History 381
The History of Islamic Societies
Professor Pollard
HST 381
Office: 228 MO
Phone: x3309
Email: pollardl@uncw.edu
Webpage: http://www.uncw.edu/people/pollardl
Office Hours: Wednesday 2-4 and by appointment.
The History of Early Islamic Societies
The subject of this course is the rise of Islam and the transformation of South West Asia (typically referred to as the Middle East), North Africa and parts of Europe into Islamic societies. We will discuss the founding of Islam, the preaching of the Prophet Mohammed, the establishment of an Islamic empire, Muslim conquests, and imperial design and disintegration. Out of this historical process comes Islam as religion, as culture, and as a system of political and religious institutions. We will try to understand the process by which the new religion and civilization came into being, and the processes by which the regions in question became Islamic.
The work of the course will consist of lectures and discussions. Formal, structured discussion sections are indicated on the course schedule below. Expect, however, that lectures will be complemented by informal discussions, in which you are expected to participate. We will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5-6:15 p.m. There may be an additional discussion section as necessary. You will be given two “questionnaires,” one at the beginning and one at the end of the semester. You will be asked to write a short essay about the questionnaires and your response to them. (The essay will be due at the end of the semester, and is worth 5% of your grade, or five points). You will be given a map quiz at the beginning of week three, and it will be worth 5% of your grade. The course work will include three mid-terms and a final, each worth 20% of your final grade. Your attendance of lectures and participation of discussions—both formal and informal—will count for 10%. We will—as the needs and moods of the course dictate—rely on SeaPort for informal discussions. Your participation in them will count toward your participation grade.
To be considered on time, all written work must be turned in at the beginning of the class hour in which it is due. I will accept no electronic submissions, no exceptions.
Grading Scale: A = 96-100; A- = 90-95. B+ = 87-89; B = 83-86; B- = 80-82. C+ = 77-79; C = 73-76; C- = 70-72. D+ = 67-69; D= 63-66; D- = 60-62.
Required Reading:
Montgomery Watt, Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman.
Hugh Kennedy, The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates.
Hugh Kennedy, When Baghdad Ruled the Muslim World.
Ibn Khaldun, al-Muqaddimah.
Course Outline and Reading List
I. Introduction (Thursday, August 24th).
Lecture: Introduction to the Course: Issues, Agendas, Format.
Reading:
Hugh Kennedy, The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates, pp. 1-29.
Begin reading Montgomery Watt, Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman.
II. The Preaching of Islam (Tuesday, August 29th-Thursday, September 7th).
Lectures:
1. South West Asia prior to Islam: Society, Religion, Empire
2. Arabia and the Life of the Prophet
3. The Prophet’s Message and the Consolidation of his Political Power
4. The Message of the Qur’an.
Reading:
Finish reading Watt, Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman.
You will be asked to complete a questionnaire during the first ten minutes of class, Tuesday August 29, 2006.
Map quiz will be administered during the first ten minutes of class, Tuesday, September 5, 2006.
III. The Arab Conquests (Tuesday, September 12th-Tuesday, September 19th.)
Lectures:
1. The First Caliphs
2. The Arab Conquests: Economic Change and Cosmopolitan Society.
Reading:
Kennedy, The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates, 50-81.
We will meet for discussion on Thursday, September 14th. The topic of that discussion will be Watt’s Muhammad: Prophet and Statesman.
Your first take-home exam, on questions related to the book, will be due at the beginning of class, Tuesday, September 19th.
IV. The Islamic Empire to 1200 (1) (Thursday, September 21st-Tuesday, October 17th.)
Lectures:
1. The Umayyad Caliphate: From nomadic kingdom to Syrian monarchy; civil wars and the roots of Shi’ism.
2. The `Abbasid Empire: Social Revolution, Political Reaction.
3. The decline of the `Abbasids.
4. The post-`Abbasid successor states.
5. North Africa and Spain in the Umayyad and `Abbasid eras.
Reading:
Kennedy, The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates, 82-122.
Kennedy, When Baghdad Ruled the Muslim World, 1-10; 85- 111; 261-296.
We will meet for discussion on Thursday, September 28th. The topic of that discussion will be the Rashidun caliphs and the Arab conquests.
V. The Islamic Empire to 1200 (2) (Thursday, October 19th- Tuesday, November 14th).
Lectures:
1. Court Culture: the Imperial Elite, Poetry, Humanism.
2. Court Culture Continued: Wine, Women and Song.
3. Scripture, Theology, Law.
4. Mysticism.
5. “Rural” Islam.
6. Men, women, the family.
Reading:
Kennedy, When Baghdad Ruled the Muslim World, 51-84; 112-269.
We will meet for discussion twice during this section of the course.
First, we will meet on Thursday, October 19th, to discuss the Umayyads, as you have come to know them through lectures and your reading of Kennedy, The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates.
Your second, take-home exam, on questions about the Rashidun and the Umayyads, from Kennedy, The Prophet and the Age of the Caliphates, and from lectures, will be due at the beginning of class Tuesday, October 24th.
Then, we will meet for discussion a second time on Thursday, November 9th, to discuss `Abbasid politics and culture as you have come to know them through your reading of Kennedy, When Baghdad ruled the Muslim World.
Your third take-home exam, on questions related to When Baghdad ruled the Muslim World, and to lectures, will be due at the beginning of class on Tuesday, November 14th.
VI. The End of Medieval Islam and the Rise of Turks to Power in the Islamic World (Thursday, November 16th – Tuesday, December 5th).
Lectures:
1. The End of Medieval Islam: Crusaders, Mongols, Mamluks.
2. The Seljuks.
3. The Ottomans.
Readings:
Ibn Khaldun, al-Muqadimmah, pp.xxvii-xxxv; 29-33; 91-105; 123-133; 141-151;154-166;
You will be asked to complete a second questionnaire during the first ten minutes of class on Thursday, November 16, 2006. Your essay about the results of that questionnaire will be due at the beginning of class, Tuesday, December 5, 2006.
We will meet for a final discussion section on the last day of class, Tuesday, December 5th. The topic of discussion will be Ibn Khaldun, al-Muqaddimah.
Your final take-home exam will be on al-Muqaddimah itself. It will be due, to my office, at the end of the class’ scheduled exam period (TBA).