the Arabs

Catalog description

This course is an introductory study of the Arabs, and examines how the Arabs developed from a geographically bound, largely nomadic, Semitic people to a global cultural force whose primary vehicles were religion and the Arabic language. Students taking this course will study the geography of the Arab world and the culture of the Arabs prior to the advent of Islam. The introduction of Islam on the Arabian Peninsula will then be examined, with an eye to understanding how the prophetic mission of the Islamic prophet Muhammad was influenced by, and impressed upon, Arab culture. The expansion of Islam via the early Arab conquests will help students gain a better understanding as to why several Muslim-majority countries self-identify as Arab despite a majority of their populations being overwhelmingly ethnically non-Arab, but also the ways in which the projection of early Arab cultural precepts via the religification of 7th century Arab culture impacted on the sociopolitical, economic, and religious development of the Muslim world up until, and into, the early 20th century