SYLLABUS, ANT 261, Islamic Fundamentalism, (ANT 261 – 0990). Jan 19-May 6, 2016.
Henry Munson, Professor of Anthropology, Instructor. Email: [email protected].
Major topics covered in this online course: We shall stress that while Islamist, or Islamic
fundamentalist, movements often have a reactionary dimension insofar as they insist on strict
conformity to sacred texts interpreted in a reactionary manner, they also sometimes articulate
nationalistic, social, and sectarian grievances. To ignore such grievances is, in some cases, to
ignore important sources of the appeal of these movements. Islamist movements are not all
identical or united. The Sunni-Shi`i sectarian division in Islam, for example, is far more
significant than most Americans realize. One reason ISIS was able to expand in Iraq and Syria
was that it was able to exploit Sunni resentment of the marginalization of Sunnis in both
countries. There are also important differences between nonviolent Islamist parties, like the AK
Party in Turkey and terrorist groups like ISIS. It is a mistake to view violent fundamentalist
groups as representing all Muslims. Like all religions, Islam changes as the societies in which it
is embedded change. The idea that Islam is inherently and immutably violent is wrong. Most
victims of Islamist terrorism have been Muslims and Islamic fundamentalism poses a greater
threat to the Islamic world than it does to the West. That said, terrorism carried out in the name
of Islam is obviously a problem for the West as well as the Islamic world. Tackling this problem
entails, among other things, understanding why some Muslims are attracted to militant Islamist
movements and using this understanding to decrease these movements’ appeal. Military force
can play an important role in defeating militant Islamist movements, but when used without any
understanding of the local factors that often enable these movements to attract recruits and
supporters, it can end up creating more serious problems than the problem it was originally
intended to resolve.
You will need a Blackboard account to take this course. Access Blackboard by clicking
on the
icon when on the University of Maine Launch Pad site. The
gives you access
to the University Technical Support Center, with phone numbers to call for technical assistance.
(See more on this subject below.) This course will NOT have a First Class conference folder,
but I will send you emails on First Class using Blackboard. Make sure that the university has
your correct email address, or you will not receive important email messages. You will need a
high-speed (broad-band) internet connection. If you do not have a broad-band connection at
home, you may need to view the lectures at a university, school, or library. Broad-band
connection is available at computer labs at UC Centers throughout Maine. For help locating a
UC Center nearest you, please dial UC Tele-service at 1-800-868-7000. Answers to questions
frequently asked about Blackboard can be found at: http://support.courses.maine.edu/studentsupport/student-faqs.
For technical problems, contact [email protected] (581-4591) or
[email protected], 1-800-696-4357. (This is now known as UTSC.) You can also get help
at [email protected] (or just write “Faculty Development Center” on First Class), (5811925). This site is in principle just for faculty, but the tech help people here also help students.
You will need Quicktime on your computers to see lectures and videos. You can
download it from http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/ if you don't already have it.
Lectures and required or recommended videos and websites are on the Course Content
page. The website includes resources we will not be using this semester, but which you can use
on your own if you want.
Grade: Three online Blackboard multiple-choice exams, equally weighted. No extra
credit is offered. Grades are on the +/- system, that is 93+ is an A, 90-92 is an A-, 87-89 is a B+,
and so on.
Exams: The three online exams consisting of 50 multiple-choice questions are located
under “Assessments” on the course website on Blackboard. WHEN EXAMS CAN BE
TAKEN. (If, for some reason, you cannot take the exam during the specified dates, you must
make arrangements with the instructor in advance. Only documented excuses, i.e., doctor's
note, obituary, etc., will be accepted as reasons for extensions.). The exams are not open-book
and should be done individually, not in pairs or as a group. You will have 90 minutes in which
to take each exam—in one sitting. Only students with documented disabilities will be
allowed to take more than 90 minutes on exams. Exams must be submitted by the specified
date on the syllabus. Students who fail to follow these rules will receive a 0 for the exam in
question. (However, students without documented disabilities can exceed the 90-minute
limit by 5 minutes without receiving a 0 on their test.)
To take exams, click on https://www.courses.maine.edu, log on, then click on
assessments, then click on the title of the exam.
Disabilities
StudentswithdisabilitiesneedingspecialaccommodationshouldcontacttheDisabilities
Services(121 East Annex, 581-2319)asearlyaspossibleinthesemester.
Texts: The following textbooks will be available through the UMaine (Orono) (581-1700,
http://bookstore.umaine.edu/) bookstore and also the UMA bookstore (1-800-621-0083,
www.umabookstore.com). They are also both on reserve in Fogler Library.
Required:
Abdul Rauf, Feisal. Moving the Mountain: A New Vision of Islam in America. New York: Free
Press, 2012. 1st Free Press trade pbk. ed. 2013. The hardcover edition on reserve has the
title Moving the Mountain: Beyond Ground Zero to a New Vision of Islam in America. It is
the same book. Abdul Rauf is an American citizen of Egyptian origin. He has lived in the
US since 1965, when he was 17 years old. He is a well-known advocate of moderate Islam
and his book serves as a useful reminder that not all Muslims are fundamentalists or
terrorists.
Nasr, Seyyed Vali Reza. The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam Will Shape the Future.
New York: Norton, 2006. Paperback, 2007. Nasr is Dean of the Johns Hopkins School of
Advanced International Studies and served as senior advisor to the U.S. special
representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, between 2009
and 2011. Of Iranian origin, he and his family immigrated to the US after the Iranian
revolution of 1978-79.
Both of these books are on reserve in Fogler Library.
Recommended:
Some of you might be interested in reading my 1988 book Islam and Revolution in the Middle
East (Yale University Press). A lot has happened since this book was published. Yet much of it
remains relevant.
There are many useful resources on the course website that we will not be using this semester,
but some of you may want to study them on your own. You will only be tested on required
material.
Schedule: Keep up with the required lectures, films, and readings on the Course Content page.
(When a film image disappears, just tap your keypad and it will usually return.) Readings and
films are required unless listed as recommended. Readings should be finished by the dates
indicated. Some readings are online with URLs indicated.
Week 1. 1/19-24.
Lecture: Introduction.
Readings: Abdul Rauf, Author’s Note (xiii-xiv), Introduction (1-27). (Bear in mind that
not all Muslims would endorse Abdul Rauf’s modern and open-minded view of Islam.
But his book serves as a useful reminder that there are Muslims like him and they can
play an important role in opposing Islamic extremism.) Munson, “Islam, Nationalism,
and Resentment of Foreign Domination;” “Quranic verses tolerant and intolerant.” (All
readings other than those in the assigned books are on the Course Content page of the
course website on Blackboard although some can also be read online elsewhere if their
URL is given in this syllabus.) Muslims who want to interpret Islam as a tolerant religion
can find Quranic verses to support this stance. Similarly, Muslims who want to interpret
Islam as an intolerant religion hostile to all unbelievers can find Quranic verses to support
this stance. Recommended: “Introduction to Islam,” at
http://www.pluralism.org/religion/islam.
Week 2.1/25-31.
Lecture: Islam II (Sunni-Shi`i division, emergence of modern Islamist or Islamic
fundamentalist movements in the modern Middle East).
Readings: Abdul Rauf, 1. What We Believe, 2. Shariah in America (1-82).
Films: Recommended film: The Message. This film about the Life of the Prophet was
made by a Muslim director with modern, open-minded views who was killed by Muslim
fundamentalists. It is a Hollywood-style movie that caused a great deal of controversy in
the Islamic world when it was first released. Summary of Movie: “The Message,” at
http://istweb.org/2012/02/12/summary-of-movie-the-message/. “The Life of
Muhammad,” at http://www.pbs.org/muhammad/timeline_html.shtml. There is actually
some uncertainty about some of the dates in this timeline, but the dates listed are
commonly accepted.
Week 3.2/1-7
Readings: Abdul Rauf, 3. Islam and Other Religions, 4. The Modern American Muslim
Woman, 5. Our Fight against Extremism, 6. Islam, the State, and Politics, Conclusion:
Islam the American Way (82-200), and Glossary (207-211).
Film: Mosque in Morgantown (on Course Content page). This film is a controversial
documentary about former Wall Street Journal reporter Asra Nomani, a PakistaniAmerican journalist who demands that women have the same rights as men in her local
mosque in Morgantown, West Virginia. It describes the tensions between reformist and
traditionalist views of Islam. The website
http://www.themosqueinmorgantown.com/film/ provides useful information about the
film.
Week 4: 2/8-14.Test 1 to be taken online.
Week 5. 2/15-21.
Readings: “The Sunni-Shia Divide, CFR Backgrounder” (http://www.cfr.org/peaceconflict-and-human-rights/sunni-shia-divide/p33176#!/#resources); Olivia Ward, “SunniShia split: the Mideast's new great divide,” The Star, Sept. 6, 2013
(http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/09/06/sunnishia_split_the_mideasts_new_gre
at_divide.html); Nasr, The Shia Revival (hereafter referred to simply as Nasr)
Introduction, The Other Islam: Who Are the Shia?, The Making of Shia Politics, The
Fading Promise of Nationalism, (17-117).
Week 6. 2/22-28.
Lecture: Iran.
Readings: BBC, Iran Profile (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14541327).
BBC, Iraq Profile (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14544541).
Nasr, Khomeini's Moment, 119-145, The Battle of Islamic Fundamentalisms, 147-68,
The Tide Turns, 169-84, Iraq: The First Arab Shia State, 185-210, The Rise of Iran, 21126, The Battle for the Middle East, 227-54; “Iraq’s Factions and Their Goals,” NYT
video, by Quynhanh Do and Christian Roman, Sep. 22, 2014
(http://www.nytimes.com/video/world/middleeast/100000002939649/iraqs-factions-andtheir-goals.html); "I would give it an A": Why nuclear experts love the Iran deal,” Vox,
July 7, 2015 Max Fisher interviews nuclear arms expert Jeffrey Lewis
(http://www.vox.com/2015/7/15/8967147/iran-nuclear-deal-jeffrey-lewis).
Week 7. 2/29-3/6.
Lectures: Recommended not required: Introduction to Israeli-Palestinian conflict (ANT
454 lecture, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, 1967-1982, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, 19822000.
Readings: Beinin, Joel and Lisa Hajjar, Primer on Palestine, Israel and the Arab-Israeli
Conflict
(http://www.merip.org/primer-palestine-israel-arab-israeli-conflict-new).
Recommended: CFR, Crisis Guide: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
(http://www.cfr.org/israel/crisis-guide-israeli-palestinian-conflict/p13850).
3/7-20 Spring break University of Maine
Week 8: 3/21-27. Test 2 taken.
Week 9. 3/28-4/3.
Lecture: Hamas.
Readings: CFR Backgrounder: Hamas (http://www.cfr.org/israel/hamas/p8968), Hamas
Covenant or Charter (1988). (http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp);
http://www.mideastweb.org/hamas.htm. Prusher, Ilene R. “Budget weddings by
Hamas” Christian Science Monitor, 7/27/98, Vol. 90 Issue 169, p.1.
(http://www.csmonitor.com/1998/0727/072798.intl.intl.1.html).
Film: Hamas: The Untold Story.
Week 10. 4/4-10.
Lecture: Hezbollah.
Readings: CFR Backgrounder Hezbollah (a.k.a. Hizbollah, Hizbu'llah)
http://www.cfr.org/lebanon/hezbollah-k-hizbollah-hizbullah/p9155. Film: The Living
Martyr: Inside the Hezbollah. Nasr, Afterword, 255-73. ICG, “Lebanon’s Hizbollah
Turns Eastward to Syria,” Middle East Report N°153, 27 May 2014
(http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/Middle%20East%20North%20Africa/Iraq%20
Syria%20Lebanon/Lebanon/153-lebanon-s-hizbollah-turns-eastward-to-syria.pdf. Randa
Slim, Hezbollah’s plunge into the Syrian abyss, Foreign Policy, May 28, 2013
(http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/05/28/hezbollahs-plunge-into-the-syrian-abyss/).
Film: The Living Martyr.
Week 11. 4/11-17.
Lecture: Syria.
Readings: BBC, Syria profile (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-14703856);
CFR Backgrounder, The Islamic State.Authors:ZacharyLaub,OnlineWriter/Editor,and
JonathanMasters,DeputyEditor.UpdatedNovember16,2015
(http://www.cfr.org/iraq/islamic-state-iraq-syria/p14811);Ian Fisher, “In Rise of ISIS,
No Single Missed Key but Many Strands of Blame,” NYT, Nov. 18, 2015
(http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/19/world/middleeast/in-rise-of-isis-no-single-missedkey-but-many-strands-of-blame.html?smid=nytcore-iphone-share&smprod=nytcoreiphone&_r=0); Pew Research Center, “In nations with significant Muslim populations,
much disdain for ISIS,” Nov. 17, 2015 (http://www.pewresearch.org/facttank/2015/11/17/in-nations-with-significant-muslim-populations-much-disdain-forisis/?utm_source=Pew+Research+Center&utm_campaign=d857bf86aaReligion_Weekly_Nov_19_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3e953b9b70d857bf86aa-399904673).
Films: The Rise of ISIS. Frontline, Oct. 28, 2014 (54:11)
(http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/rise-ofisis/?elq=18fb6616ce3f4f73813e0d3758578b54&elqCampaignId=1073); Quynhanh Do,
The Evolution of ISIS. NYT, Dec. 13, 2014 video (5:42)
(http://www.nytimes.com/video/world/middleeast/100000003240417/the-evolution-ofisis.html?emc=edit_tnt_20141213&nlid=10466017&tntemail0=y).
Week 12. 4/18-24.
Lecture: Saudi Arabia.
Readings: BBC, Saudi Arabia profile (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east14703476); Robin Wright, “Iran and Saudi Arabia: The Showdown Between Islam’s
Rival Powers, New Yorker, Jan. 4, 2016 (http://www.newyorker.com/news/newsdesk/iran-and-saudi-arabia-the-showdown-between-islams-rival-powers?intcid=modlatest);
CFR, What's Driving Saudi Actions? Zachary Laub interviews Toby Matthieson, Jan. 8,
2016 (http://www.cfr.org/saudi-arabia/driving-saudi-actions/p37420).
Week 13. 4/25-5/1.
Lecture: Egypt. BBC, Egypt profile, (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa13313371).
Readings: El Rashidi, Egypt: The Rule of the Brotherhood, NYRB Feb. 7, 2013
(http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2013/02/07/egypt-rule-brotherhood/); El Rashidi, The
Misunderstood Agony, NYRB, Sept. 26, 2013; Ed Husain, “The folly of Morsy's death
sentence,” CNN, May 27, 2015 (http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/27/opinions/husain-morsydeath-sentence/).
(http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2013/09/26/egypt-misunderstood-agony/).
Film: Revolution in Cairo (Frontline) (on Course Content page)..
Week 14: 5/2-6.
Lecture: Overview
5/7-13:Test 3 taken.
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