REL 214 INTRODUCTION TO ISLAM

This course introduces students to Islam as it is practiced by over 1.3 billion people worldwide. With its birth in the Arabian Peninsula to its rapid spread throughout the Middle East, the first Muslims expanded the Arabic-speaking world. Beyond the Arab world, Islam continues to influence the many ways people live from the Middle East to South Asia and North America. The course focuses on contemporary practices and issues such as the politics of hijab, the meaning of jihad, and the diversity of Muslim practice and belief. Sources for the course include film, Quranic text, sayings of the Prophet, fiction, art, stories of saints, and music.