HNRS 230-001: Cross Cultural Perspectives
Women in Islamic
Literature
Spring 2006
MW
Enterprise Hall 278
Instructor: Maria M. Dakake
Email: mdakakem@gmu.edu Office: Robinson 456A
Phone:
703-993-3582 Office Hours: MW
Course Description: This course will explore the
presence of historical women in various genres of Islamic literature, as well
as the concept of the feminine within this literature. Through an examination
of scriptural, historical, mystical, legal and fictional texts by both men and
women from the Islamic tradition, we will address the issues of female
authority and authorship, as well as the interaction between real women and
symbolic, legal or literary views of womanhood in both medieval and modern
Islam.
Course Objectives: By the end of this course,
students should be familiar with the role and presence of women in Islamic
literature, and with the different positions taken by Muslim women authors and
authorities as they engage their religious tradition in the medieval and modern
periods of Islamic history. Through
close examination and discussion of the assigned texts, students should develop
strong critical reading skills and the ability to discern and compare the
different perspectives encountered in the reading. Through multiple writing assignments and a
final oral presentation, the students should hone their ability to present
clear, thoughtful analyses of various genres of writing.
Classroom Procedures:
This class meets on Mondays and Wednesdays. Attendance is mandatory. The class will be conducted in seminar
format, with the majority of class time devoted to the discussion of the
assigned readings. Participation in
classroom discussion forms a substantial portion of the student’s overall
grade, and every student is expected to come to class having read the assigned
materials and should be prepared to contribute thoughtfully to the overall
discussion. The graded assignments for
this class include six, 3 page (bi-weekly) essays on the assigned readings, a
final 8 page research paper (due May 10) and an in-class oral presentation of
the research paper in the last week of the semester. Separate hand-outs for each of these
assignments will be distributed in class.
Grade Evaluation: Required
Bi-weekly essays: 50% Webb,
Windows of Faith,
Research Paper 30% Ahmed, Women and Gender in Islam, 1992.
Class Participation: 20% Friedl, Women of Deh Koh, Penguin, 1999.
Rifaat, Distant View
of a Minaret, 1987.
Reserve
and E-reserve readings
Course Outline
Jan. 23, 25 Introduction
to Islam and Women _____________________
Ahmed, ch. 1-3
Jan. 30, Feb. 1 Women
in the Qur’an ________________________________
Stowasser,
“The Chapter of Eve” in Women in the Qur’an,
pp. 25-38
(E-reserve).
Barlas,
“The Family and Marriage” in Believing Women in Islam, pp. 167-192
(E-reserve).
Hand-out: Qur’anic
passages concerning women
Feb. 6*, 8 Women’s
Voices in the Early Islamic Community ________
Spellberg, “Political
Action and Public Example: `A’isha and the
Camel” in Women in Middle Eastern History, ch. 3 (Reserve).
***ESSAY ONE DUE FEB. 6
Feb. 13, 15 Women
in Medieval Islamic Literature __________________
Ghazzali, (selections) Marriage and Sexuality in Islam (E-reserve).
Lutfi, “Manners and Customs of Fourteenth-Century Cairene Women” in
Women in Middle Eastern History,
ch. 6 (Reserve)
Feb. 20*, 22 Woman
as Symbol in Islamic Literature _______________
(E-reserve).
Attar, “The Story of Shaykh
Sam`an” in Conference
of the Birds (E-reserve)
Excerpts from Sufi poetry (class hand-out).
***ESSAY TWO DUE FEB.
20.
Feb. 27, Mar. 1 Women and
Sufism ___________________________________
Reading: Sells, “Rabi`ah”
in Early Islamic Mysticism
(E-reserve).
Cornell, Early
Sufi Women (excerpts) (E-reserve)
Mar. 6, 8* Women
and Sufism ___________________________________
Mamluk Studies Review, v. 7, no. 1 (E-reserve).
Film: “A Door on the Sky (Bab al-sama’ maftuh)”
***ESSAY THREE DUE MAR.
8.
SPRING BREAK
Adang, “Women’s Access to
Public Space according to al-Muhalla bi-l-
Athar” in Writing the Feminine: Women in Arab Sources, ch. 5, pp.
75-94 (Reserve).
De la Puente, “Juridical Sources for the Study of
Women” in Writing the
Feminine: Women in Arab Sources, ch.
6, pp. 95-110 (Reserve).
Mar. 27, 29 Modern
Muslim Women and Islamic Law ______________
Apr. 3*, 5 Muslim
Women’s Rhetoric and Poetry_________________
Abu-Lughod, “Modesty and
the Poetry of Love,” from Veiled Sentiments:
Honor and Poetry in a Bedouin Society (E-reserve).
Kahf, Emails from Scheherazad (excerpts, hand-out)
***ESSAY FOUR DUE APR.
3.
Apr. 10, 12 Muslim
Women’s Storytelling ________________________
Friedl, pp. 1-11, ch. 1, 3, 6.
Apr. 17, 19 Muslim
Women’s Storytelling ________________________
Film: “Leila”
Apr. 24*, 26 Student
Presentations_______________________________
Film: “Leila”
Student presentations
***ESSAY FIVE DUE APR. 24.
May 1, 3 Student
Presentations_______________________________
Student presentations
FINAL PAPER DUE, MON., MAY 8, in instructor’s dept.
mailbox (Robinson B465)
*indicates a day on which an essay is due.