Islam and Politics

Catalog description

Popular Western perceptions of Islam has often identified the religion with threatening images of theocracy and terrorism. The Iranian revolution of 1979, the rise of Islamic radicalism from West Africa to Southeast Asia, as well as the emergence of the short-lived ISIS "caliphate" have contributed to this impression. While the study of Islam has devoted considerable attention to radical interpretations of the religion, in historical terms, Islam has consisted of varied interpretations, from those that can be described as theocratic to those that voice concerns parallel to Western liberalism. Among the concerns of these voices were issues related to political modernity and the nation-state from theocracy, democracy, guarantees of the rights of women and non-Muslims in Islamic countries, freedom of thought, and belief in the potential for human progress. This course introduces students to the thoughts of late Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries Muslim intellectuals, leaders, and activists representing diverse intellectual and ideological spectrums, and their engagement with religion and political modernity in the Muslim World. We will be reading and discussing the works of these authors. Readings include, but not limited to, the works of al-Tahtawi, Abduh, Afghani, Rashid Ridha, Ali Abd al-Raziq, Hasan al-Banna, Soekarno, Mahmud Taleqani, Natsir, Khomeini, Muhammad Iqbal, Rachid Ghannouchi, Hasan Turabi, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Ali Shari'ati, Abdullahi Ahmed al-Na'im, Nurcholis Madjid, Fazlur Rahman, Sayyid Qotb, Osama bin Laden, Amina Wadud. By the end of the course, students will be familiar with the thoughts of the most influential makers of modern Islam.