Readings in the Shi’i Tradition

SYLLABUS

Summer, 2015

Instructor Mahmoud Ayoub Phone 860 570-6905 Email [email protected]

Teaching Assistant Morteza Rezazadeh Email [email protected]

Course Description

This course is intended to familiarize students with the rich heritage of Shi’i . In this brief venture into Shi’I thought and history an attempt is made to let primary sources, both classical and contemporary speak for the Shi’I tradition. We shall limit our study to Ithna’ashari, or Twelve-imami Shi’ism, it being the largest and most influential Shi’I community.

The course will be conducted as a graduate seminar, where student participation is essential. Presentations introducing a given topic or theme will be made as needed.

Attendance

Attendance and on-time arrival is expected at all class sessions. If you are unable to attend a class session please inform the instructor or teaching assistant in advance so arrangements for make-up work can be made. Since attendance and participation constitute 10% of your grade, excessive tardiness or absence will lower your grade. Students who miss more than one class will not be able to successfully pass the course.

Course Schedule and Daily Readings

Most readings, unless otherwise noted, will be found in the extensive library of Shi’i sources online:www.al-islam.org

Day 1: Introduction to the course and the formative period of Muslim history. M. Ayoub: The Crisis of Muslim History, Oxford, Oneworld Publications, Entire book

Day 2: Shi’I Literature - Biographies of the Imams Muhamad Ibn , his son Ja’far al-

Sadiq, and the Twelfth Imam in Kitab al-Irshad by al-Mufid. These are in SonisWeb. Interpretation (tafsir) of the Qur’an and the words of the Imam. a. Mahmoud Ayoub – Principles and Development of Shi’a Tafsir.

b. Selections from Al-Mizan http://www.shiasource.com/al-mizan/ look up Surah 2 verse 124

c. Nahjul-Balaghah: letter 31 to Imam al-Hasan, http://www.al-islam.org/nahj/

d. Usul al-Kafi: Books 1 and 4: http://al-kafi.org/Contents.htm

Day 3: Shi’I devotions and supplications, Theology and Mysticism

a. Selections from Sahifa al-Sajjadiyyah http://www.al-islam.org/sahifa/ :Supplication 1, 20 and the “Whispered Prayers” 69-83

b. Dua’ al-Kumail http://imamalinet.net/en/k/kumail/kum1.HTM

c. Shi’ite Anthology compiled by ‘Allamah M. H. Tabataba’I, translated by W. Chitick: part III. Pp. 91-124.

d. Shi’I Theology (Kalam) Shi’ite Anthology, part I On the Unity of God.and - Shiite Creed by al-Shaykh al-Saduq ( al-Qummi). Shiite Creed can be found online: http://www.scribd.com/doc/7620120/Shia-Creed

e. Shi’i Mysticism and Gnosis (‘irfan): Light within me, an anthology of writings by Mutahhari, Khomeini and Tabatabai http://www.al‐islam.org/lwm/ parts 1 and 2 by Mutahhari and Tabatabai

Day 4: Jurisprudence () and Religious Authority a. Questions on Jurisprudence (by Sharaf al-Din al-‘ameli explaining the peculiar Shi’i juridical viewpoints) http://www.al-islam.org/masail

b. Contemporary Legal Rulings in Shi’i Law by Ayatullah ‘Ali Sistani.

c. Contemporary Sociological Shi’I Thought: On the Sociology of Islam: Lectures by Ali Shari’ati by Hamid Algar (editor) the following lectures: Man and Islam, The Worldview of Tauhid, Anthropology, The Ideal Society, The Ideal Man

Day 5: Contemporary Shi’a political thought: a. Islam and Revolution 1: Islamic Government from Writings and Declarations of Imam Khomeini translated and edited by Hamid Algar p. 27-167 b. Shi’ite Anthology, part II The Ruler and Society: ‘Ali’s Instructions to Malik al-Ashtar.

c. Class presentations, concluding the course.

Course Requirements

All students are expected to read all daily readings on time and participate in discussions. Beginning with Day 2, two students each day will prepare discussion starters for the assigned reading for that particular day. Students will be assigned their designated time on the first day by the instructor and TA. Every student will prepare a final term paper of 12-15 pages in length, with proper footnotes or endnotes and bibliography. All students will be asked – the second half of day 5 -to share the fruits of their research and ideas for the final paper with the rest of the students in a 10 minute class presentation.

Grading

Grades will be computed as follows: -Class attendance and general participation 10% -Introducing the readings and class presentations 40%

-Final term paper 50%

Required Texts for purchase

Algar, Hamid (translator).Islam and Revolution 1: Writings and Declarations of Imam Khomeini, Mizan Press, 1981.

Algar, Hamid (translator). On the Sociology of Islam: Lectures by Ali Shari’ati, Mizan Press, 1979

For Further Reading

Awsaf al-Ashraf. Attributes of the nobles By khwajaNasir al-Din al-Tusi (All readings are on line) http://www.al-islam.org/al-tawhid/awsaf/

Ayoub, Mahmoud. Redemptive Suffering in Islam: a Study of the Devotional Aspects of ‘Ashura’ in Shi’ism, the Hague, Mouton Publishers, 1978

------. Brunner, Ranie and Werner Ende, eds. The TwelverShia in Modern Times: Religious Culture and Political History. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2001

Halm, Heinz.Shiism. Second Edition. New York: Columbia University Press 2004

Halm, Heinz.Shi’a Islam: From Religion to Revolution. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener, 1997

Jafri, S. Husain M. The Origins and Early Development of shi’aIslam.Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2002

Kitab al-irshad - http://www.al-islam.org/

Khamenei’sAjwibat al-Istifta’at (Practical Laws of Islam) http://dlserver.yasinmedia.com/v87/English_Page/books_en_html/books/Practical%2 0Laws%20of%20Islam/

Martin, Vanessa. Creating an Islamic state: Khomeini and the making of New . (London: I.B. Tauris, 2000)

Nasr, SeyyedHossein, HamidDabashi and SeyyedVali Reza Nasr, (eds). Expectation of the Millennium: Shi’ism in History. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1988

Sachedina, Abdulaziz A. Islamic Messianism: The Idea of the in TwelverShi’ism. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1981

Sadra,Mulla, The Elixir of the Gnostics: A parallel English- text, William Chitick trans. (Islamic Translation Series), Bringham Young University, 2002

Shomali, Mohammad Ali. Shi‘i Islam: Origins, Faith and Practices (London: Islamic College for Advanced Studies), 2003

Tabataba’i, ‘AllamahSayyid Muhammad Husain, SeyyedHoseynNasr(translator). Shi’ite Islam. London: George Allen &Unwin, 1975

Tabataba'I, ‘AllamahSayyid Muhammad Husayn (Author), SeyyedHosseinNasr (Contributor), Mohammad H. Faghfoory (Contributor), Sayyid Muhammad HusaynHusayniTihrani (Contributor).Kernel of the Kernel: A Shi’a approach to Sufism, Suny Press, 2007

For further research and additional readings, please consult the extensive library of Shi`ite sources on line: www.al-islam.org.