Islam in the World

Catalog description

This course focuses on the ways in which Islamic belief and practices are taught, comprehended, debated and experienced in daily life in communities of Muslims across the contemporary world. We study the different forms such practices and beliefs take in the context of societies, cultures, histories and political economies of varying kinds, from the Middle East to Indonesia, from West Africa to India. We examine wide-ranging debates among Muslims about what is orthodox and what is unorthodox, what is permitted and what not, how children and adults should be taught to "be Muslim" and what an ethical Muslim life really is in our complex and conflict-ridden world. Reading materials centers on anthropologists' close study of communities and groups across the Muslim world today.