Module ARA2146 for 2019/0
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
ARA2146: Islamic Theological Traditions
This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.
Module Aims
This module is designed to provide through the study of translated texts an in-depth understanding of the main scholastic disciplines of Islam relating to theology, namely usul al-din, usul al-fiqh and systematic theology (kalam). From the starting-point of an exploration of the competing theories for the early development of Islamic scholarship, the history of the main genres of these disciplines will then be considered. Representative texts of these genres in translation, which are considered as key works in their own traditions, will be read and analysed in class, in order to gain a 'first-hand' experience of their form and content, and thus to gain an insight into the milieux which produced them, the epistemological basis of the disciplines, the structure of arguments and the main foci of debates in changing historical settings.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
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Module-Specific Skills | 1. Understand the characteristics of the main genres of Islamic scholarship, the prominent authors, the topics with which their works are concerned, and the competing academic approaches to interpreting them. 2. analyse and contextualise primary texts in translation from the different genres of theological production in Islam |
Discipline-Specific Skills | 3. Understand a religious and intellectual culture through the genres of its literary output,. 4. Compare this first-hand exposure to the academic descriptions in recent scholarship, in order to identify their relevant strengths and shortcomings. |
Personal and Key Skills | 5. Demonstrate transferable skills in analysis and interpretation, as well as in evaluating arguments 6. assess every approach from its own methodological basis and assumptions 7. Demonstrate the ability to find, digest, select and organise material to produce a coherent and reasoned argument in time to meet deadlines. 8. demonstrate the ability to work independently, within a limited time frame, and without access to external sources, to complete a specified task. |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Muslim revelation and debates on authenticity: Qur'an and sunna
Introduction to theological schools
Arguing about God and its validity
Who is a believer? Community, creeds and heresy
Scholarly consensus
The imamate
Prophecy and miracles
Moral agency and moral value
Mystical theology
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
---|---|---|
22 | 128 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
Category | Hours of study time | Description |
---|---|---|
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | 11 | Seminar discussions and presentations |
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | 11 | Lectures |
Guided Independent Study | 72 | Preparation of each weeks reading |
Guided Independent Study | 56 | Study to prepare for the formative and summative assessments |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
How this Module is Assessed
In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.
Formative Assessment
A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.
Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
---|---|---|---|
Oral presentation on text or theme in class | 20 minutes | 1-7 | Oral |
Summative Assessment
A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.
Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
---|---|---|
50 | 50 | 0 |
...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.
Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
---|---|---|---|---|
Examination | 50 | 1.5 hours | 1-7 | Written and oral feedback |
Essay | 50 | 2,000 words | 1-8 | Written and oral feedback |
0 |
Re-assessment
Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.
Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
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Exam | Exam 1.5 hours | 1-8 | August/September assessment period |
Essay | Essay (2000 words) | 1-7 | August/September assessment period |
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.
Norman Calder, Jawid Mojaddedi & Andrew Rippin, Classical Islam: sources of religious literature (London/New York 2001), esp. Chs 5-7.
Ignaz Goldziher, Introduction to Islamic Theology and Law, trs. A. and R. Hamori (Princeton, 1980)
William Montgomery Watt, Islamic Creeds: a Selection (Edinburgh, 1994)
Binyamin Abrahamov, Islamic Theology (Edinburgh, 1997)
Tilman Nagel, The History of Islamic Theology (Princeton, 2000)
The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology, ed. Sabine Schmidtke (Oxford, 2016)
The Cambridge Companion to Classical Islamic Theology, ed. Tim Winter (Cambridge, 2008)