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fall 2005
Islam as a World View: An Introduction

Giorgio Vercellin, Università Ca' Foscari di Venezia

Aims of the course
 Islam, one of the three monotheistic faiths, is followed today – fourteen centuries after its revelation to mankind – by more than one billion of human beings all over the world. Yet Islam is not only a spiritual faith in an Unique God, called Allah in Arabic, but it has also become the basis of several societies formed and shaped by the believers in that faith. To say it differently, Islam is a “worldview” according to Ninian Smart's definition (which will be discussed at the beginning of the course). Taking in due consideration the multicultural background of the undergraduate students of VIU, the course will introduce the principal issues and problems related to Islam as a faith/religion and as a social ideology from its beginning up to today. To attain this twofold objectives, part of the course will be dedicated to the theoretical bases of Islam as a religious faith. Furthermore we will shortly examine the historical evolution of the Muslim worlds. An more detailed section will discuss the communities of the Muslim believers (some living in so-called Islamic States, other inhabiting in non Muslim realities such as Europe, US, but also India, Cina etc.) and their institutions, particularly as they are organised today.

Course description
After a general introduction to the topics of the course, we will examine the status of Islam and of the Muslims in the contemporary world. One lesson will be dedicated to the historical evolution of the Islamic lands. Then we will approach the origins of Islam as a religion, studying the Qur'an and the life of the prophet Muhammad. Subsequently we will analyse a number of manifestations of that religion, such as the so-called ‘five Pillars of Islam', but also local customs such as saint-worshipping. Then, focusing on the social aspects of this worldview, special attention will be given to the law, both in its Islamic elements ( shari'a and fiqh ) and in its actual, historical expressions in the qanun of the sovereigns, in the traditional customs and in the positive laws of contemporary States. A special set of lessons will deal with the position of women, both in the normative texts and in the actual practices. Specific consideration will be dedicated to contemporary issues, principally to the relations between Muslims and the West.

As the course is expressly addressed to undergraduate students coming from very different worldviews, the teaching material will consist only of literature in English.

Students will be provided with a course pack.

The final grade will be based on a Written Midterm Exam (30%), a Written Final Exam (40%) and Class Participation (30%).

Course outline

Week 1 What is Islam? Who are the Muslims?
Week 2 The historical evolution of the Muslim worlds from Muhammad to the nineteenth century.
Week 3 The historical evolution of the Muslim worlds since the impact with the Western colonial powers.
Week 4 Islam as a religious worldview: Muhammad the Prophet; the Qu'ran.
Week 5 The basic religious duties of the Muslim believer: profession of faith, prayer; fasting; pilgrimage and charity.
Week 6 Some other religious ways of behaving of the Muslim believer: circumcision and saint-worshipping.
Week 7 The Law of God as a means to organize human societies and its evolutions and modifications.
Week 8 Islam and gender; the Muslim worlds and gender issues.
Week 9 The institutions regulating the relations between sexes in the Muslim worlds: marriage; concubinage, polygamy, temporary marriage; repudiation; divorce.
Week 10 Family laws in contemporary Muslim states.
Week 11 Islam and modern states.
Week 12 The clash of civilisations: threat from Islam or threat to Islam?

Giorgio Vercellin Laurea (Ca' Foscari). Full Professor in History of the institutions of the Near and Middle East at Ca' Foscari. Was Professor in Afghan and Iranian Language and Literature and Chairman of the School of Oriental Languages and Literatures at the same University. Carried out extensive research in Iran, Afghanistan and USSR. Lectured at Columbia, SUNY and Georgetown University. Already taught at VIU in Spring 2000, Spring 2001 and Fall 2003. He is author of Afghanistan 1973-1978: dalla Repubblica Presidenziale alla Repubblica Democratica , Venezia 1979; Asia occidentale , Istituto Geografico De Agostini, Novara 1983; Iran e Afghanistan , Editori Riuniti, Roma 1986; Istituzioni del mondo musulmano , Einaudi, Torino 1996; Tra veli e turbanti. Uomini e donne nei mondi dell'Islam , Marsilio, Venezia 2000; Venezia e l'origine della stampa in caratteri arabi , Poligrafo, Padova 2001; Islam. Fede, legge e società , Giunti, Firenze 2003. Publications in English include: A guide to the "Documents of the Nest of Spies" , in "The Afghanistan Forum (New York), Occasional Papers n. 26", August 1986; Transitions in cultures: Gharbzadegi versus Orientalism - and after? , in "Annali di Ca Foscari" (Venezia), 1986, n.XXV, 3, (s.o. 17), pp. 159-167 (also in Transitional Periods in Iranian history, Actes du symposium de Fribourg-en-Brisgau , 1987, pp. 253--254.); The Perception of History In A Buffer State: The Afghanistan Case , in "The East and the Meaning of History, International Conference, (23-28 november 1992)", Roma 1994, pp. 381-395; Hisba: Religious Duty or Practical Job? Some Considerations on an Islamic Institution Between Morals and Markets , in "Annali di Ca' Foscari", XXXVII, 3 (s.o. 29) , 1998, pp. 67-96.