Seminar Topics.htm

Seminar Topics

Mehnaz M. Afridi

Images Of Islam: Dilemmas, Dialogue, and Diversity

For each rule inherited from Muslim law and Judged today to be inhuman or ill-adapted to our time because it is contrary to the rights of man or to the principles of freedom and equality, one should try to go back to its origins to find a flaw…This is not dishonest research, in the sense that one will not make the verse say the opposite of what it says, or introduce any doubt. He does not seek to understand the religion itself, but rather to establish in it the justification of the new norm, which he thinks is fairer, and which he wants to establish. Without being erroneous or subjective, this is a goal-directed research. _______Jamal ad-din Afghani

Questions and Thoughts to Ponder…

How is Abraham seen as a Muslim by Muslims? What does this imply for other faiths, and what does it mean to be the “first” Muslim?

What is the “test of faith” in Islam? How does it differ from the Jewish Akedah?

How is Abraham the progenitor of the two faiths? Does the idea of a “progenitor’ hold similar implications for both Judaism and Islam?

How do Muslims see their story differently from Jews? Is the story about Isaac or Ishmael?

Does Islam believe in privileged heritage through their Abraham ancestry?

What is the significance of the image of Hagar and Sarah in both traditions? How do you think about these two role models implicate Jewish or Muslim identity?

What different interpretations exist in the Muslim world today, and what can we infer from this, and how?

Do Modern Muslims focus upon Abraham as the first Muslim or is the seal of prophecy through prophet Mohammed the more significant aspect of being Muslim?

Women and Islam

What does the Qu’ran say about the status of women?

What does the Hadith (short narratives about Muhammed and his companions collected into written form in the three or four centuries after Muhammed died, 632), relate about Mohammed and his relationship with his wives, and women.

Does the status of women within Muslim communities change in regards to economy, education, and class?

Do Muslim women feel that the Qu’ran is unfair to them or the Islamic patriarchy?

Literalist Perspectives on the Status of Women:

Women are on a lower rung then men since they should be economically, and socially protected.

Women cannot practice Polygamy because they are bearers of children.

Women should be concealed from men’s desire, and be curtailed in public physically.

Women should be confined to the home as mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters.

Women should be married at puberty for the fear of premarital sex, and a lack of contractual Nikah (marriage).

Women should be tolerant of man’s desire for multiple wives.

What the Qu’ran and the Islamic tradition (Hadith) says about women:

The Qu’ran dedicates a Surah (Chapter 4) on Women Al-Nisa, which belongs to the Medina period. It was most probably written in the fourth period of the Hijrah (first revelation in 622). Although this Surah deals with passages on women, family laws, inheritance, marital relations, there are verses relating to Jews and Christians in their refusal of accepting Muhammed as a prophet. Throughout the Qu’ran one can find in many sections discussion of women, and men. I have included a document showing all the verses in the Qu’ran that have the word “women” in them by M. Shakir.

In the thousands of narratives written in the Hadith we find many accounts also presumably narrated by women, Mohammed’s wives especially Ai’sha who said to be his youngest, favorite but most vocal. So some of these laws or the path towards Islam (Shariah) are taken from the Qu’ran, Hadith, and tradition according to different geographical areas.

Excerpt from Qasim Amin in The Liberation of Women

“The Islamic legal system, the Shar’iah, stipulated the equality of women and men before any other legal system. Islam declared women’s freedom and emancipation, and granted women all human rights during a time when women occupied the lowest status in all societies. According to Islamic law, women are considered to possess the same legal capabilities in all civil cases pertaining to buying, donating, trusteeship, and disposal of goods, unhindered by requirements of permission from either their father or husband. These advantages have not yet been attained by some contemporary Western women, yet they demonstrate that respect for women and for their equality with men were basic to the principles of the liberal sha’riah.” (1893)

Hence, if women are allowed so much freedom and equality according to many scholars, why is there so much oppression towards women in many parts of the Muslim world?

The Value Of Human Life: Jewish and Muslim Dialogue

Mehnaz M. Afridi

Do not be people without minds of your own, saying that if others treat you well you will treat them well, and that if they do wrong you will do wrong. Rather, accustom yourselves to do good if people do good, and not to do wrong if they do evil.”

-----The Prophet Mohammed, Hadith (Tirmidh)

Questions & Thoughts:

What is the value of human life within Islamic Theology?

---Death

---Murder

---Suicide

---Sanctity of life

How does Modern Islam respond to Qu’ranic injunctions against murder?

What is Jihad? How do we understand this term?

Does Islam privilege Muslim life, if so, how?

Selections:

Al-Qur’an, translation Abdullah Yusuf Ali, (Karachi: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf Publishers, ** All Surahs and verses are noted within your texts.

Al-Qur’an, translation Mohammad Asad, (Gibraltar: Dar al-Andalus, 1980), p.6

3. Verses selected and translated with Mohammed Asad’s Qur’an by Mehnaz M.

Afridi p.7

Qabbani, Nizar Hawasmish ‘ala Daftar al-Naksah (Footnote to the Book of

Setback), in the Modern Poetry of the Arab World, London 1984, translated by

Abdullah Ul-Udhari

Antioch University Workshop

390

October 2005

Professor Mehnaz Mona Afridi

An Introduction to Islam: Empires, Modern Identities, and Contemporary Challenges.

This class is designed to introduce students to various histories and differences within Islam. We will look at specific countries and their evolving changes, and the impact of colonization. In addition, the students will focus on important challenges that the Islamic world has faced such as: colonization, women, and extremism. This short journey will exemplify some of the most important contemporary topics in the Islamic world today. I hope that through this course we can reconstruct certain narratives of the Muslim world but also our own perceptions of Muslims. This crucial course study will introduce a critical way of seeing cultures that are “other” and “unfamiliar” to us in the United States. We will attempt to read Muslim culture as a diverse tradition and analyze the many tumultuous events that have changed the many faces of Islam.

Objectives:

Survey a short history of Islam.

Study a specific country in Ahmed’s book.

Research and compare other monotheistic traditions

Define the impact of colonization on modern Muslim countries

Create sensitivity and diversity in understanding Islam.

Required Reading

Please read the following books by the day of the workshop and be prepared to discuss the two books.

“Islam Today: A short Introduction to the Muslim World.” Akbar Ahmed

(This is a short textbook with a simple and clear analysis of Islam providing examples of different countries and the Muslim heritage).

“A Border Passage” Leila Ahmed

(This is a personal memoir by an Egyptian Muslim woman who grew up in Egypt and the Western world).

Workshop Schedule:

9am –10am

Introduction to Islam: Religion and Early history

11am-12pm

Empires and differences: Pakistan, Turkey, and Iran

Differences between Shias and Sunnis

Lunch Break

1pm –Leila Ahmed’s Memoir: Identity and Women

3pm-4pm Documentary on Orientalism by Edward Said

4pm-5pm Final discussion and Reflections

Assignment: 6-page research paper on any of the following topics due on November 1^{st 2005:}

How does Orientalism impact our view of Islam today? Essay on Orientalism provided in the bibliography online.

What changes did Iran and Turkey go through from being empires and today a secular and theocratic state? Use articles on both countries provided in textbook.

^{What was Mohammed’s message? What caused the Shia and Sunni split?
Explain with references to Akbar Ahmed’s book.}

^{What is unique about Leila Ahmed’s life? How can you explain
post-colonial identity? ALTERNATIVELY, you may focus on women and Islam.}

^{All websites in the bibliography are well researched for discussion on
Islam, please DO NOT use any other sources but the two texts for the class
and the bibliography.}

^{Research: I would like you to research your particular topic with
outside sources provided and those that we will discuss this in class.
Your papers will be due on November 1st. Please attach all papers to my
email at mafridi@hotmail.com in MLA format.}

^{List of websites used for teaching and/or research on the Islamic world}

^{Websites on Islam with further links}^:

^{www.brandeis.edu/projects/fse/muslim/mus-web.html}

^{http://al-islam.com/arb/}

^{http://www.isim.nl/ (esp. good for Islam in Europe)}

^{http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/}

^{http://g.webring.com/hub?ring=islam (The Islamic WebRing)}

^{http://www.altafsir.com/ (Qur'an in Arabic & tafsir)}

^{http://www.alwaraq.com (Huge library of classical Islamic texts)}

^{http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/reference/searchhadith.html (Six hadith
collections)}

^{http://saaid.net/book/ (Classical & contemporary Arabic texts)}

^{Useful for classes:}

^{http://www.oriold.unizh.ch/static/hegira.html}

^{http://members.tripod.com/~india_resource/}

^{http://www.noi.org/}

^{http://zaituna.org}

^{http://www.nmhschool.org/tthornton/islamhome.htm (click on
<syllabus> for useful links)}

^{http://www.ismaili.net/html/ (I use this one for links to ginans)}

^{http://www.wluml.org/english/index.shtml}

^{http://www.militantislammonitor.org/ (for the "militantly
conservative" viewpoint)}

^{http://www.mafhoum.com/phpmedia/mediaFrameMain.php (fairly
comprehensive smorgasbord of Arab media links)}

^{www.Islamicity.com}

^www.CAIR.org

^{www.ArchNet.org (for Islamicarchitecture)}

^{www.Saudiaramcoworld.com}

^{www.superliminal.com (Islamic Art and Food)}

^{Calendar Date Converters:}

^{http://www.rabiah.com/convert/convert.php3}

^{http://www.oriold.unizh.ch/static/hegira.html}

^{Islamic Philosophy:}

^{http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ip/rep.htm}

^{Qalandar for Interfaith Relations in South Asia}

^{http://www.islaminterfaith.org/index.htm}

^{For Iraq & Middle East conflicts, alternative news sources}^:

^{Juan Cole's blog--www.juancole.com}

^{Joshua Landis blog (Syria Comment)}

^{www.antiwar.com}

^{www.counterpunch.org}

^www.zmag.org

^{www.democracynow.org}

^{www.truthout.com}

^{www.amazon.com}

^{http://www.beliefnet.com/index.html?rnd=83}

^{http://www.princeton.edu./~humcomp/alkhaz.html}

^{Taffy Bodman collection of films at UNC:}

^{http://www.lib.unc.edu/house/mrc/bodman/index.html}

^{www.pmuna.org (the Progressive Muslim Union of North America)}

^{www.muslimwakeup.com (Progressive Islam e-zine: opinion, essays, and
fiction)}

^{www.altmuslim.com} ^{(Essays from moderate, reformist, and progressive
perspectives)}

^{http://www.insaan.org/index.php?title=Main_Page (Progressive Muslim
Union Human Rights abuses committed by Muslims against other Muslims and
non-Muslims documentation site)}

^{http://www.alazharonline.org/ (Searchable manuscript database of the
al-Azhar library in Cairo)}

^{www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Spa/7220/arabic.html (miscellaneous books and
links)}

^{www.kanoonline.com (a wide variety of items and links)}

^{www.ias.org (Int. Assoc of Sufism)}

^{http://www.studentsfriend.com/aids/curraids/maps/muslim.pdf}

^{http://www.bmf.org/contact.html (Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship)}

^{www.islamic-awareness.org (many sub-sites)}

^{www.fordham.edu/halsall/islam (good general material)}

^{www.world.std.com/~habib/sufi.html (excellent list of links on Sufi
material)}

^{www.islam.org.au/articles (lots of generally very conservative stuff,
incl. critique of Sufism)}

^{www.islamic-rf.org (just found, haven’t really checked it out)}

^{www.alif-india.com (includes some good calendar art images)}

^{http://www.antarakita.net/ (great resource for Indonesian studies that
includes articles, book reviews, and a directory contact information for
scholars in the field)}

^{http://www.kitlv.nl/ (For Southeast Asia in particular, one really good
resource is the}

^{Dutch Royal Institute for Linguistics and Anthropology (KITLV)}

^{Newspapers (compiled from responses):}

^{BBC, NYTimes, Nation, Washington Post, Independent, LA Times, Al
Jazeera ((Arabic & English)) Al Ahram Weekly. Haaretz, Daily Star
(Beirut), Hayat (Arabic & English); Radikal (Turkish paper), Frontier
Post (most reliable Pak paper), Le Monde}

^{News analysis:}

^{www.cursor.org (for good analysis)}

^{www.salon.com}

^{robert-fisk.com}

^Listserves:

^IslamAAR

^CAIR

^{www.islamonline.net}

^{www.brandeis.edu/projects/fse/muslim/mus-index.html} ^{(Muslim sexual
ethics)}

^{http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/arabic/} ^{(Good for research purposes;
also contains some nice primary documents)}

^{http://virtualreligion.net/vri/islam.html}

^{http://www.academicinfo.net/Islam.html#meta} ^{(The two noted above
serve as foundational sources for students, and for course preparation)}

^{http://www.library.ex.ac.uk/internet/arabic.html#Spec4} ^{(Excellent
site, contains just about everything mentioned above and more, including http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/islam/islamsbook.html,
which holds a number of primary documents good for undergraduate courses.)}

^{http://www.luthersem.edu/islam_info/link_index.htm#Quran} ^{(Qur’an
& Sunna)}

^{Some more websites used for teaching:}

^{http://www.jannah.com/learn/prayer.html}

^{http://www.princeton.edu/~humcomp/vhajj.html}

^{http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/world_maps/muslim_distribution.jpg}

^{http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/caliphate/abuBakr.html}

^{http://eon.law.harvard.edu/islamic/resources.html}

^{http://www.jamaat.org/islam/WomanIslam.html}

^{http://ncwdi.igc.org/html/Hassan.htm (Riffat Hassan article on Eve)}

^{http://www.iad.org/books/GEI.html}

^{Mostly on contemporary Islamic culture & Islam in US/Canada:}

^{http://www.nativedeen.com/index.htm}

^{http://www.fesfestival.com}

^{http://www.universes-in-universe.de/islam/eng/index.html}

^{http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com}

New Jersey Scholars Program-2005

Jerusalem and the Middle East

Historical Crossroads, Religious Roots,

Contemporary Perspectives

Mehnaz M. Afridi Office in History building

Welcome to the summer course on Jerusalem and the Middle East: Historical Crossroads this summer! The content on the section on Literature will be based on specific themes centered on Identity. We will explore themes such as: political identity, religious identity, gender identity, and your own identity in relation to these themes. This is a fun course but requires rigorous thinking and writing at a level that is both challenging and transforming. So, let’s take our journey together…

Assignments:

Research Paper.

Poem to be read at the arts festival with a supplementary group wedding Pakistani dance, we will rehearse this together. Due July 25^{th
by 1:30pm}

A 4 page memoir on your on identity using the literary material provided in this class. DUE on July 18th at my office by 5pm

A reflection paper at the end of the field trip about your own expressions of how art, history, and religion transforms identity. We will discuss this throughout class. Due July 19th at my office by 5pm

Policies:

Attendance is mandatory.

Participation will count as part your final evaluation.

Meeting all deadlines is also part of the evaluation.

Evaluation:

Research paper

2-3 page responses on reading every week (informal)

Poem

Dance participation

Discussion

Presentation of material in class discussions

Reading Schedule:

June 27th-July 2nd

Class 1:

Read: Amin Maalouf In The Name Of Identity: Violence and the Need to Belong

Assignment: 2 page reflection paper on his main points about identity and on how his book made you think differently about your identity.

Lecture 1: “Crossing Across Literature(s): Race, Nation, Religion, and “me”

July 4-9th

Class 2:

Read: Naguib Mahfouz Journey of Ibn Fattouma & Edmond Jabes The Book Of Questions

Assignment: 3-page reflection paper on comparing the two authors in discussing the themes of exile, god, place, and the nation.

Lecture 2: “Remembering Egypt: Naguib Mahfouz’s Search”

July 11-13

Read: Hand outs will be given on Monday on poems and the following in Yehuda Amichai: pages:

p. 1-8, p.87-126, p.138-142, p.168-170, p.182

Assignment: Rough draft of poem for the arts festival.

Lecture: “Exile, home, and Identity: Palestinian and Israeli Imagination”

HAND IN INTER-DISCIPLINARY FINAL PAPER (IN QUESTION FORMAT) BEFORE START OF LECTURE!!!!

July 18-23rd

Read: Slavenka Drajulic S: A Novel About The Balkans & Leila Ahmed’s A Border Passage REMEMBER TO START READING AHEAD!!!

Assignment: Write a 2-page reflection on women and identity. You may also reflect upon the idea of war and the aftermath on identities.

Lecture: “Women and Literature: Loss, Death, Birth, and Meaning.”

July 25th-29th

Read: Selected selections from Rumi and handouts.

Assignment: Hand in finished poem.

Lecture: “Islam and the Others: Expressions of Sufis, Sunnis, and Shiites”

Practice dance outside of class.

Your Research papers are due Wednesday July 27th at 9:00am at the Ambrecht Room.

I look forward to working with all of you!

Professor Afridi