Postgraduate Module Descriptor


ARAM248: Texts and Traditions in Islamic Intellectual History

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Aims

This module will introduce you to core texts in Islamic intellectual history. You will obtain deep insights into the evolution of Islamic thought and civilisation. You will develop an understanding of both the specific contexts of the texts studied as well as of their significance for universal history. In addition to learning about the texts studied, you will also acquire the skills to read, contextualise and analyse primary sources, explore and assess the scholarly literature, build on the existing knowledge and identify gaps as well as problematic areas necessitating reconsideration. These skills will prepare you for producing original research in the dynamic field of Islamic intellectual history, which is also linked to social and political as well as other cultural outputs, such as art, architecture, music, etc. The formative assessment for the module consists of a presentation followed by a discussion. This will prepare you for presenting at conferences and similar professional meetings. It will also give you the opportunity to present the outline of your research and integrate the feedback received while producing your summative assessment, an academic essay.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here - you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.

On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. acquire the skills necessary for the close reading and in depth study of key texts in Islamic intellectual history;
2. reach the ability to contextualise primary sources and discuss their significance both for the study of the close context of their production and for the overall evolution of Islamic and universal intellectual history.
Discipline-Specific Skills3. develop an understanding the importance and the methods of text-based studies in the field of Islamic studies;
4. build up an overview of Islamic intellectual history and its links to social and political history as well as to other cultural outputs;
5. attain the ability to locate Islamic intellectual history in universal history of humankind, including such fields as religious studies, philosophy, literature and political thought.
Personal and Key Skills6. produce original research based on the exploration and assessment of secondary sources (available scholarly literature) and the study of primary sources (original texts);
7. prepare and deliver a conference-style oral presentation
8. participate in scholarly/collegial discussions, give, accept and respond to feedback by peers;
9. present your research in clear and accessible manned in writing in the form of an academic essay.

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

Encyclopaedias:

Jane Dammen McAuliffe, general editor, Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an:

https://encore.exeter.ac.uk/iii/encore/record/C__Rb1655058__Sencyclopaedia%20of%20the%20qur%27an__Orightresult__U__X3?lang=eng&suite=cobalt

The Encyclopaedia of Islam New Edition (EI2):

http://encore.exeter.ac.uk/iii/encore/record/C__Rb1239895__Sencyclopaedia%20of%20islam__Orightresult__X5?lang=eng&suite=def

The Encyclopaedia of Islam Three (EI3):

https://encore.exeter.ac.uk/iii/encore/record/C__Rb4098518__Sencyclopaedia%20of%20islam%20three__Orightresult__U__X7?lang=eng&suite=cobalt

Encyclopaedia Iranica

http://www.iranicaonline.org/

 

Databases for scholarly studies:

Index Islamicus

http://encore.exeter.ac.uk/iii/encore/record/C__Rb1599445__SIndex%20Islamicus__Orightresult__X5?lang=eng&suite=def

JSTOR

https://encore.exeter.ac.uk/iii/encore/record/C__Rb1687622__SJSTOR__P0%2C2__Orightresult__U__X6?lang=eng&suite=cobalt

 

Databases for texts:

http://archive.org/

http://www.alwaraq.net/Core/index.jsp?option=1

 

Dictionaries:

http://ejtaal.net/aa/#hw4=14,ll=38,ls=0,la=1,sg=20,ha=21,br=26,pr=21,aan=24,mgf=33,vi=50,kz=11,mr=58,mn=-1,uqw=106,umr=26,ums=14,umj=34,ulq=247,uqa=16,uqq=2

http://www.tyndalearchive.com/tabs/lane/

http://lexicon.quranic-research.net/

http://arabiclexicon.hawramani.com/

 

The Arabic text of Qur'an and various translations:

http://corpus.quran.com/wordbyword.jsp

http://quran.muslim-web.com/

http://www.openislam.org/

Michael Cook, The Koran : a very short introduction, Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2000, available online at

https://lib.exeter.ac.uk/search~S6?/aCook%2C+M.+A.%2C+%28Michael+Allan%2C%29+1940-/acook+m+a+michael+allan+1940/-3%2C-1%2C0%2CB/frameset&FF=acook+m+a&3%2C%2C3  

 

Hadith

https://sunnah.com/

 

Tafsir:

http://www.altafsir.com/

 

Illustrations in manuscripts:

http://www.islamicpaintedpage.com/

 

 

Books on world history, by scholars on the field of Islamic history:

Richard W. Bulliet et al., The Earth and its peoples: A global history (several editions since 1997).

Michael A. Cook, A brief history of the human race (New York: W.W. Norton, 2003).

Patricia Crone, Pre-industrial societies (Oxford, GB and Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell, 1989, republished Oxford: Oneworld, 2003 and 2015),

Marshall G. S. Hodgson, Rethinking world history: Essays on Europe, Islam and world history (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), available online at