Comparative Studies, Rewards and Challenges
In the age of massive circulation of information, misunderstandings are highly likely, and can be dangerous. Along many other benefits of comparative studies, the particular function of such endeavors in honest clarification of truth and avoidance of misunderstandings, make them an imminent necessity, rather than a fancy pursuit of exploring an exotic culture. Taking them as serious as such, one must be ready to adopt the most effective yet simple methodology in correctly understanding and presenting two different thought worlds. In what follows I try to outline some of the key methodological tips which will turn a comparative study to a clear and fruitful discussion.
Following a division between internal elements” and external/structural relations” of two given concepts, this methodological approach presents the similarities and differences between two given concepts in two different thought worlds as clearly as possible. Also, in any accurate comparison, awareness of chronological evolution and developments” play a significant role in avoiding misunderstandings and confusions.
Connection to the Divine in Islamic Teachings
Like most of other religions, followers of Islam see connection to their God through supplication and prayer as one of the main parts of their religious consciousness. Whether a personal request, a formal glorification and ritualistic act of worship, or a simple and spontaneous expression of gratitude and gratefulness to God; various types of prayer seem to be corresponding to different mental and emotional modes of man. However, as there are always at least two sides in every connection and prayer is believed to be a kind of connection, a general theme repeats itself in different types of prayer, that there is a need for proper relevance in the both sides, for a real and effective connection to take place. By analyzing some prayer and supplication texts in Shia Islam, the present study aims at bringing into light this general theme in Islamic prayer, that is, the prayer’s relevance to man as one side of the connection, and its relation to the Divine, as the second side of the connection.
Celebrities, Prophets of Luxurious Narcissism
This article explores how celebrity-culture in its individual luxurious form, influences, often indirectly, the educative role of religion in moral upbringing of a society and its members. The highly valued pursuit of fame and luxury, or even false pretense of displaying them –thanks to social media- are among the natural results of excessive dominance of celebrity culture. Fame and luxury might not be bad or negative in themselves, but once the two are placed in the pivot center of a moral-value system, other agents (like religion in our example) can no longer play their proper roles in the ethical upbringing of individuals or communities. When celebrity culture norms turn to behavioral standards, then not just religious practitioners and leaders aim, often subconsciously, at fitting in that context, but also they understand and picture the historical religious figures and holy personalities with the colors borrowed from that culture. It is in this process that religious role models lose their effective and educative roles in shaping the moral norms of a society. In what follows I shall briefly illustrate different dimensions of celebrity culture as a distinct modern phenomenon, and then discuss its inevitable presence and pivotal role in any plan for ethical upbringing in a modern society.
Light and Love, the Core of Islamic Spirituality
With a little –and excused- simplification, main and general concepts in different ideologies can be highlighted out; doctrinal themes around which other ideas revolve in a given system of thought. Throughout its historical evolution, Islamic mysticism and traditional spiritual training has both borrowed from and contributed to different traditions and schools of thoughts, yet it remained committed to certain doctrinal themes. Analogies of love and light are among those pivots which respectively played conative and cognitive roles in the spiritual training of the Muslim wayfarer. In what follows and through analysis of historical sources of Islamic mysticism, we shall consider historical origins and different dimensions of these often repeated metaphors.
Islamic Philosophy
Epistemology (Islamic Philosophy)
EARLY HISTORY OF ISLAM
The course aims at covering basics of early Islamic History. After a short and general introduction to Islamic historiography, the students are first taken back to the era of Jahiliyya, i.e. pre-Islamic period. In surveying that period, they get familiar with the historical, social and political context in which Islam was born, and also with the mutual effects they (Islam and its context) had on one another. Then the course moves on to study the life of Muhammd, the prophet of Islam. His life is significant both in terms of the historical origin of Islam and also as the spiritual inspiration and authoritative source of Islamic teachings for the later generations of Muslims. Some controversial issues, like wars and slavery, are to be addressed either separately or within other discussions. The historical problem of leadership after Muhammad, Caliphate or succession to the Prophet, is among the main topics of the course.
To provide students with the basics of early Islamic history
Know and get basic information about:
Course work: 2 essays - 25% of the final marks.
Semester final examination: 75% of the marks.
Lectures, Presentations and Tutorials
Free download at: https://www.al-islam.org/the-message-ayatullah-jafar-subhani
Free download at: https://www.al-islam.org/history-islam-up-to-demise-prophet-mahdi-pishvai
Free download at: https://www.al-islam.org/life-muhammad-prophet-sayyid-saeed-akhtar-rizvi
Free download at: https://www.al-islam.org/history-of-the-caliphs-rasul-jafariyan
Free download at: https://www.al-islam.org/restatement-history-islam-and-muslims-sayyid-ali-ashgar-razwy
Free download at: https://www.al-islam.org/imamate-and-leadership-sayyid-mujtaba-musavi-lari
Free download at: https://www.al-islam.org/muhammad-yasin-jibouri
Free download at: https://www.al-islam.org/articles/spread-islam-its-beginning-14th-century-shaykh-mansour-leghaei
S. Ahmad Rahnamaei, Life of the Prophet Mohammad before Starting the Mission (Available free at al-Islam.org)
Kamal al-Sayyid, Abu Talib b. abdul Muttalib (Available free at al-Islam.org)
Dr. Hatem Abu Shahba, Muhammad and His God Before the Revelation (Available free at al-Islam.org)
Shahnaze Safieddine, Migration to Abyssinia (Available free at al-Islam.org)
Focused readings might be assigned prior to certain sessions.
Other relevant sources might be introduced during the course.
Course Syllabus
Studying Avicenna’s philosophy is important and beneficial for different reasons. First, because of the role he had in the Islamic Philosophy, as consolidating its past and directing its future – similar to the role of Islamic philosophy itself; mediation between ancient Greek and the Enlightened Europe. Second, for his position in the Islamic Golden Age, not just as a philosopher, but also as a predominant scientist whose influential thoughts and works continued to shape and affect various philosophical systems and scientific disciplines for centuries, and beyond borders. And third, for the way he encountered, and answers he provided to profound philosophical questions. Different attitudes toward and newer readings of ancient philosophical heritage can bring into light potential solutions to our modern problems. This course aims at providing students with a general outlook on Avicenna’s philosophy. After a brief introduction to Islamic philosophy, its origin and historical significance, lectures will focus on the systematic philosophy of Avicenna and treat each subject by illustrating its historical background, Avicenna’s debt to his processors and then the developments and contributions he made in that particular area. In each discussion, after addressing the influences he had on later philosophers, the relevance of their critical method and philosophical insights to contemporary questions and problems are discussed.
To familiarize students with the general themes and systematic philosophy of Avicenna
Students are supposed to gain basic information about and acquaintance with:
Papers, class presentations or mid-term quizzes (depending on regulations or other conditions)
Lectures, Presentations and Tutorials
Adamson, P. (2005). The Cambridge Companion to Arabic Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Adamson, P. (2013). Interpreting Avicenna_ Critical Essays. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Avicenna. (1971). Treatise on Logic. (F. Zabeeh, Trans.) Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
Avicenna. (2009). The Physics of the Healing. (J. McGinnis, Trans.) Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press.
Avicenna. (2014). Remarks and Admonitions, Physics & Metaphysics. (S. Inati, Trans.) New York: Columbia University Press.
Bertolacci, A. (2006). The Reception of Aristotle's Metaphysics in Avicenna's Kitab al-Sifa. Leiden: Brill.
Gohlman, W. E. (1974). life of Ibn Sina_ a critical edition and annotated translation. New York: SUNY Press.
Goodman, L. (1992). Avicenna. London: Routledge.
Gutas, D. (2014). Avicenna and the Aristotelian Tradition. Leiden: Brill.
Gutas, D. (n.d.). Ibn Sina [Avicenna]. (E. N. Zalta, Editor) Retrieved from The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2016 Edition): https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2016/entries/ibn-sina/
Hassa, D. N. (2012). The Arabic, Hebrew and Latin Reception of Avicenna's Metaphysics. Berlin: Gruyter.
Heath, P. (1992). Allegory and Philosophy in Avicenna (Ibn Sina). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Janssens, J. L. (1991). An Annotated Bibliography on Ibn Sina. Leuven: Leuven University Press.
Lagerlund, H. (2011). Encyclopedia of Medieval Philosophy. Heidelberg: Springer.
Langermann, Y. T. (2009). Avicenna and His Legacy. Turnhout: Brepols.
Leaman, O. (2005). Avicenna. In D. M. Borchert, Encyclopedia of Philosophy (pp. 432-436). New York: Thomson Gale.
McGinnis, J. (2010). Avicenna (Great Medieval Thinkers). New York: Oxford University Press.
Nasr, S. H. (1976). Three Muslim Sages_ Avicenna-Suhrawardi-Ibn Arabi. New York: Caravan Books.
Reisman, D. C. (2002). The Making of the Avicennan Tradition. Leiden: Brill.
Reisman, D. C., & McGinnis , J. (2004). Interpreting Avicenna. Leiden: Brill.
Reisman, D. C., & al-Rahim, A. H. (2003). Before and After Avicenna. Leiden: Brill.
Shehaby, N. (1973). The Propositional Logic of Avicenna. Boston: Reidel Publishing Company.
Tahiri, H. (2016). Metaphysics and the Mind, an Introduction into Ibn Sina's Theory of Knowledge. Heidelberg: Springer.
Wisnovsky, R. (2003). Avicenna’s Metaphysics in Context. New York: Cornell University Press.
Dr. Hossein Latifi[1]
Course Syllabus
Doctrinal Beliefs of Islam are those pivotal principles around which other Islamic teachings and practices are systematically arranged. Knowing the Islamic doctrinal beliefs is a necessary constituent in understanding Islamic creed as a whole, and interpreting ritualistic practices and behaviors of Muslims. The course aims at providing a general outlook of Islamic systematic theology based on its most essential themes, like God and Divine attributes, Prophethood, Human freewill and Eschatological beliefs. Like any other human phenomenon, Islamic theological discussions have emerged, developed and evolved within a certain context and in reaction to their external surroundings; thus, the socio-politico backgrounds and ramifications of such discussions, along other schools of thought and religious traditions influencing and influenced by Islamic theological debates are to be addressed and analyzed in the course.
To familiarize students with doctrinal beliefs and systematic Islamic Theology
Students are supposed to gain basic information about and acquaintance with:
Papers, class presentations or mid-term quizzes (depending on regulations or other conditions)
Lectures, Presentations and Tutorials
al-Qazwini, S. M. (1999). Discovering Islam. Orange County, California: The Islamic Educational Center of Orange County.
al-Shahrastani. (1984). Nihayatu' l-Iqdam Fi Ilm l-Kalam (Summa Philosophiae). (A. Guillaume, Trans.) London: Oxford university Press.
Ess, J. v. (2019). Theology and Society in the Second and Third Centuries of the Hijra (Vol. 3 & 4). Leiden: Brill.
Goldziher, I. (1981). Introduction to Islamic Theology and Law. Princeton : Princeton University Press.
Goldziher, I. (2008). The Zahiris, Their Doctrines and Their History, A Contribution to the History of Islamic Theology. Leiden : Brill.
Gulevich, T. (2004). Understanding Islam and Muslim Traditions . Detroit : Omnipraphics, Inc.
Lammens, S. J. (1929). Islam Beliefs and Institutions . London: Methuen & Co. Ltd.
Martin, R. C. (1997). Defenders of Reason in Islam. Oxford: Oneworld Publications.
Rizvi, S. M. (2004). Islam: Faith, Practice & History. Qom: Ansariyan Publications.
Schmidtke, S. (2016). The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sobhani, J. (2001). Doctrines of Shi'i Islam. London: Islamic Publications Ltd.
Stefon, M. (2010). Islamic Beliefs and Practices. New York: Britannica Educational Publishing .
Tusi, M. b. (n.d.). Tenets of Islam. Islamic Seminary Publications.
Winter, T. (2008). The Cambridge Companion to Classical Islamic Theology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Comparative Studies, Rewards and Challenges
In the age of massive circulation of information, misunderstandings are highly likely, and can be dangerous. Along many other benefits of comparative studies, the particular function of such endeavors in honest clarification of truth and avoidance of misunderstandings, make them an imminent necessity, rather than a fancy pursuit of exploring an exotic culture. Taking them as serious as such, one must be ready to adopt the most effective yet simple methodology in correctly understanding and presenting two different thought worlds. In what follows I try to outline some of the key methodological tips which will turn a comparative study to a clear and fruitful discussion.
Following a division between internal elements” and external/structural relations” of two given concepts, this methodological approach presents the similarities and differences between two given concepts in two different thought worlds as clearly as possible. Also, in any accurate comparison, awareness of chronological evolution and developments” plays a significant role in avoiding misunderstandings and confusions.
Connection to the Divine, the Unifying Factor of Religions
As time goes on, leaders and practitioners of different religions feel the necessity and need for tolerance and friendly relations among themselves more and more. One very effective way to achieve such ideal state is by stressing on commonalities and using them as bases for constructive dialogue and fruitful friendships. Some unifying factors are external to religions, like the secular humanistic ones, that can be bases for dialogue between the religious and the non-religious. However, there are some commonalities among religious people in particular. One of the widest of such bases, which includes theistic and non-theistic religions and traditions, is the connection to the Divine.
Like most of other religions, followers of Islam see connection to their God through supplication and prayer as one of the main parts of their religious consciousness. Whether a personal request, a formal glorification and ritualistic act of worship, or a simple and spontaneous expression of gratitude and gratefulness to God; various types of prayer seem to be corresponding to different mental and emotional modes of man. However, as there are always at least two sides in every connection and prayer is believed to be a kind of connection, a general theme repeats itself in different types of prayer, that there is a need for proper relevance in the both sides, for a real and effective connection to take place. By analyzing some prayer and supplication texts in Shia Islam, the present study aims at bringing into light this general theme in Islamic prayer, that is, the prayer’s relevance to man as one side of the connection, and its relation to the Divine, as the second side of the connection.
Celebrities, Prophets of Luxurious Narcissism
Dr. Hossein Latifi[1]
This article explores how celebrity-culture in its individualistic luxurious form, influences, often indirectly, the educative role of religion in its moral upbringing both at social and individual levels. The highly valued pursuit of fame and luxury, or even false pretense of displaying them –thanks to social media- are among the natural results of excessive dominance of celebrity culture. Fame and luxury might not be bad or negative in themselves, but once the two are placed in the pivot center of a moral-value system, other agents (like religion in our example) can no longer play their proper roles in the ethical upbringing of individuals or communities. When celebrity culture norms turn to behavioral standards, then not just religious practitioners and leaders aim, often subconsciously, at fitting in that context, but also they understand and picture the historical religious figures and holy personalities with the colors borrowed from that culture. It is in this process that religious role-models lose their effective and educative roles in shaping the moral norms of a society. In what follows I shall briefly illustrate different dimensions of the celebrity culture as a distinct modern phenomenon, and then discuss its inevitable presence and pivotal role in any plan for ethical upbringing in a modern society.
Women in Islam
After a quick historical survey, one is safely justified to believe that throughout history and in different societies and cultures, women have been looked upon as second-class human beings; such a view that entails tangible practical consequences even to this very day and even in modern societies. ‘Women in Islam’ is among the topics that have been approached by mixed attitudes. From some Muslims who whitewash their local/cultural discriminative practices against women under the label of Islam; to the non-Muslim outsiders who don’t bother to analyze and distinguish different cultural and religious elements in various Muslim societies. All of these compel us to refer to the primary teachings of Islam and the historical and socio-political context within which Islam was born, to find out more about ‘Women in Islam.’
Islam emerged as a religion and also a socio-political revolution in the Arabian Peninsula, 7th century AD. Different dimensions and multitude of such a social revolution with regards to women’s conditions can be appreciated better only if the pre-existing social status of women is depicted realistically. In what follows we shall have a quick list of pervasive views on women in Pre-Islamic Arabia[1]:
Islam’s reactions to such practices and views were in two domains: to change mentalities and reshape practical norms. Following is a short list of the attempts Islam made in reshaping social status of women[2]:
For a typical reader today, these views and rights seem very natural and common; however, things did not use to be as easy as they seem to us today, it would take complicated efforts to change social norms with such verity and multitude. Islam took the burden and paid the price for such a revolution not because of some superficial show, but mainly because of its spiritual principle about the role of human beings. In Islamic spiritual teachings, righteous human beings are like mirrors, they reflect and manifest divine attributes, and there are certain divine attributes, like mercy and caring that can only be mirrored and manifested best in Women. Such is the basis of spiritual equality between man and woman in Islam.
[1] - For a complete description of each topic, see: The Complete Guide to the History of Arab before Islam (Arabic: al-Mufassal fi Tarikh al-‘Arab qabl al-Islam) (1993) by Javad Ali. University of Baghdad Publications; (vol.4, pp.616-652)
[2] - all of the following are either verses of Islamic scripture, Qur’an or quotations of Prophet Muhammad.
درباره این سایت