Basic historical knowledge.

General knowledge of rituals, doctrines, beliefs, and internal divisions of Islam, their historical evolution, and their civilizational context.

The course is structured into five interlocking thematic cores, each roughly corresponding to 1 CFU, that is, approximately 5 teaching hours and 20 individual study hours.

1) The Prophet and his message

Introduction.

Arabia, South West Asia, and the Eastern Mediterranean before Islam.

Prophet Muhammad's life and predication.

Hijra and the Umma’s victory.

The Qur’an

2) Fundamental doctrinal elements of Islamic faith

The 'Five Pillars'.

Theology and Hadith

Sufism

3) Diversity in Islam

The succession to the Prophet.

The fitan

The divisions of the Community and Shi'a Islam.

The Caliphate and its fracturing.

4) Islamic Law

Shari'a, Fiqh, legal schools.

Modern evolution.

5) Modern Islam

Islamic modernism. The end of the Caliphate.

The Palestinian question.

Modern political Islam. Salafism. Jihadism.

Neo-reformism and Islamic Feminism.

(A) Hillenbrand, Carole. 2015. Islam. A New Historical Introduction. Thames & Hudson.

The course is accessible for students who do not know Arabic, but knowledge of discipline-specific technical terms in Arabic will be required.

The textbook indicated will be supplemented by some additional integrative material by the teacher, which is part of the required program.

Students, particularly if not attending, are encouraged to contact the professor if they need to.

The course shall be held for 70% in English.

• Direct teaching.

  Interactive discussion and seminarial activity.

  Use of images, maps, slides, audio-visual tools.

  Students are encouraged to intervene in class and offer their own ideas and perspectives.

• Oral examination.

  Students will be asked to demonstrate general knowledge of beliefs, rituals, major traditions of thought, and institutions discussed during the course. Students may be asked to recflect critically on the basis of the issues studied in the course.

  For attending students, written tests may be taken during the course. These optional tests will evaluate the knowledge of historical, geographical, and terminological fundaments of the discipline as studied, and form final evaluation if the result is accepted. An oral exam is however available, to improve the tests evaluation up to 6 points, or replace it if not accepted.

Italian, English, Arabic.

English