Undergraduate Module Descriptor

ARA2146: Islamic Theological Traditions

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 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.

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 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.

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
	0
	0
	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
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)