Syllabus

Islam and the West                      Abbas Milani, 7214052
PS 149S                                         amilani@stanford.edu
Spring 2009                                   TA: Rachel Brule; rebrule@stanford.edu
Stanford University                                                    

The purpose of this course is to inquire into the nature of the long and complicated relationship between Islam and the West. It will underscore the fact that there have been many “Islams,” and many “Wests” and the nature of their relationship has sharply varied through the years. We will discuss sectarian developments within Islam and their impact on the religion’s relations with the West. In the Middle Ages, the relationship revolved around the question of power and domination. Since the Renaissance, accepting or rejecting modernity (with its rationalism, secularism and individualism) has been at the core of the tensions in the Muslim world’s relationship with the West. Since nineteenth century, the question of colonialism has clouded the horizon even more. While the entire history of the relationship will be briefly discussed, the focus will be on the modern era and Islam and the West in our time.

Students are asked to read the designated parts of the following:

Bernard Lewis, Islam and the West, (October 27, 1994)
Albert Bergesen, ed. Sayyid Qutb Reader, (London, 2007)
Abbas Milani, Lost Wisdom: Rethinking Modernity in Iran (Mage, 2006)
Farhad Daftary, Intellectual Traditions in Islam (London, 2000)
Gilles Kepel, The War for Muslim Minds (Cambridge, 2004)
I also recommend that students read Maria Rosa Mencoal’s Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain (New York, 2002)

Each student is asked to write a research paper. Students should turn in the third week of class, a proposal, describing their topic. The proposal can be as short as a few paragraphs and no more than a couple of pages. To develop their ideas for the paper, students should consult me and Ms. Rachel Brule, the Teaching Assistant for the class. Rachel’s office hours are 10am-noon on Fridays in room 426 Encina Central.. She can be reached at rebrule@stanford.edu.

Please note that up to thirty percent of your grade will be determined by the quality and quantity of your participation in the life of the class as well as the sessions with the TA. The other part will be determined by the quality of the paper.

Papers are due on the last day of class. Here are the general contours of the lectures and the reading assignments:

Week One: Islam and the West: Problems of Epistemology: “Covering Islam.” Orientalism, Nativism, and Orientalism in Reverse; Geertz and “thick description.” Nature of scholarship about the West in the Muslim world; Required reading, Islam and the West, pp. 99-130; Lost Wisdom, 9-23 Recommended reading: Edward Said, Orientalism, 1-31 [Book will be on reserve in the library.]

Week two: The advent of Islam: Early years of Islam and the impact of Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and Hellenism on the development of Islamic thought; sources of Islamic thought: Qoran, and Hadith; Sects in Islam and their attitudes: Mo’tazele and A’shari, Kalam Islam and the West, 61-72,; Intellectual Traditions in Islam, 1-86

Week Three: Early sources of Fundamentalism; sectarian developments in Islam: Sunnis, Shiites, and Ismalis; Sufism and their view of Tarigah, Hagigah, Sharia; Lost Wisdom, 23-36; Intellectual Traditions in Islam, 87-145, recommended reading: Henry Corbin, Spiritual Body and Celestial Earth: From Mazdean Iran to Shi’it Iran.

Week Four: Islam and the West in the Middle Ages: The Crusades; Islam as a source of Western Enlightenment; Islam and the West, 73-99; Lost Wisdom, 37-50; Intellectual Traditions in Islam, 146-178; recommended reading: Amin Malouf, The  Crusade Through Muslim Eyes; [The book will be on reserve in the library]

Week Five: The rise of the Ottomans in Turkey and Safavids in Iran: The great political schism and its impact on Islam’s relations with the West; Shiism as a form of Iranian nationalism. Lewis, 3-62, 155-166; Intellectual Traditions in Islam, 179-221

Week Six and Seven: Islam and the rise of Modernity: Seyyed Qutb: Read the Seyyed Qutb Reader,

Week Eight and Eighth: Islam and Modernity: Rise of Fundamentalism; Rise of Wahabism in Saudi Arabia; Rise of Islamic Brotherhood (Ekhvan-al Muslemin) in Egypt; Read The War for Muslim Minds, 1-196, recommended reading Giles Kepel, Muslim Extremism in Egypt.

Week ten: Islam and Modernity: Prospects for the future; read the War for Muslim Minds, 197-295

 

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