [CP]
                             Ian Lustick, “The Worldview of Jewish Fundamentalism” (the religious settler movement), from For the Land and the Lord

13 Taking Back Islam: Introduction; on Sept. 11, Violence: pp. 1-10, 15-24, 33-39

17 Taking Back Islam on African-American Muslims, Other Religions: 129-140, 153-68
* Quiz

29 Halevi, At the Entrance to the Garden of Eden, Introduction and Chap. 1, “Ramadan”