RELG 358 H10 25615

Humanities, HistoryCiv, NotCore

Intensive study of the Qur'an and Hadith: its major themes and literary quality, with attention to a range of classical and contemporary discourses about the Qur'an, both Islamic and Western.

Notes:

In this course we engage intensively with the main scriptural sources in Islam: the Qur’an and the Prophetic Hadith (sayings and anecdotes ascribed to the Prophet Muhammad), both of which are widely misunderstood and misrepresented in modern Western debates about Islam and Muslims. We examine the origins of the Qur’an and its relationship to other Abrahamic scriptures; major themes of the Qur’an; the processes through which it was composed and recorded; Qur’anic interpretation from Sunni, Shi’i, Sufi, and non-Muslim points of view; ritual and magical uses of the Qur’an; and reflections of the Qur’an in the arts and popular culture of Islam historically and in the present. With regard to Hadith, we explore the history of how the sayings of the Prophet were recorded and transmitted, the culture of learning that grew up around the study of Hadith, the major compilations of Hadith, their central importance in Islamic law and theology, and their role in the collective memory of the Prophet in Muslim popular culture. Assignments include leading classroom discussions, short weekly response papers, and a 10-12 page final research paper.