What is Islam? What is tis essence, what are its divisions? How can the Muslim faith come to terms – how has it historically come to terms – with the world, society, Christianity, Judaism, Eurocentrism, colonialism, inimical views of race and gender, and with the refusal of the world to accept the sunnah (the avowedly perfect way of life revealed by the Prophet?). In this module we review the history of the planet’s second religion, concentrating on the quite different accommodations that have been reached in different ages between the ummah (the Muslim community) and the world beyond. Clearly we live in a generation when that relationship is now being reset. How can the world, how has the world, come to terms with Islam and ‘Islamicism’? What is the future of The Muslim faith and of its homeland in the Near East? This module will be useful to students thinking of studying history, theology, or the any of the social sciences.
Islam and the Near East
Module Leader:
Richard Major
Year/Term:
2015-2016 Summer
Level:
Immersion 1
Division:
Social Sciences
Credit:
8