Use this guide to choose topics for your Reading Responses and possibly also for your Term Essay. Use the History of the Middle East Database for basic facts and outlines of events and movements. Some of the more specific topics below are linked to items on the database. Many links to related topics can be found at Models of Islamic Revivalism. The World Factbook (CIA) can be extremely useful. See also Benchmarks in Islamic History , The Political and Religious Landscape of the Middle East at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century, History by Region or State, History According to Chronology, Overview of Islam, and Glossary of Islamic Terms and Concepts.
See also the "Islam" category at the Islamic Middle East course blog.
Prologue: The Clash of Monotheisms
| "Clash of Civilizations" | |
| Overview of Islam |
Writing and Talking Points:
1. What do you think of Aslan's contention that "we are not in the midst of a 'clash of civilizations', but rather a clash of monotheisms?" (xv)
2. What do you think of Aslan's definition of religion? (xvii)
3. What do you think about Aslan's sense of the role of mythology in religious traditions? (xviii)
4. As you read his book, ask yourself whether Aslan succeeds or not in his "argument for reform" of Islam. (xx)
Chapter 1, The Sanctuary in the Desert: Pre-Islamic Arabia
| The pre-Islamic Middle East | |
| Council of Nicea (325 C. E.) | |
| Council of Chalcedon (451 C.E.) | |
| Muhammad's Life and Times | |
Note the traditions surrounding the Ka'aba (pp. 4ff.) and the reference to the story of Abraham's (Ibrahim) near sacrifice of Ishmael (Ismail). This story is found in the Qur'an, s.37:102-109. It parallels the story in the Bible (Genesis 22) of Abraham's near sacrifice of Isaac.
Chapter 2, The Keeper of the Keys: Muhammad in Mecca
| Muhammad's Life and Times | |
| Overview of Islam | |
Chapter 3, The City of the Prophet: The First Muslims
| Muhammad's Life and Times | Constitution of Medina (full text) |
| Early Caliphal Period | |
| Lord Cromer | |
| Islam and Women | |
| Taliban |
Chapter 4, Fight in the Way of God: The Meaning of Jihad
Additional Resources on Jihad:
1. A clear and concise summary of the history of militant jihad in Islam can be found in Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror (New York: Modern Library, 2003), Chapter 2, "The House of War." (see Lewis Study Guide)
2. A superb single volume on jihad is Rudolph Peters, Jihad in Classical and Modern Islam (Princeton, NJ: Marcus Wiener Publishers, 1996).
Chapter 5, The Rightly Guided Ones: The Successors to Muhammad
| Rashidun Caliphs: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali | Umayyads Abbasids |
| Islamic Expansion, Seventh Century | Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem |
| Uthman's codification of the Qur'an (650) | Ali Abd al-Raziq (N.B. his book appeared in 1925, not 1934) |
| Battle of the Camel (656), Islam's first fitna ("civil war") fought in Basra (not Medina). | Mawlana Mawdudi |
| Shiites | Sayyid Qutb |
| Kharijites | Ayatollah Khomeini |
Writing and Talking Point:
Are there any signs that fitna continues to plague the Muslim world today?
Chapter 6, This Religion is a Science: The Development of Islamic Theology and Law
| The Abbasids | al-Ghazzali |
| Overview of Islam | Closing the "Gates of ijtihad" (Rationalism declines and Traditionalism advances) |
| Cultural Contributions of the Abbasids |
Writing and Talking Point:
What indications can you cite to support the claim that the argument between Rationalists and Traditionalists in Islam is still going on today?
Chapter 7, In The Footsteps of Martyrs: From Shi'ism to Khomeinism
| Shiites | Ayatollah Khomeini |
| Kufa and Karbala | The Iranian Revolution |
Chapter 8, Stain Your Prayer Rug With Wine: The Sufi Way
| Sufism | |
Chapter 9, An Awakening in the East: The Response to Colonialism
Writing and Talking Point:
Do you agree with Aslan's contention that "what is taking place now in the Muslim world is an internal conflict between Muslims, not an external battle between Islam and the West?" (248) Why or why not?
Chapter 10, Slouching Toward Medina: The Islamic Reformation