Introduction to Islamic Religion

Complete Readings for Religious Studies 143

For Thursday, Sept. 14:

1."Continuity and Contrast" (from Islam and the Destiny of Man, by Gai Eton; chapter 2);
2. "The Koran and Its Teachings" (from Islam: An Introduction, by Annemarie Schimmel);
Given out in class today:
3. from A Manual of Hadith, "Imam and Islam";
4. Map of "the expansion of Muslim states and populations: 900-1700."

For Tuesday, Sept. 19: "Sources of Tradition Part One: The Qur'an":

1. Continue reading Qur'an from back to front;
2. Complete Denny An Introduction to Islam Part One "Religion and Common Life in the Pre-Islamic Near East" especially "Pre-Islamic Arabia" pp. 46-61;
3. Complete Lings Muhammad to p. 115 and continue;

For Thursday Sept. 21 "The Qur'an" continued:

1. Read Denny pp. 69-72 and "The Nature and Function of the Qur'an" pp. 153-173;
2. Continue Lings Muhammad and Qur'an Reading;

For Thursday, October 12:

1. Hand in Midterm Exam

"An Islamic Catechism, The Ajwiba" (from A Reader on Islam: Passages From Standard Arabic Writings Illustrative of Beliefs and Practices of Muslims, edited by Arthur Jefferey)
Chronology of Islamic History (from The Concise Encyclopedia of Islam, edited by Cyril Glasse w/ Introduction by Professor Huston Smith)
"Chronology of Muhammad's Lifetime" (from The Venture of Islam Volume I, by Marshall Hodgson)
"The Life Of Muhammad: A Translation of Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah, with introduction and notes by A. Guillaume"
"Legends and Miracles,""The Light of Muhammad and the Mystical Tradition," and "The Celebration of the Prophet's Birthday" (from And Muhammad Is His Messenger: The Veneration of the Prophet in Islamic Piety by Annemarie Schimmel; chapters 4,7, and 8)

For Thursday, October 19 (Sacred Art and Architecture I):

For Tuesday, October 24 (Sacred Art and Architecture II):

1. "Scribes and Booksellers" (J. Pedersen);
2. "Composition and Transmission of Books" (J. Pedersen);
3. "Epigraphs As Icons: The Role of the Written Word In Islamic Art" by Anthony Welch (from The Image and The Word edited by Gutmann, Jos., 1977);
4. "Approval and Disapproval of Images in Islam" (from Rogers, The Topkap, Saray Museum, Boston, 1980)
5. "Chronological Table of Islamic Dynasties";

For Thursday, October 27 (Shi'i Islam):

1. F. Denny "Shi'i Law Schools and Islamic Political Institutions";
2. FE Peters pp. 112-117; 122-142; 183-184;
3. Given out in class today: selections from The Mantle of the Prophet: Learning and Power in Modern Iran by Roy Mottahedeh (note to the reader, prologue, and epilogue);

For Tuesday, October 31 (Sufism I Doctrine and Practice):

Read FE Peters, Chapter 7;
Given out in class today:
1. "From the Heritage of Islamic Literature" (Fiqh al-Akbar, by Imam al-A'zam Abu Hanifa, may God be pleased with him; translated by Hamid Algar);
2. A Sufi Saint of the Twentieth Century: Shaikh Ahmad al-Alawi, His Spiritual Heritage and Legacy by Martin Lings (chapter 1, "Seen from Outside");
3. "Comparisons Between Islamic and Christian Mystical Literatures" (from Yearbook of Comparative and General Literature, number 20, 1971; article by Victor Danner);
4. Chapters on "Rabe'a al-Adawiya" and "Abu Yazid al-Bestami" (from Muslim Saints and Mystics: Episodes from the Tadhkirat al-Auliya' ("Memorial of the Saints") by Farid al-Din Attat; translated by A.J. Arberry);
5. "Kitab Al-Fana: A Discourse of the IMAM ABU'L QASIM AL-JUNAYD IBN MUHAMMAD" (from Personality and Writings of Al-Junayd; A.H. Abdel-Kader, 1976);

For November 7, 1995 (Muslim Women and the Islamic Understanding of Gender):

1. F Denny "The Islamic Life Cycle and the Family";
2. Handed out in Class today: "II. Women in the Islamic Period" (from Restoring Women to History: The Middle East, by Guitty Nashat);
3. "What is Hijab" (from The Muslim World, Vol. LXXVII, July-October 1987, nos.3-4; article by Mostafa Hashem Sherif);
4. Bibliography of "Recommended Books and Articles" (beginning with Abbot, Nasbia);
5. "Women in Islam and Muslim Society" (from The American Muslim, Vol. II, No. 6, April-June (Spring) 1993; article by Hassan al-Turabi);,
6. "Statement on Women In Islam (Prepared by Progressive Muslim Alliance of UC-Berkeley);

For Thursday, November 9 (Women and Ritual Life in Islam):

1. FE Peters Chapter 6 "Worship of God";

For Thursday, November 26:

Handed out in class today:
1. "A Chronological List of the Holy Prophet, His Daughter,and the Twelve Holy Imams";
2. "Muslims Worldwide ca. 1987" and "Arab Contibutions to Western Civilization" (from Arab World Notebook, Audrey Shabbas and Ayad al-Qazzas,eds., 1989));
3. "The Dream: Sheik Nur Al Jerrahi (a.k.a. Lex Hixon)," "Vagabond: Temina Khan," "Under the Prayer Rug: Tarajee Abdur-Rahim,""Everybody's Grandfather: Ozier Muhammad,"and "Warith Deen Muhammad" (selected readings from American Jihad, by Steven Barboza);
4. "The Muslim and the 'Other': Representation and Self-Image of the Muslims in North America," by Abubaker Y. Al-Shingiety; and "African-American Muslim Women," by Beverly Thomas McCloud (in The Muslims of America, Y.Y.Haddad ed. NY, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991);
5. "Sayyid Qutb: Ideologue of Islamic Revival" by Yvonne Y. Haddad; "The Nature of the Islamic Resurgence" by Khurshid Ahmad; and "Islam and Zionism," by Ismail R.al Faruqi (from Voices of Resurgent Islam, edited by John L. Esposito, NY, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1983);

Last Modified 9/14/95

Barbara R. von Schlegell and Alan Humm
brvs@ccat.sas.upenn.edu