Syllabus Islam & Politics

The University of Texas at Austin Department of Middle Eastern Studies

Time: TTH 11:00AM- 12:30PM (SZB 416) Dr. Samy Ayoub Office Hours: F 2-4; or by appointment (CAL 407) [email protected] TA: Lucy Flamm Email: [email protected] Office Hours: Monday 11:00AM-2:00PM (HRH3.102)

ISLAM AND POLITICS

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course is an introduction to modern Islamic political thought. It seeks to provide both an overview of key ideas and themes that have informed mainstream Muslim politics during the 20th century as well provide an engagement with influential thinkers and texts that have shaped Muslim political behavior during this period. We will examine the way in which modernity was negotiated in the emerging Muslims states, the debate on God’s sovereignty versus popular sovereignty and more broadly the moral bases of legitimate political authority. We will also explore how prominent Muslim thinkers have sought to engage with and respond to the rise of nationalism, socialism, capitalism, democracy, human rights, colonialism, imperialism and Zionism.

REQUIRED TEXTS

Roxanne Euben and Muhammad Qasim Zaman eds., Princeton Readings in Islamist Thought: Texts and Contexts from al-Banna to Bin Laden (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009).

RECOMMENDED:

Carrie Wickham, 2013. The Muslim Brotherhood: Evolution of an Islamist Movement Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Fred Dallmayr ed., Comparative Political Theory (New York: Palgrave, 2010).

Frédréric Volpi, 2010. Political Islam Observed. New York: Columbia University Press.

Hamid Enayat, Modern Islamic Political Thought (New York: I.B. Tauris, 2004).

Shahrough Akhavi, The Middle East: The Politics of the Sacred and the Secular (London: Zed Books, 2009).

SUPPLEMENTARY BACKGROUND READING LIST:

Sayyid Qutb, Social Justice in Islam, translated by John Hardie, revised translation and introduction by Hamid Algar (Oneonta, NY: Islamic Publications International, 2000).

Sayyid Qutb, Milestones (Damascus, Syria: Dar al-ilm, 199?).

1 The University of Texas at Austin Department of Middle Eastern Studies Karen Armstrong, Islam: A Short History (New York: Random House, 2002).

L. Carl Brown, Religion and State: The Muslim Approach to Politics (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001).

John Esposito, Voices of Resurgent Islam (New York: Oxford University Press, 1983).

Abdelilah Belkeziz, The State in Contemporary Islamic Thought: A Historical Survey of the Major Muslim Political Thinkers of the Modern Era, translated by Abdullah Richard Lux (New York: I.B. Tauris, 2009).

Albert J. Bergesen, The Sayyid Qutb Reader: Selected Writings on Politics, Religion and Society (New York: Routledge, 2008).

Charles Kurzman, Modernist Islam, 1840-1940 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002).

Charles Kurzman, Liberal Islam: A Sourcebook (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998).

Roxanne Euben, “Changing Interpretations of Modern and Islamic Political Theory,” in John Dryzek, Bonnie Honig and Anne Phillips eds., The Oxford Handbook of Political Theory (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), 297-313.

Souad Ali, A Religion, Not a State: Ali ‘Abd al-Raziq’s Islamic Justification of Political Secularism (Salt Lake City: Utah University Press, 2009).

Ibrahim Abu-Rabi, Intellectual Origins of the Islamic Resurgence in the Modern Arab World (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1996).

Ibrahim Abu-Rabi, Contemporary Arab Thought: Studies in Post-1967 Arab Intellectual History (London: Pluto Press, 2003).

Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr, Maududi and the Making of Islamic Revivalism (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996).

Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr, The Vanguard of the Islamic Revolution: The Jama’at-i Islami of Pakistan (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994).

Shabbir Akhtar, A Faith for All Seasons: Islam and the Challenge of the Modern World (Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 1990).

Shabbir Akhtar, Be Careful with Muhammad!: The Salman Rushdie Affair (London: Bellew Publishers, 1989).

Shabbir Akhtar, Islam as a Political Religion: The Future of an Imperial Faith (New York: Routledge, 2010).

Richard Mitchell, The Society of the Muslim Brothers (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993).

2 The University of Texas at Austin Department of Middle Eastern Studies Albert Hourani, Arabic Thought in a Liberal Age, 1798-1939 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983).

Omid Safi ed., Progressive Muslims: On Justice, Gender and Pluralism (Oxford: Oneworld, 2003).

Robin Woodworth Carlsen, The Imam and His Islamic Revolution: A Journey Into Heaven and Hell (Victoria BC: Snow Man Press, 1982).

Fazlur Rahman, Islam and Modernity: Transformation of an Intellectual Tradition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982).

Roy Mottahedeh, The Mantle and the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran (Oxford: Oneworld Publication, 2000).

Sami Zubaida, Islam, the People and the State: Political Ideas and Movements in the Middle East, updated edition (New York: I.B. Tauris, 2009).

Leila Ahmed, Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992).

Carrie R. Wickham, Mobilizing Islam: Religion, Activism and Political Change in Egypt (NewYork: Columbia University Press, 2002).

Noah Feldman, The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2008).

Mohammed Ayoob, The Many Faces of Political Islam: Religion and Politics in the Muslim World (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2008).

Joeren Gunning, Hamas in Politics: Democracy, Religion and Violence (New York: Columbia University Press, 2008).

Augustus Richard Norton, Hezbollah: A Short History (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007).

John Calvert, Sayyid Qutb and the Origins of Radical Islam (New York: Columbia University Press, 2010).

Fawaz Gerges, The Far Enemy: Why Jihad Went Global, 2nd edition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009).

GRADING: 3 Quizzes, 10% each 30% Class participation: 10% Journal: 10% Midterm Exam: 25% Final Exam 25%

3 The University of Texas at Austin Department of Middle Eastern Studies

GRADING SCHEME

Total % Letter Grade Total % Letter Grade

94–100 A 72-75.9 C

90–93.9 A- 69-71.9 C-

87–89.9 B+ 66-68.9 D+

84–86.9 B 63-65.9 D

80–83.9 B- 60-62.9 D-

76–79.9 C+ <60 F

Note: Students with disabilities may request appropriate academic accommodations from the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, Services for Students with Disabilities, 512- 471-6259, http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd/

PARTICIPATION: Students will be expected to attend the class regularly, to ask informed questions, and to respect each other, the professor, and guest lecturers. Students will also participate in regular discussions. If these discussions are to be successful, students will need to have carefully read the assigned texts. A large portion of the participation grade will be determined by the extent to which the student’s participation in these discussions demonstrates his or her engagement with and understanding of the assigned texts. Students can increase their participation grade by visiting their professor during his office hours for informal conversation and/or help with the course.

QUIZZES: will usually be on Tuesdays and will normally be held at the start of class. These quizzes will be based on both class notes and readings. A failure to stay on top of course readings will result in poor grades. I will offer make-up quizzes and exams only for extenuating circumstances, at my discretion, if the reason is compelling and documented.

ATTENDANCE POLICY: Attendance is mandatory. I take attendance in class. More than two unexcused absences will result in a lowering of a student’s participation grade. If you are going to be absent from class, please contact the teaching assistant as soon as feasible and provide any documentation for an excused absence. If you are absent frequently enough that I (and others) notice, your participation grade will suffer (unless those absences are caused by hospitalization or some other traumatic personal or family event). Mild illnesses and/or fatigue in general do not constitute an excusable reason for absence, so you should do what you can to avoid them, as classroom discussions are crucial to your grade. You are to read the assigned readings beforehand and be ready for classroom discussion.

4 The University of Texas at Austin Department of Middle Eastern Studies

JOURNAL: Over the course of the semester, you must write 5 journal entries and upload them to canvas. Entries must be entered by midnight on the due dates given in the syllabus. Late entries may be marked down or receive no credit.

In each entry, you must do the following: § Summary of the readings key issues and arguments § Relate this reading to other conversations in class or approaches discussed in the reading § Offer your own reflections upon the reading § Entries should be 200-300 words in length § You will be grade on a simple + √ - system, based primarily on content, but also on mechanics: + = a full 2% (A-B range) √ = 1.5% (C-D range) - = 1% (F range)

MID-TERM TEST – The format of this test will consist of identifications (terms and passages), a map section, and short essays. This exam will be given on Thursday, March 8 during class.

CUMULATIVE THREE-HOUR FINAL EXAM – Requested with the registrar’s office. I will let you know as soon as I know.

PRESENTATIONS: Students will give presentations, 10-15 minutes long, and lead discussions on topics relevant to the week’s readings. These presentations will continue throughout the course. Presentations should aim to concisely elucidate for the rest of the class the broader significance of the reading.

CLASSROOM RULES

1. The use of laptops, headphones, cell phones, or any electronic gadgets is not permitted in the classroom. Any gadget that is considered distracting will not be permitted.

2. No food in classroom (drinks should have a lid or a cap on).

COURSE WEBSITES In this class I use Canvas – a Web-based course management system with password-protected access at http://canvas.utexas.edu– to distribute course materials, to communicate and collaborate online, etc. You can find support in using Canvas at the ITS Help Desk at (512) 475- 9400, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., so plan accordingly.

List of Key Websites: http://www.jadaliyya.com/ (Arab Studies Journal) http://en.qantara.de/ (Dialogue with the Islamic World) http://en.irangreenvoice.com/ (Iran’s Opposition Green Movement) http://www.ikhwanweb.com/ (Muslim Brotherhood Official Website) http://kurzman.unc.edu/liberal-islam/liberal-islam-web-links/ (Liberal Islam weblinks)

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SCHEDULE OF CLASSES

WEEK 1

January 16: Syllabus + Course Introduction

January 18: Islamic Political Thought

Gerhard Bowering, Islamic Political Thought: An Introduction, 1-23. [CANVAS].

Ibrahim M. Abu-Rabi’, “Contemporary Islamic Thought: One or Many?” in Ibrahim M. Abu- Rabi’ ed., The Blackwell Companion to Contemporary Islamic Thought (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006), 1-20. [CANVAS].

WEEK 2

January 23: An Introduction to Modern Islamic Political Thought

Roxanne Euben and Muhammad Qasim Zaman eds., “Introduction,” Princeton Readings in Islamist Thought: Texts and Contexts from al-Banna to Bin Laden (Princeton University Press, 2009), 1-46.

January 25: Introduction to Modern Islamic Political Thought

Fred Dallmayr, “Introduction [to Islamic Political Thought],” in Fred Dallmayr ed. Comparative Political Theory (New York: Palgrave, 2010), 23-32. [CANVAS].

Bobby S. Sayyid, A Fundamental Fear: Eurocentrism and the Emergence of Islamism (Zed Books, 2003), pp. 7-26 and 31-51. [CANVAS].

WEEK 3:

PART 1. ISLAMISM: AN EMERGING WORLD VIEW (Journal entry 1 due)

January 30: Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani

Nikki Keddie, An Islamic Response to Imperialism: The Political and Religious Writings of Sayyid Jamal ad-Din “al-Afghani” (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983). [CANVAS].

Pankaj Mishra, “The Strange Odyssey of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani,” in Pankaj Mishra, From the Ruins of Empire: The Intellectuals Who Remade Asia (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2012), 46-123. [CANVAS].

6 The University of Texas at Austin Department of Middle Eastern Studies Albert Hourani, Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age, 1798-1939 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, [1962]1983), 103-129. [CANVAS].

February 1: Hassan Al Banna

Hasan al-Banna, “Toward the Light,” in Roxanne Euben and Muhammad Qasim Zaman eds., Princeton Readings in Islamist Thought: Texts and Contexts from al-Banna to Bin Laden (Princeton University Press, 2009), 49-79.

Hasan al-Banna, Letter to a Muslim Student (Leicester, UK: Islamic Foundation, 1999). [CANVAS]

David Commins, “Hasan al-Banna (1906-1949),” in Ali Rahnema ed., Pioneers of Islamic Revival, updated edition (New York: Zed Books, 2005), 125-153 [CANVAS].

Nazry Bahrawi, “Hassan al-Banna, the Pragmatist,” (Middle East Institute, Singapore, May 18, 2012) [CANVAS].

WEEK 4

February 6: Sayyid Abu’l Ala Mawdudi

Sayyid Abu’l Ala Mawdudi, “The Islamic Law,” in Roxanne Euben and Muhammad Qasim Zaman eds., Princeton Readings in Islamist Thought: Texts and Contexts from al- Banna to Bin Laden (Princeton University Press, 2009), 86-106.

Asma Afsaruddin, “Theologizing about Democracy: A Critical Appraisal of Mawdudi’s Thought,” in Asma Afsaruddin ed. Islam, the State and Political Authority (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) [CANVAS].

February 8: Sayyid Qutb

Ibrahim Abu-Rabi, Intellectual Origins of the Islamic Resurgence in the Modern Arab World (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1996), 138-165. [CANVAS].

Recommended: John Calvert, Sayyid Qutb and the Origins of Radical Islamism (New York: Columbia University Press, 2010).

WEEK 5

PART 2. REMAKING THE ISLAMIC STATE (Journal entry 2 due)

February 13: Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini

Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, “Islamic Government,” in Roxanne Euben and Muhammad Qasim Zaman eds., Princeton Readings in Islamist Thought: Texts and Contexts from al-Banna

7 The University of Texas at Austin Department of Middle Eastern Studies to Bin Laden (Princeton University Press, 2009), 155-180.

[Selected excerpts from speeches] Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, Islam and Revolution: The Writings and Declaration of Imam Khomeini, translated and annotated by Hamid Algar (Berkeley: Mizan Press, 1981), 181-188, 254-260, 263-264, 278-285 [CANVAS].

Baqer Moin, “Khomeini’s Search for Perfection: Theory and Reality,” in Ali Rahnema ed., Pioneers of Islamic Revival, updated edition (New York: Zed Books, 2005), 64-97 [CANVAS].

Said Amir Arjomand, “Khomeini and the Islamic Revolution,” in Said Amir Arjomand, After Khomeini: Iran Under His Successors (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 16-35 [CANVAS].

February 15: Muḥammad Bāqir al-Ṣadr

WEEK 6

February 20: Ḥasan al-Turābi

February 22: Yūsuf al-Qaraḍāwī

WEEK 7

PART 3. ISLAMISM AND GENDER (Journal entry 3 due)

February 27: Murtaza Mutahhari

March 1: Zaynab al-Ghazali

WEEK 8

March 6: Inside the Muslim Brotherhood Documentary by National Geographic

March: 8: Midterm Exam

Spring Break: March 12-18 (NO CLASS)

WEEK 9

March: 20: Recap, Exam results

March 22: Nadia Yassine

WEEK 10

PART 4. VIOLENCE, ACTION, AND JIHAD (Journal entry 4 due)

8 The University of Texas at Austin Department of Middle Eastern Studies March 27: Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Salām Faraj

March 29: ʿUmar ʿAbd al-Raḥmān

WEEK 11

April 3: Hamās

April 5: Muḥammad Ḥusayn Fadlallah

WEEK 12

April 10: The Talibān

April 12: Bin Laden

WEEK 13

April 17: Rashid Ghannouchi

*Rashid Ghannouchi interview with Intraview, February 10, 1998 [CANVAS]

*Rashid Ghannouchi, “Participation in Non-Islamic Government,” in Charles Kurzman ed., Liberal Islam: A Sourcebook (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 89-95.

Rashid Ghannouchi, “British and Muslim: Is Such a Thing Possible?” Al Jazeera.net (December 8, 2010)

April 19: Rashid Ghannouchi, “Secularism and its Relation between Religion and the State from the Perspective of the Nahdha Party,” Lecture in Tunis on March 2, 2012.

John Voll and John Esposito, “Rashid Ghannouchi: Activist in Exile,” in John Voll and John Esposito, Makers of Contemporary Islam (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), 91-117.

WEEK 14

April 24: Islamism After the Arab Spring (Journal entry 5 due)

Ashraf El Sherif, Islamism After the Arab Spring

Shadi Hamid and William McCants, Rethinking Political Islam, Introduction, 1-16.

Peter Mandaville, “Islamism and U.S. Foreign Policy,” in Rethinking Political Islam, 203-219.

Ovamir Anjum, “Do Islamists Have an Intellectual Deficit?” in Rethinking Political Islam, 300- 307.

9 The University of Texas at Austin Department of Middle Eastern Studies April 26: ISIS and Regional Re-ordering

Malise Ruthven, “Inside the Islamic State,” New York Review of Books, July 9, 2015.

Stephen Walt, “ISIS as Revolutionary State: New Twist on an Old Story,” Foreign Affairs, pp. 1- 9. October 22, 2015.

Andrew Lebovich, How “Religious” Are ISIS Fighters?” in Rethinking Political Islam, 295-299.

WEEK 15

May 1: Final Notes

May 3: Final Exam Review