INTL 399/405 (See important registration information, including how to register as a graduate student)
Professor Anita Weiss
Summer 2008
Militant Islam
There are two sections to this weekend course, which can be taken separately or together.
Part I: Foundations in Faith
June 21 (9-3:50) and June 22 (9-11:50); Location: 166 Lawrencee
This weekend seminar is designed to introduce participants to the historical and theological foundations of militant Islam. We will explore the various ways the concept of jihad – striving, struggle – has been understood in Muslim societies and learn about various foundational movements including the Wahhabi in Arabia, the Grand Sanusi and Mahdi in north Africa, the legacy of Shah Wali Allah in South Asia, and the origins of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
Part II: Manifestations Today
June 28 (9-3:50) and June 29 (9-11:50); Location: 166 Lawrence
This weekend seminar introduces participants to the larger goals of militant Islamist – jihadi – groups, probes reasons why we are seeing more groups oriented toward militant Islam in the world today, and identifies who these groups are. We will study the distinctions between the various groups (as they do not share identical means nor ends), from nonstatal groups such as al- Qaeda to Jemaah Islamiyah to state-based groups such as the Muttahida Majlis-e-amal (MMA) in Pakistan to PAS in Malaysia. We will try to get past the rhetoric and understand the structure, activities and goals of these various entities. We will review the activities of various key players in the global activities of militant Islam, from Sayed Qutb to Maulana Maududi to Osama bin Laden.
Each participant is encouraged to discuss the various topics we will address in this course in an open, respectful manner so as to promote deeper understanding of these issues which have been heavily sensationalized by the global media and differing political groups.
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Professor Weiss has broad experience as a scholar in this arena for over two decades, going back to the publication of her first book Islamic Reassertion in Pakistan in 1986. She has published numerous articles and book chapters on political Islam, serves as an Advisory Editor on the forthcoming Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, and has lectured extensively both locally and nationally about political Islam in the wake of the catastrophic events of September 11, 2001.