Courses

Over the two-year programme, students must take a total of 23 courses, including 17 core and 6 elective courses. Elective courses on offer vary from year to year. For more information about the structure of the MA programme, please click here. Courses are grouped into five separate components:

• Introduction to the Humanities and Social Sciences
• Muslim Heritages as Part of World Cultures
• Contemporary Muslim Contexts
• Methodologies
• Languages

In addition to classroom based courses, the MA in Muslim Cultures contains other components, including a Language Immersion Programme and, where required, fieldwork which contributes to a final dissertation.

Introduction to the Humanities and Social Sciences

Courses introduce the students to theories of historiography, epistemology, anthropology, sociology, cultural studies and philosophy of language that are relevant for an understanding of current debates in the humanities and social sciences. Emphasis will be laid on theories that enable students to approach themes of other components, particularly those on issues relevant to past and present Muslim cultures, in an independent, critical and creative manner.

Muslim Heritages as Part of World Cultures

Courses will introduce students to the idea that Muslim heritages are an integral part of world cultures and their histories. Selected aspects of world cultures that are intimately related to the formation of Muslim religious thought and practices, Muslim scholarship and Muslim political discourses and experiences will be studied.

Contemporary Muslim Contexts

Courses introduce students to major areas of relevance to present Muslim cultures. The choice of courses is guided by an attempt to address substantial domains of social, cultural, political and economic studies.

Methodologies

Methodology courses are an integral part of the MA and will provide students with important research skills in order that they may understand and learn methods of analysing texts, written or otherwise (i.e. painting, jewellery, artifacts, architecture, music, etc), producing and interpreting empirical data as well as evaluating and choosing between alternative academic approaches.

Languages

This component seeks to familiarise students with Arabic or, in the case of Arabic-speaking students, another language spoken by Muslims (Farsi, Urdu, Malay, Swahili or Turkish). This emphasis on languages will enable students to familiarise themselves with foundational sources such as the Qur’an, collections of hadith and works on exegesis, theology, law, philosophy and science. It is also a window to other material related to Muslim cultures in various parts of the world.

• Classical Arabic I-III or other Language I-III
• Classical Arabic IV-VI or other Language IV-VI

Language Immersion Programme

As part of their language training, during the summer of their first year, students travel to a relevant country to undertake a four-week intensive language course and complete a language-based assignment.

This important feature of the MA exposes students to cultures, communities and ways of life different from their own. It will help them experience language in its social and lived dimensions while furthering their understanding of diversity and pluralism.

In July 2007 the students learning Arabic went to Tunisia and the students learning Farsi went to Iran. To read more about the 2007 language immersion programme please click here.

CORE COURSES

The Relevance of the Humanities and Social Sciences

Since the second half of the nineteenth century, methods and constructs of social sciences and the humanities have been used increasingly to describe, analyse, compare and historicise what can be termed as the religious-cultural experience of humankind. This course will introduce students to a selection of influential theories that have served as means to study cultures in general and Muslim cultures in particular. It will provide the broad introduction to concepts and debates, some of which will then be deepened in the later courses.

Writing in the Humanities

The course aims to raise students’ awareness of academic writing conventions and styles. Students are given a thorough grounding in the writing skills relevant to postgraduate research in the field of the humanities. Through analysis of the rhetorical organisation of an academic essay, students will develop an awareness of the meaning of ‘critical discourse’ as required in a university essay or dissertation. Students will review and practise integrating sources using the techniques of quoting, paraphrasing and summarising. Students will be asked to analyse and practise key components of an academic essay such as the thesis statement, the topic sentence, refutation, argument and counter-argument and referencing.

Sacred Across Cultures

This course introduces students to a variety of sacred scriptures, religions and civilisations. It examines the notion of sacred scriptures in written and oral form, using the Qur’an, the Bible, and the Vedas as examples. It examines the evolution of sacred scripture over time and how people reacted to them. It examines how a given scripture becomes a structured book and final text, and how later works view the history of a given sacred text.

Poetics: Language, Meaning and Interpretation

The course revolves around questions such as: What is the nature of meaning? (i.e., what exactly is a meaning?) What do we do with language? How does language relate to the mind, both of the speaker and the interpreter? Finally, how does language relate to the world? In the 1930s, philosophy took a linguistic turn and in the later twentieth century another linguistic turn took place in the social and human sciences. The key element of these turns is the recognition of the centrality of language in the constitution of human perception, organisation of social relations and academic disciplines. The course will critically evaluate the impact of these developments on the understanding of the relationship between language and thought, nature of religious discourse, the creation of meaning and the role of culture in generating interpretations.

Theories of Ethics and Politics

This course examines notions of religion, morality and law, processes of the formation of legal traditions and the internal and external forces shaping legal and ethical traditions.

Introduction to General Muslim History

This class orients students to the history of Muslim Civilisations. It familiarizes students with key developments, patterns, and institutions in the political, social, and cultural history of Muslims, beginning prior to the rise of Islam and running through the eighteenth century.

History of Qur’an in Classical and Contemporary Scholarship

The course addresses key questions related to the history of the Qur’anic text. Topics include a brief introduction to Arabian creeds, the Makkan milieu and the personality of Muhammad, the problematic of revelation and historical interaction, the processes of writing down the sacred oral word, issues of collection and order in the Qur’an, the Qur’an as a constructed text, and the history of the Qur’an in later writings by contemporary scholars. Students will be exposed through these topics to issues dealing with the major political and societal matters that shaped Muslim perceptions of the Qur’anic text.

Ancient World Cultures and Mythologies

The course introduces ancient Near Eastern, Mediterranean and South Asian cultures as an overview of political history, combined with a selection of topics from cultural and social history. It includes a critical debate of the current state of academic research and the major changes that academic research of these cultures has undergone in the last decades. The lecture course is supplemented by two seminars. The first seminar focuses on the intellectual history in major parts of the ancient world and the history of ancient religions. The second seminar discusses the archaeology of ancient cultures and its methodologies. Its special focus will be on the architecture of the city and temple. The second part the course teaches some of the Near Eastern founding myths. It addresses three related but different corpuses: Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Western Semitic myths.

Formation of Muslim Thought: Theology & Law

This course examines the evolution of intellectual life from the beginning of the fourth century to the tenth century Hijra. It poses for critical exploration two main questions: a) How has Muslim theology emerged and then developed into a variety of schools, providing modes of thinking?; and b) How did Muslim law split into several schools and what role did each school play in its context? At the end of the course, students are requested to reflect on the relationship between theology and law, theology, law and ethics and theology and law as two processes in interpreting Qur’an and Hadith.

Renaissance, Enlightenment and the Advent of Modernity

The course teaches three consecutive phases of European history. It will survey political, economic, social, commercial, military and intellectual history. It will discuss recent major shifts in academic approaches to these different kinds of history and question their impact for the study of Muslim cultures within Europe and outside its borders. It will analyse the importance that particular historical discourses had, and have, for the formation of European identity and the definition of the ‘Other’. It will challenge contemporary historiography of Europe in these three periods by questioning the definition of what constituted Europe and who was a European power. It will promote a new approach to the history of Muslims in Europe and Muslim relationships with Europe.

Themes in Muslim Arts and Architecture, 13th to 18th century

The course deepens students’ knowledge in the fields of art and architecture, strengthens methods of analytical research and explores the relevance of the field of museology and heritage management today. The first part of the Course will introduce students to the development of architecture in the Muslim world, focusing on the roots of early architectural forms and of early-modern and modern developments; the second part will be devoted to methodological approaches and the application of these to Muslim contexts. How can we (re-)locate art objects in their cultural relevance and how can we use them as a source of inquiry in historical research? We will explore further concepts and the players who are deciding and managing the material heritage of the Muslim world (museums, heritage management and the art market).

Post-modern Theories

From its origins in fields such as architecture and fine arts, by the 1980s post-modernism had entered into a wide range of disciplines influencing major theoretical debates and orientations. Despite recent claims about its waning influence, the post-modern paradigm continues to be a formidable area of scholarly engagement. The course aims to help students become literate in the debates, discourses and terminology of post-modern academic approaches as well as understand the genesis, as well as major positions within post-modern theories. It will critically enquire into the usefulness and impact of post-modernism in approaching fields such as religious studies, history and literature.

Development Challenges

The objective of this course is twofold - firstly, to introduce students to the field of development studies including its relevant theories; and secondly, to identify the development challenges in diverse Muslim societies including, for example, the condition of women, poverty, human rights, ecological issues, labour and migration. Development in Muslim contexts will be studied with reference to broader geo-political issues. The course will explore various contending theories of underdevelopment, the relationship between culture and development, and the impact of globalisation.

Trends in Modern & Contemporary Literature

The course seeks to examine the major trends in contemporary literature in selected significant languages in Muslim contexts. Poetry in Persian, Urdu and Bengali as well as novels by Muslims in English will, for instance, represent case studies through which literary theories will be critically introduced. It is expected that such a variety of literary genres will help students understand the role that literature plays in their respective societies, the visions it holds and the diversity of such visions.

Material Culture as a Source of Enquiry

This course offers a method of enquiry, exploration and research through non-written sources, pertaining to Muslim cultures, past and present. Material sources such as visual art forms, monuments and historical buildings are examined in this perspective. The course has two components: theoretical/methodological, which relates to the study of material cultures in general; and case studies of the main forms of material cultures in selected Muslim contexts both in historical and contemporary periods. These case studies may include carpet design, painting, miniatures, dress, pottery, music, etc. It is planned that students will become familiar with archaeological material as well. Visits to museums are planned to introduce the students to the collections of Muslim material art forms.

Research Methodology & Dissertation Planning

The course seeks to provide students with appropriate tools to carry out their respective research projects. An introduction to both qualitative and quantitative methods of enquiry along with the basic tools needed to develop and undertake research projects aims to enable the students meet high academic and research standards.

Communication and Organisation Skills Workshop

During this component, students will undertake a variety of activities to improve their communication and organisation skills. Such skills are critical for all graduates, no matter what field they enter into post-graduation. The workshop will focus on developing practical skills and will support the personal development of course participants. For more information about the 2007 Communication and Organisation Skills Workshop, please click here.

Dissertation and Fieldwork

During the summer term of their second year, students must complete a dissertation to be eligible for graduation. Students develop a dissertation proposal, including as necessary a literature review and consideration of methodology and a clear statement of topic and approach. The proposal is developed in consultation with AKU-ISMC faculty. If required, students undertake a field project focusing on their area of interest which constitutes the research component of the dissertation. The dissertation should be 15,000 words in length, and be in keeping with academic norms for graduate level courses.

ELECTIVE COURSES

The Ideas of Beauty, Good and Truth Across Cultures

The course proposes to explore the ideas of Good, Beauty and Truth in different philosophical visions grounded in diverse cultures, past and present. These ideas will be studied in a dialectical relationship to the social and material conditions, thus providing opportunities to explore the relationship between ideas and social forces. The course is meant to provide the students with a critical reflection on these perceptions, enabling them to pose questions about these ideas in a Muslim context where the fields of theology, fiqh and ethics, in particular, play a prominent role in shaping them.

Approaches to the Study of Religion

This course is designed to provide students with the theoretical tools with which to study the multi-faceted phenomenon of religion. The course will introduce and critique various approaches to the subject – such as psychological, sociological and phenomenological perspectives – and consider a range of examples.

Knowledge Construction

This course is designed to help students to look at their own epistemic sense of knowledge construction as well as grasp the major theoretical approaches that are used when looking at the field of knowledge in contemporary societies. A familiarity with theoretical argument, discourse, and writing in the humanities and social sciences will provide the foundation for interactive debate in this course.

Religion, Law & Society in Muslim Contexts

Contrary to the expectations outlined in social science theories, particularly in the theories of secularisation and modernisation, in many societies, including Muslim societies, religion has not receded from the public sphere and in some situations has even reasserted itself, even in advanced secular societies. This has led to some interesting debates about future interactions between religion, law and society; especially in Muslim contexts. This course will address these debates by first examining the historical development of Muslim legal traditions, and the particular way in which religion, law and society have interacted in this context. In addition, by considering issues generically as well as comparatively (with some examination of other legal orders), the course will raise issues about the repercussions and future directions that stem from the way that religion, law and society have interacted in Muslim history. In this light, the course will discuss the relationship between state, civil society and religious and legal institutions. Questions of the compatibility of Muslim traditions to the theory and practice of democracy, human rights and civil society and rule of law will be critically approached to bring out the underlying assumptions about religion and secular world-views.

Introduction to Scriptural Traditions

Drawing upon scholarship from comparative study and history of religions, this course will provide students with an overview of various scriptural traditions across the world, both mono and polytheistic. The idea of scripture, its dialectical relationship with community, its appropriation in doctrinal, liturgical as well as artistic and political aspects, the continued exegetical exercise, debates about epistemic authority as well as current trends in inter-faith dialogue will form the core areas of investigation.

Paths in Sufism – Past and Present

This course tackles the question of Sufism in the heritage of Muslims and in contemporary situations. It starts by examining the concepts used by scholars, historians, ethnographers, anthropologists and theologians. It will examine “Sufism” and “Mysticism”, in particular, analysing scholarly traditions where the concepts emerged. Literature on Sufi experiences and visions from the early period at the time of Rabi'a al-’Adawia until today will be critically surveyed. Paths of Sufis in what are today Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, Andalusia and the Indian Sub-Continent, for instance, are stressed and comparatively presented to reflect on the socio-religious role of Sufism in these regions. In this context, theories and concepts from the psychology of religion and the social-psychology will be employed. In addition to the Sufi genres the students will deal with the diversity of reported mystical visions and their politico-religious implications. Students will be requested to pay due attention to tensions between the Sufi and Muhaddith and between faqih (jurist) and mutakallim (theologian) in Muslim contexts.

Sira in Classical and Contemporary Muslim Scholarship

This course examines accounts of the Prophet Muhammad with an eye toward the historical contexts of their production, transmission, and circulation. Readings include primary sources and scholarship in historiography, literary theory, and Islamic Studies.

Rethinking the “the Golden Age” and “Decline” in Muslim Cultures

The notion of a “Golden Age” of Islam is one which has run through both Islamic history and Western approaches to Islam. It is apparent that the idea of a “Golden Age”, stretching roughly from the age of the Prophet through the Abbasid period, is to a great extent a constructed phenomenon which has been at least partially adopted from the West. During this course, students will discuss the major social and cultural features of this period, including the argument that the “Golden Age” concept is at least partially of European origin. Students will explore the major changes in society and culture as this period proceeds, using Ibn Khaldun’s concepts of badawah and ‘umran as well as examine modern ideas of the “Golden Age” through the works of Muhammad ‘Abduh, Hassan Hanafi, Sayyid Qutb and Adonis. By closely examining texts from this period, students will reflect on the different cultural concerns which evolved throughout this era. Finally, students will briefly look at wider anthropological and historical approaches to the concept of a “Golden Age”.

Muslim Reformers in India in the 18th & 19th centuries

This course aims to introduce students to major themes in modern Muslim thought and key works that represent Muslim religious and political discourse in modern South Asia. Implicit in this course will be a critique of the tendency to relegate South Asia to the peripheries of the Muslim world. It will be stressed that instead of viewing themselves as mere recipients of Islamic influences, Muslim intellectuals in South Asia believed that they were uniquely placed to shape an Islamic response to the decline of the Muslim world and that they were more productive in employing print technology to publish tracts on Islam than Muslims elsewhere. Through the works of figures such as Shah Waliullah, Sayyid Ahmad Khan, Shibli Numani, Muhammad Iqbal, Maulana Hussain Ahmad Madani, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Abu A’la Maududi and Fazl ur Rahman, the course will introduce students to the richness of Muslim religious and political discourse in South Asia. An important part of the course will be devoted to examining intra-Islamic debates over the adaptability of Islam with modern/western political ideas and institutions.

Muslim Reformers in Egypt and Tunisia in the 19th century

This course seeks to introduce students to the intellectual, political and socio-religious life in Tunisia and Egypt in the 19th century. It will provide a comparative approach to the study of Muslim reformism in the two countries. Primary works by Muslim thinkers such as Muh Bayram V, Khayr al-Din and Ibn Abi-al-Diyaf from Tunisia and Afghani, Abduh or Rashid Rida from Egypt will be explored so that students are exposed to the critical perspectives proposed by Muslim reformers in the light of their perception of the Modern West.

Minorities in Muslim Contexts

The course seeks to depict the lives of non-Muslims such as Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians in Muslim societies of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The presence of non-Muslims will be approached through three perspectives: a) from the perspective of Muslim legal tradition - here the “ahkam ahl al-Dhimma” material is very relevant; b) from the perspective of the non-Muslims - the Diyarat (Convents) literature provides a different image of non-Muslims amongst Muslims; and, c) from the perspectives of the travellers – Muslims and non-Muslims. The course reflects on the socio-religious and political life of minorities in Muslim milieus. The dilemma facing non-Muslims used to come from the attitude of the ‘alim, either faqih or theologian, towards the non-Muslim minorities. The students will be invited to reflect on these perspectives in context.

Muslims in Western Contexts

This course will explore the recent history of Muslims in the West within the perspective of historical links between Muslim and Christian cultural spheres. The history of migration of Muslims to the West, strategies of adaptation, institutional building, co-operative as well as critical interactions within broader Western contexts, and inter-generational changes in outlooks, perception of heritage and citizenship rights will be explored. The question of the formation of identity in relation to the ‘other’ with reference to Islam and the West – categories which themselves need reconsideration – will form a substantial part of the course. The relevance of these issues to questions of modernity, secularism, citizenship and communal right will be discussed.

Muslims in South East Asia Today

Information about this course is currently not available.

Traditions and Change in Sub-Saharan Africa

The aim of this course is to explore the place and status of ‘tradition’ in Sub-Saharan Africa and its relationship to change, answering – among others – such questions as: does a ‘traditional Muslim society’ resist change? If so, why? How does such a society incorporate change? The answer requires not only an understanding of the role of tradition in such societies and communities, but also its links to terms such as ‘culture’, ‘customs’ and ‘practice’. The course will also discuss the role of tradition vis-à-vis authority, beliefs, rituals and institutions within broader historical contexts of social and political movements and ideas that emerged from pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial encounters. Finally, effects of globalisation on ‘traditional values’ will also be considered. By the end of the course, students should be able to understand tradition not as a total agency of rigidity, but also as a phenomenon that, at times, engenders change itself.