All Readings in the Syllabus with an * Are Primary Sources

All readings in the syllabus with an * are primary sources.

*Muhammad Abdel Salem al-Farag, The Forgotten Duty Key Jihadi thinker and ideologue who wrote The Forgotten Duty in 1970 in which he argued that jihad is the forgotten duty, in other words the “6th pillar” of Islam

*Ali Shariati, “Cain & Abel” An Iranian intellectual and preacher who was influential in merging Marxist and Islamic concepts in the 1970s, paving the way for the Iranian Revolution. He frames the story of Cain and Abel in Marxist terms

*Husayn-McMahon Correspondence Correspondence between Sharif Husayn of Mecca and the British foreign officer McMahon in which it appears that the British offer support for the creation of an Arab state after World War I in exchange for Sharif Husayn calling on Arabs to revolt against the Ottoman Empire. Critical document in terms of the creation of the modern states in the Middle East and the sense of betrayal by Arabs when the British and French carved up the region between them after the war

*Taha Hussein, The Future of Culture in Egypt Influential Egyptian intellectual who argued in the inter-war period that Egypt was essentially western and needed to embrace that identity in order to develop

*Hasan al-Banna Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt in 1928. In his writings he argues for reforms that blend modern science and technology with Islamic values. He condemns the European imperialist designs on the region.

*Theodore Herzl Authof The Jewish State and father of modern Zionism.

*Sayyid Qutb, Milestones Qutb is universally regarded as the father of modern jihadism. His book, Milestones is compared wth Lenin’s “What is to be done?” As a manifesto for Islamic revolution.

*Nasser’s Suez speech Speech by Gamal Abdel Nasser justifying the nationalizing of the Suez Canal. Typifies the anti-imperialist and pan-Arab ideas that propelled Nasser to the world stage and made him a major figure in the non-alligned movement

*UN Res 242 UN resolution after the 1967 war that territory seized during the war (the West Bank, Gaza, Sinai, and Golan Heights) must be returned. This resolution is the basis of Palestinian negotiations till today.

*Qur’an excerpts