Religion 289 - Islam and the Other

For Muslims both past and present, the diversity of Islamic “sects” or “denominations” has been a fact or social reality. The same can be said for the plurality of religions. The living experience of religious pluralism in Islamic society forced Muslims to face differences with other religions: Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism, as well as others. We will ask the following questions: how have Muslims dealt with differences—legal, theological, political, and institutional—among themselves? How have they encountered differences with other religions? How did the notion of a universal history develop in Islam? How did Muslims conceive of the place of human beings in the cosmic order? What kind of global awareness did they have? To explore these issues and examine how Muslims describe the Other, we will study maps, universal histories, encyclopedies of world religions, doxographies and heresiographies, and travelogues.

Spring semester. Professor Jaffer.

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Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: an emphasis on written work, close reading; attention to writing and speaking