Syllabus
Islam: Civilization and Institutions (IMES 104a)
Brandies University (Lown 111: X-2967)
Course Requirements:
1. Attendance in Lectures (Mondays and Wednesdays) and Participation in Discussions
(Thursdays) – required readings and themes for discussion to be announced in class.
2. Take-home Exam I (due October 22, 1998).
3. Take-home Exam II (due December 7th, 1998).
4. Final Examination.
List of Texts (in alphabetical order): Copies on reserve in the Main Library
Required:
Goldschmidt, Arthur, A Concise History of the Middle East, 1997.
Kelly, Marjorie (ed.), Islam: The Religious and Political Life of a World Community, 1984.
Kennedy, Hugh, The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphate, 1985.
Lewis, Bernard, From the Prophet Muhammad to the Capture of Constantinople, II:
Religion and Society, 1987.
Recommended:
Esposito, John, Islam: The Straight Path, 1998.
Holt, P. M., Lambton, Ann, and Lewis, Bernard (eds.), The Cambridge History of Islam,
1B: The Central Islamic Lands Since 1918; 2B: Islamic Society and Civilization, 1970.
Lewis, Bernard, From the Prophet Muhammad to the Capture of Constantinople, I, 1987.
Mottahedeh, Roy, The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran, 1985.
Rahman, Fazlur, Islam, 2nd ed., 1979.
Rosenthal, Franz, The Classical Heritage in Islam, 1957.
Schimmel, Annemarie, Islam, 1992.
IMES 104a
Weekly Topics
Week 1: Introduction
9/9: Islam: Civilization and Institutions
9/10: Discussion
Week 2: Prophet Muhammad and His Times
9/14: Readings: Kelly, 1-49; Goldschmidt, 1-46 [Recommended: Kennedy, 1-49; Schimmel, Islam, 7-17].
Week 3: The Patriarchal and Umayyad Caliphate
9/21: Readings: Kelly, 55-79; Goldschmidt, 47-69 [Recommended: Kennedy, 50-123; Lewis, II, 1-32, 212-224]
Week 4: The Development of Islamic Law
9/28: Readings: Kelly, 226-242; Goldschmidt, 95-101 [Recommended: Lewis, 33-68; Goldziher, Introduction to Islamic Theology and Law, 1-66].
Week 5: The Early and Middle Abbasid Caliphate
10/5: Readings: Kelly, 79-84; Goldschmidt, 69-76 [Recommended: Kennedy, 124-211; Lewis, II, 69-105].
Week 6: Economy, Society and Institutions
10/12: Readings: The Cambridge History of Islam, II, 469-538; Goldschmidt, 101-112 [Recommended: Lewis, 106-172, 224-256; Rahman, Islam, 181-192].
Week 7: The Late Abbasid Caliphate
10/19: Readings: Kelly, 84-111; Goldschmidt, 77-93 [Recommended: Kennedy, 212-end).
Week 8: Islamic Scholarship
10/26: Readings: The Cambridge History of Islam, II, 741-823 [Recommended: Lewis, II, 173-192, 261-end; Rosenthal, The Classical Heritage in Islam, 1-74].
Week 9: Later Islamic Empires
11/2: Kelly, 113-136; Goldscmidt, 113-138 [Recommended: Inalcik, The Ottoman Empire, 55-118].
Week 10: The Middle East and the West
11/9: Kelly, 137-156; Goldschmidt, 139-195 [Recommended: Lewis, The Middle East and the West].
Week 11: Islamic Revival and Reform
11/16: Kelly, 157-172; Rahman, "Islamic Modernism: Its Scope, Methods and Alternatives," International Journal of Middle East Studies," I (1970), 230-267 [Recommended: The Cambridge History of Islam, 2B, 632-656].
Weeks 12: Islam, Nationalism and Revolution
11/23: Readings: Kelly, 173-225; Goldschmidt, 197-291 [Recommended: Mottahedeh, The Mantle of the Prophet]
Week 13: Islam Today
11/30: Readings: Kelly, 243-end; Goldschmidt, 293-end [Recommended: Esposito, Islam: The Straight Path, 159-222; Schimmel, Islam, 127-144].
Week 14: Conclusion
12/7: Civilizations and Institutions: clash or continuity.
Maps
(From: The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Islamic World, Edited by Francis Robinson, Cambridge University Press, 1996.)
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