The Vision of Islam

Description

We begin this class almost twenty-five years after 9-11. Since the “war on terror” that followed in its wake, Islam has been called everything from a “religion of peace” to the “most evil religion in the world.” Popular characterizations of this faith, however, have in most cases not risen beyond simplistic clichés. This was evidenced recently in the polarizing responses to the mayoral election campaign of Zohran Mamdani in New York. How are we to understand a religion that claims a quarter of the world’s population, and which, according to Pew forecasts, may become the world’s largest faith by 2070? Can a single statement do it justice? The purpose of this course is to provide a nuanced perspective to a religion that has been—and continues to remain—the subject of intense scrutiny and debate. The class serves as an introduction to the Islamic religious tradition with particular attention to the beliefs and practices that lie at its heart, and which unite the world’s diverse Muslim population. Our analysis shall be guided by the famous Hadith of Gabriel which divides the religion in the three dimensions of “surrender” (islam), “faith” (iman), and “doing the beautiful” (ihsan). 

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Text

Chittick, William and Sachiko Murata, The Vision of Islam (Paragon House, 1994)

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