Students will be presented with a survey of the history of Islam from the seventh century to the present day. The unit also examines the development of the central institutions of Islam in the context of that history. Special attention will be paid to those institutions and events (The Koran, the Holy Law and the Caliphate) which determine the substance and allusions of modern political debate in Muslim communities in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

Graduate students attend joint classes with undergraduates but may expect more rigorous assessment and additional assignment work, tailored to the graduate student's interests.

Preliminary Reading:
Enayat, H., Modern Islamic Political Thought, London, Macmillan, 1982.
Esposito, J. L., The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?, Oxford & New York, 1992.
Renard, J. (ed.), Windows on the House of Islam, University of California Press, 1998.
Tibi, B., The Challenge of Fundamentalism: Political Islam and the New World Disorder, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1998.

Later Year Course

32 hours for the Semester