Honors 240-004: Reading the Past: Political Islam

Fall 2005 Dr. S. Bakhash

Class Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 3 – 4:15 Classroom: IN 209

Office Hours: Tuesdays 4:30 – 5:30 pm and by appointment: 207 East Building

Tel: (703) 993 2178 email: sbakhash@gmu.edu

The destruction of the twin towers at the World Trade Center in New York on 9/11, America's war in Afghanistan, in Iraq and against terrorism, and the difficult encounter of the Islamic world with modernity have focused considerable attention on what is often termed "political Islam" or "Islamic radicalism." This course is designed to help students place political Islam in an historical context. It examines the relationship of politics and religion in the Islamic world in the past; competing interpretations of politics in the Islamic world today; the organization and various uses of violence for political purposes; intellectual and political attempts at democratic reform in the Islamic world; and the different ways in which Western scholars and commentators have defined and understood political Islam. In examining these issues, we will read, discuss and analyze five major texts on Islamic radicalism.

Grades: I will ask you to write five short analytical papers in the course of the semester, based on the weekly readings. These papers will test, and hopefully sharpen, your ability to read carefully, to organize your ideas, and to write with clarity. There will also be a final exam. For the final exam, I will ask you to write two or three long essays examining issues we have discussed in the course of the semester. Grades will be determined as follows:

Short papers: 60 per cent

Final exam: 40 per cent

Classroom attendance is required. In determining your final grade I will also weigh in classroom attendance and participation.

Required Readings: Required texts for the course, available at the University Bookstore, are the following:

Bernard Lewis Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror

Milton Viorst In the Shadow of the Prophet

Jules Keppel The Trail of Political Islam

Olivier Roy The Failure of Political Islam

Noah Feldman After Jihad: America and the Struggle for Islamic Democracy

WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS

Week 1 (ending September 4)

Lewis: Crisis of Islam, Introduction and 1-63

Week 2 (ending September 11)

Lewis: Crisis of Islam, 64-169

Week 3 (ending September 18)

Keppel:, Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam, 1-60

First Paper due: Thurs., Sept. 15

Week 4 (ending September 25)

Keppel, Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam, 61-80, 106-150

Week 5 (ending October 2)

Keppel, Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam, 205-236, 276-298

Week 6 (ending October 9)

Keppel, Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam, 299-322, 342-376

Paper No. 2 due: Thurs., Oct. 6

Week 7 (ending October 16)

Viorst, In the Shadow of the Prophet, 1-77

Week 8 (ending October 23)

Viorst, In the Shadow of the Prophet, 141-173, 174-236

Week 9 (ending October 30)

Roy, The Failure of Political Islam, 1-34, including introduction

Week 10 (ending November 6)

Roy, The Failure of Political Islam, 35-106

Paper No. 3 due: Thus., Nov. 3

Week 11 (ending November 13)

Roy, The Failure of Political Islam, 106-146, 194-203

Week 12 (ending November 20)

Noah Feldman, After Jihad, 3-78

Paper No. 4 due: Thurs., Nov. 18

Week 13 (ending November 27)

Noah Feldman, After Jihad, 80-161

Week 14 (ending December 4)

Noah Feldman, After Jihad, 162-234

Paper No. 5: due Thurs., Dec. 1

Week 15 (ending December 11)

Review