Contemporary Islamism in South Asia: Readings in Sayyid Abu al-A'la Mawdudi
- Course Code:
- 15PSRC170
- Status:
- Course Not Running 2012/2013
- Unit value:
- 1
- Year of study:
- Any
- Taught in:
- Full Year
Please include an explanation of how the course fits into the programmes in which it will be available
The continuously intensive global debate on a potential threat of the 'Islamic fundamentalism' past the attacks of 9/11 has clearly shown the necessity to deal with these ideologies in a more differentiated way. As one of the first who have worked out an elaborated and consistent ideology of this kind has been considered the Indo-Muslim thinker Sayyid Abū l-Aʿlā Mawdūdī (d. 1979). Born in Central Indian Awrangābād in 1917, already his vita reflects the colonial field of tension: Educated in both, the traditional religious syllabus of the dīnī madāris and Modern Western subjects, he is counted as a major protagonist of a developing class of Muslim 'Intellectuals', hybrid personalities who began to creatively bring about a synthesis of both fields. Mawdūdī's interesting attempt to propose Islam as a coherent 'System of Life' (niẓām-i zindagī) is a vivid expression of this developments in recent Muslim intellectual history. His ideas have been strongly received by many leading thinkers of so-called 'Islamism' all over the world, not least by the Egyptian Sayyid Quṭb (executed 1966). Meanwhile, Mawdūdī's writings belong to the standards sold in religious bookstores and are on display on the stalls of Muslim Student Organisations all over the world.
In this course we will attempt to fathom fundamental ideas of 'Islamism' on the basis of careful readings of selected writings of Mawdūdī himself. In this endeavour, however, we will start at a thorough analysis of Mawdūdī's vita and the complex religious and political context that was instrumental in shaping his ideas. That way, the students will get an idea about the intertwinedness of text and context for the development of a political utopia that appears as focussing backward at first glance. The readings of primary texts of Mawdūdī in English translations (although Urdu and Arabic texts will be provided for volunteering students with appropriate command) will show that the ideological system proposed by Mawdūdī is a very modern one, borrowing heavily from an intellectual heritage of Western Modernity.
At a later point we shall also reflect upon Mawdūdī's genuine attempt to realize his ideology in practice when he initiated the establishment of the religio-political movement Jamāʿat-i islāmī. Here, he smartly used the double-meaning of the word jamāʿa, meaning 'Community' as well as 'Society', thus combining the micro-level of the actual movement with the macro-level of the Islamic state as its ultimate goal.
The course, initially developed and approved as UG course (15 800 0177), will fit much better into the MA Religions programme and help to develop a pathway "Islam" herein. It adds the Muslim perspective to the contemporary religious outlook of the Indian subcontinent and will contributed to a deepened understanding of contemporary Muslim political thought only touched upon in the Undergraduate course 'An Introduction to Islam'. The decision to offer this course rather on the PG level is derived not least from the fact that as such it is better compatible with PG courses and programmes offered by other Departments. Thus, the course will supplement the PG course "Islam in South Asia" offered by the Dept. of History. It will fit well into the MA South Asian Area Studies and would eventually also be a part of the proposed MA in the Study of Contemporary Pakistan at the Dept. of South Asian Studies (approval pending) and at the Centre for the Study of Contemporary Pakistan, which is about to materialize. Finally, to teach this course on the PG level would contribute strongly to keeping the offers of UG and PG courses on Islam in balance.
Objectives and learning outcomes of the course
At the end of the course, a student should be able to demonstrate…
- an ability to discuss the historical and cultural contexts in which Contemporary Political Islam developed
- an understanding of the construction of a religio-political system of thought
- an ability to consider the degree of the impact of Modern Western political and philosophical thinking and Classical Islamic thought, as well as the intercultural contact on the self-perception of the Islamic tradition and it's reinterpretation
- an understanding of Mawdūdī's genuine attempt to a practical realisation of his ideology in the religio-political movement Jamāʿat-i islāmī
- an ability to discuss the impact of Mawdūdī's system of thought on other Islamist theorists and movements
- an ability to reflect upon the usefulness of the analytical categories 'Islamism', 'Islamic Fundamentalism', 'Political Islam'
- an ability to critically analyze primary source material in the field of Islamism
- an ability to present orally an introduction and critical discussion of different problems relating to the field to an audience within a given time frame
- consolidated skills in academic writing in view of the upcoming MA dissertation
Workload
One hour lecture + one hour tutorial per week (22 weeks)
Method of assessment
One essay worth 40% (4,000-4,500 words), one essay worth 50% (4,000-4,500 words), oral presentation to class of 10-15 minutes worth 10%
