Spring 2010

ISL 340 • CLASSICAL ISLAMIC STUDIES-W

Course Description

This writing-intensive, upper-division course will provide an overview of the core religious disciplines of classical Islam, as well as a foundation in the methodologies of each discipline for those students interested in further study of any one of them. In this course, we will focus on the following four religious disciplines: Qur'anic exegesis ("tafsir"); critique of the Prophetic reports ("hadith"); theology ("kalam"); and law ("fiqh"). Readings will be in both secondary and primary texts (all in translation). Writing components will include short weekly essays and a final project. This course will assume a basic knowledge of Islam, such as is provided by the Introduction to Islam course.

Grading Policy

Attendance 14% Class participation 14% 6 response papers 12% each

Texts

An Introduction to the Sciences of the Qur'an Hadith Literature: Its Origin, Development and Special Features The Cambridge Companion to Classical Islamic Theology A History of Islamic Legal Theories

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