INTL 407/507, Fall 2019
Professor Anita Weiss
Tuesday/Thursday 2-3:20 pm
276 Education
Militant Islam
Foundations in Faith and Manifestations Today
Syllabus
Within the Muslim world today, Islamist discourse has come to set a growing number of political agendas. However, as we have seen in response to recent global events, the nature of this discourse -- and in particular, the diversity within it -- is rarely understood. In particular, the concept of jihad (striving, struggle) and its relation to militancy is both frequently misunderstood and misrepresented. This seminar seeks to rectify those misrepresentations and misunderstandings by introducing participants to the historical and theological foundations of militant Islam through exploring how the concept of jihad has been understood in Muslim societies. We study various foundational movements, probe why we are seeing more groups oriented toward militant Islam today, identify the larger goals of some of the militant Islamist groups today, and the distinctions between groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, the Taliban, and the various manifestations of al-Qaeda.
We begin with an overview of the Islamic religion, emphasizing those factors that create a sense of community and cohesiveness and the ideal role the state is to play in facilitating these processes. We then address the distinctiveness of Islam as a world religion in the public sphere and the political realm, and gain an understanding of the various dimensions of jihad. We then turn to look at early movements of islah and tajdid, renewal and reform, as we probe how Muslims in the past had sought to reinvigorate both Islam and Muslim society. As part of this discussion, we look at how political changes within the Muslim world affected Muslim perceptions of external threats (e.g., changes in the Caliphates; the threat of the Crusades; the rise of empires in Iran and India; and the global role of the Ottoman Caliphate).
We then turn to explore events and social institutions that provide a foundation for militant Islamic orientations today, including Wah’habi Islam and the founding of Saudi Arabia, the mujahidin struggle against the former Soviet Union in the 1980s and the subsequent rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan in the 1990s and 2000s, and ISIS this century. We look at various ways the concept of jihad has been addressed over time and in different contexts including, in particular, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Jama’at i-Islami and the writings of Syed Qutb. We conclude by looking at contemporary anti-state actions as well as state-sanctioned responses to perceived threats, especially from the West, and the concern some Muslims have that ‘Islam is under threat’ in many world regions. We conclude with discussing how Muslim communities themselves envision peaceful futures.
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Each participant is encouraged to discuss the various topics we will address in this course in an open, respectful manner so as to promote deeper understanding of these issues which have been heavily sensationalized by the global media and differing political groups.
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Course Objectives
1. To obtain a general understanding of Islamic history and the influence of the Qur’an in Islamic political contexts;
2. To gain a fairly in-depth understanding of the historical influence of global political and social forces in Islamic contexts;
3. To gain a fairly in-depth understanding of how historical movements of renewal and reform (islah and tajdid) and jihad have been perceived and manifested;
4. To gain a fairly in-depth understanding of some contemporary movements of renewal and reform (islah and tajdid) and jihad;
5. To understand the differences and similarities of militant movements in the Muslim world today, question what your understandings were prior to the class, and find your voice to interject into the global conversation.
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Required texts:
(1) John Calvert Sayyid Qutb and the Origins of Radical Islamism Hurst & Co., 2018
(2) David Cook Understanding Jihad 2nd edition, University of California Press, 2015
All other readings noted in the Course Outline below are accessible via this course website.
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Course Outline
Week I October 1-3 Introduction: What is "Militant Islam?"
Required Readings:
Cook "Introduction," pp. 1-22, "The 'Greater Jihad' and the 'Lesser Jihad,'" pp. 32-48
Shahram Akbarzadeh "The Paradox of Political Islam" in Shahram Akbarzadeh (ed.) Routledge Handbook of Political Islam Routledge, 2012, pp. 1-7
Faisal Devji “Arabian Knights” The Terrorist in Search of Humanity: Militant Islam and Global Politics Hurst & Co, 2008, pp. 97-135
John Esposito Islam: the Straight Path Oxford University Press, 5th edition, 2005, pp. ix-xi, xiii-xvi, 1-31
Week II October 8-10 Overview of Islamic History
Required Readings:
Cook "The Crystallization of Jihad Theory: Crusade and Counter-Crusade," pp. 49-72
John Esposito Islam: the Straight Path Oxford University Press, 5th edition, 2005, pp. 32-67
'Abdullah Yusuf 'Ali Selected Verses on Jihad The Meaning of the Holy Qur'an Amana Publications, 2003 NEW!
Tariq Rahman “Introduction” Interpretations of Jihad in South Asia Oxford University Press, 2019, pp. 1-20
Week III October 15-17 Islamic Revival and Reform (Islah and Tajdid): Responding to Colonialism & Modernity
Required Readings:
Calvert, “Introduction” pp. 1-21
Cook “Jihad during the Nineteenth Century: Renewal and Resistance,” pp. 73-92
John Esposito Islam: the Straight Path Oxford University Press, 5th edition, 2005, pp. 115-157
Four kinds of responses (from lecture)
Devin Springer et. al. "Philosophical Foundations" in Islamic Radicalism and Global Jihad Georgetown University Press, 2009, pp. 17-56.
Week IV October 22-24 Wah’habi Islam and other early reform movements
Required Readings:
Calvert, “Son of the Country” pp. 23-52
Michael Farquhar Circuits of Faith: Migration, Education and the Wahhabi Mission Stanford University Press, 2017, pp. 23-43, 67-85
Tariq Rahman “Colonial Modernists” Interpretations of Jihad in South Asia Oxford University Press, 2019, pp. 116-134
Recommended Readings
Calvert “The Making of an Egyptian Nationalist” pp. 53-101
Tariq Rahman “Jihad as Anti-colonial Resistance: Emerging Trends” Interpretations of Jihad in South Asia Oxford University Press, 2019, pp. 138-167
Week V October 29-31 Presentations on historical Islamist movements Link to sign-up sheet
Week VI November 5-7 The Jama’at i-Islami, The Muslim Brotherhood and the influence of Sayyid Qutb
Required Readings:
Calvert, pp. “Turn to Islamism” pp. 103-138, “American Sojourn” pp. 139-155, “In the Orbit of the Muslim Brothers” pp. 157-195, “Radicalization” pp. 197-227
Cook, pp. 93-127, 128-161
Peter Mandaville Islam and Politics 2nd edition, 2014, pp. 64-118, 328-366
Tariq Rahman “Radical Imports” Interpretations of Jihad in South Asia Oxford University Press, 2019, pp. 198-213
Week VII November 12-14, 19 The rise of militant Islamist movements today: The Afghan Taliban, Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and others
Final essay assignment is linked here
Please see this before Thursday November 14 class: Sayyid Qtub: Grandfather of Al Queda (1906-1966)
Required Readings:
Calvert, “Epilogue: the Trajectory of ‘Qutbism’” pp. 273-292
Cook, pp. 162-178
Faisal Devji The Terrorist in Search of Humanity: Militant Islam and Global Politics Hurst & Co, 2008, pp. viii-x (Preface); 1-23 (Sleeping Beauty); 30-36 (Islam converted); the GWOT (pp. 137-164) We will discuss this in class on Thursday November 14
Bruce Lawrence “Osama bin Laden: Qur’an as Mandate for Jihad” The Qur’an: a Biography Atlantic Monthly Press, 2006, pp. 172-183
Recommended Readings
Fawaz A. Gerges "The World According to ISIS" in ISIS: a History Oxford University Press, 2016, pp. 23-49
Michael Griffin Islamic State: Rewriting History Pluto Press, 2016
Monal Kanwal Sheikh "Jihad to Protect God and His Laws" and "Religion in the Taliban Narratives" in Guardians of God: Inside the Religious Mind of the Pakistan Taliban Oxford University Press, 2016, pp. 66-83, 122-156
Weeks VIII and IX November 21, 26 Presentations on contemporary Islamist movements
Week X December 3 Concluding Thoughts
We will be holding a class potluck and end of the term celebration at my house from 6-8 pm (instead of the usual time). The address is 3001 Neslo Lane. Please park in the upper parking lot of the Eugene Waldorf School on McLean, walk up to Neslo, and it is the house on the corner on the left. Please make food from the country either that you wrote your first or second essay about.
Required Readings:
Cook, pp. 179-184
John Esposito "Epilogue" Islam: the Straight Path Oxford University Press, 5th edition, 2005, pp. 253-263
Tariq Rahman “Refuting the Radicals” Interpretations of Jihad in South Asia Oxford University Press, 2019, pp. 238-252, “Conclusion” pp. 255-270.
THERE IS NO CLASS ON THURSDAY DECEMBER 5.
INSTEAD, YOU SHOULD USE THIS TIME TO FOCUS ON YOUR FINAL ESSAY
WHICH IS DUE AT THE TIME SCHEDULED FOR OUR FINAL EXAM,
AT 12:30 PM ON WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11, IN 307 PLC.