DEPARTMENT OF

POLITICS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

COURSE

COURSE NAME Political Islam: Islamist Ideologies and Practice

Welcome to the School of Social Science.

This course guide gives information about the social science course you have chosen to study.

It must be read in conjunction with the School of Social Science Student Handbook, which is available on. You should also look at the School of Social Science Information for Undergraduate page on

Course Co-ordinator

Departmental Support

External Examiner

The External Examiner’s name is provided for information purposes only.

Students should not, under any circumstances, contact the External Examiner.

Credit Rating

This course is offered in the second half-session. It has a rating of 30 credit points; that is, it is expected to take up 50% of the time of a full-time student.

Course Requirements and Assessment

Requirements

• Satisfactory attendance at, and participation in, tutorials

Assessment

This course is assessed by:

• Delivery of one ‘Team’ Presentation (weighting 20%) on relevant due date.
• Submission of ONE 3,000 word essay (weighting 40%) Submission deadline Thursday 28^th April 2022 4pm.
• Completion of ONE online exam (weighting 40%). To be completed within ONE week (9am Monday 16^th – 9am Monday 23^rd May 2022).

Feedback

Written feedback on all formal assignments will be provided within three weeks of the submission date. Informal feedback will be provided verbally in class. Additional verbal and/or written feedback is available on request.

Lectures

Lectures for this course will be pre-recorded and available on the course page on MyAberdeen.

Lecture Outlines

Part One: History and the Pathway to the Present

Week 1             Introduction: What is ‘Islamism’?

Initial examination of “Islamism(s)” – Theoretical Frames

Why “Islamism” and not “fundamentalism”?

Week 2             Politics of Early Islam

The period of the Prophet and the concept of Hijra.

 Al-rashidun, ridda wars and zakat.

Sunni/Shi’i divide – leadership and legitimacy.

The Hidden Imam.

Week 3             Traditional Islam and Empire

Ottoman Empire, Sharia law and differentiated authorities.

Millet system and political role of waqf.

Week 4             Reformism and Revivalism

Context: Colonisation, Imperialism and the collapse of the Caliphate.

Revivalism and Reformism – reaction or rejection to modernity?

Week 5             READING WEEK

Part Two: The Rise of Modern Islamism

Week 6             Failure of Arab Nationalism and pan-Arabism

Pan-Islam, President Nasser and pan-Arabism, al-nakbar (1967 six-day war).

Week 7             Muslim Brothers and Takfiri groups in Egypt

The believer President Sadat, the Camp David Peace Accords and the rise of Takfir w’al hijra.

Gradual methods of the Muslim Brothers.

Week 8             The Iranian Revolution

Revolt of the oppressed.

Revolution of Shia quietism to political activism.

Consequences of the wiliyat al-fiqh

Week 9             Hizbullah

Break down of Lebanese state – contemporary millet system?

Iranian influence, shia dispossessed and the wiliyat al-Fiqh.

Taif accords and political participation.

Hizbullah today.

Week 10          Hamas

Intifada and failure of secular PLO nationalism.

Hamas as the “strong arm” of the Muslim Brothers.

Use of waqf as a system.

Understanding Palestine as waqf in contrast to Eretz Israel.

Political party of ‘terrorist’ group?

Week 10          Islamist Welfare and woman’s ‘jihad’

Influence of “traditional Islam” and the Prophet.

Soft power of welfare and charity.

Role of Women and the politics of veiling

Week 12          Transnational Islam: al-Qaeda and ISIS (Daesh)

Emergence of al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

The emergence of the Islamic State group. (IS)

Trans-Islam, Caliphate and the challenge to the nation-state.

Week 13          Re-emergence of the Taliban in Afghanistan  

What are the ideologies, aims and tactics of the Taliban?
Are the Taliban the same movement as emerged in the 1990s?

What is the role of Islam in Afghan society?

Was the takeover by the Taliban inevitable?

Tutorials

You will be able to choose your tutorials and finalise your personal timetable via MyTimetable. Step-by-step online help will guide you through this process.

Once signed up for a tutorial group, you MUST stay in that group. Changes of group will only be allowed in exceptional circumstances and must be approved in advance by the course co-ordinator.

Meeting 1        Getting Organised.

Presentation assignments – allocation of presentation “teams”

 What is Political Islam (Islamism)? In what ways has Political Islam (or Islamism) been theorised?

Meeting 2        Political Life of Early Islam

How did early Islam organise politically? (Economic, militarily, legally).

In what ways does this challenge the contemporary dominant understanding of the ‘political’? (e.g. assumptions of secularism).

Meeting 3        Traditional Islam and Empire.

What caused the sunni/shia split?

What are the major differences in political thought between the sunni and the traditional shia?

What are the key political features of empire?

Why was the millet system politically important?

What is waqf, what political role did it serve and how was it territorially understood?

Meeting 4        Reformism and Revivalism.

What are the key differences between Islamist Reformism and Revivalism?

To what extend was Reformism a reaction or rejection of modernity? (pay attention to what you think are the key aspects of modernity).

Meeting 5        NO TUTORIAL -READING WEEK.

Meeting 6        Team Presentations: Key Ideologues – al-Banna

Student Team Presentations (20% of overall grade).

Students will give a 30 minute team presentation

(Tip: Look at al-Banna’s OWN writings).

What are his main ideologies and concepts?

Do they conform or transcend the nation-state ideal?

How have they influenced contemporary Islamism?

Meeting 7        Tea, Presentation: Key Ideologue – Maududi

Student Team Presentations (20% of overall grade).

Students will give a 30 minute team presentation

 (Tip: Look at Maududi’s OWN writings).

What are his main ideologies and concepts?

Do they conform or transcend the nation-state ideal?

How have they influenced contemporary Islamism?

Meeting 8        Team Presentation: Key Ideologue – Qutb

Student Team Presentations (20% of overall grade).

Students will give a 30 minute team presentation

 (Tip: Look at Qutb’s OWN writings).

What are his main ideologies and concepts?

Do they conform or transcend the nation-state ideal?

How have they influenced contemporary Islamism?

Meeting 9        Team Presentation: Key Ideologue – Shariati

Student Team Presentations (20% of overall grade).

Students will give a 30 minute team presentation. (Tip: Look at Shariati’s OWN writings).

What are his main ideologies and concepts?

Do they conform or transcend the nation-state ideal?

How have they influenced contemporary Islamism?

Meeting 10      The Islamization of Palestine and Lebanon: Hamas and Hizbullah.

What are the ideological links between Hizbullah, Iran and Palestine?

How do these challenge Western assumptions of territory, authority and national identity?

Has Hizbullah abandoned its goal of an Islamic state?

How did events in Israel/Palestine influence the emergence of Hamas?

Is Hamas a synthesis of differing Islamist ideologies?
How is “nationalism” and national territory understood by Hamas?

What are the similarities and differences between Hizbullah’s and Hamas’ conception of an Islamic state?

Meeting 11      Islamist Welfare and women’s jihad.

How important is charity and welfare for the continuance of Islamist movements?

Who is involved in welfare projects and who benefits?

Is private piety political?

Is veiling an expression of political identity?

Meeting 12      Transnational Islamism: Al-Qaeda and ISIS (Daesh).

Should transnational Islamist groups be separated from national Islamist groups?

What accounts for the rise of transnational Islam?

Do (did?) al-Qaeda and ISIS have the same goals, tactics and ideologies? What are their similarities and differences?

What is the future of political Islam?

Meeting 1 3     The Re-emergence of the Taliban in Afghanistan

What are the ideologies, aims and tactics of the Taliban?
Are the Taliban the same movement as emerged in the 1990s?

What is the role of Islam in Afghan society?

Was the takeover by the Taliban inevitable?

READINGS

Lecture/Tutorial 1: Introduction.

Essential Reading:

• Strinberg, Anders and Warn, Mats. 2011.  Islamism, (Cambridge: Polity Press) Introduction: The Islamist Challenge, pp. 1-9. (Scan available on MyAberdeen)

• Juergensmeyer, Mark. 1995. “The New Religious State”, Comparative Politics, 27(4): 379-391

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/422225

• Kepel, Giles “The Revenge of God” (1994 Polity Press). (Scan Available on MyAberdeen)

• F. Burgat. 2011. ‘From National Struggles to the Disillusionment of Recolonization: The Triple Temporality of Islamism’, in Frederik Volpi (ed), Political Islam: A Critical Reader, (London and New York; Routledge). (Scan available on MyAberdeen)

Further Reading:

• Ayoob, Mohammed. 2009. The Many Faces of Political Islam: Religion and Politics in the Muslim World, (Ann Arbor; Michigan University Press) READ CHAPTER ONE: “Defining Concepts, Demolishing Myths” DOI: 10.3998/mpub.189346

• Richard Jackson. 2007. ‘Constructing Enemies: “Islamic Terrorism” in Political and Academic Discourse’, Government and Opposition, 42 (3): 394-426. DOI: 10.1111/j.1477-7053.2007.00229.x

• March, Andrew. 2015. ‘Political Islam: Theory’, Annual Review of Political Science, 18: 103-123  https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-polisci-082112-141250

• Ayoob, Mohammed. 2004. “Political Islam: Image and Reality”, World Policy Journal, 21 (3): 1-14. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40210231

• Hurvitz, Nimrod. 2017. ‘Changing Islam, Changing the World: Contrasting Visions within Political Islam’, Ethnic and Racial Studies, 40(12): 2077-2095 DOI: 10.1080/01419870.2017.1277029

• Brubaker, Rogers. 2012. ‘Religion and Nationalism: Four Approaches’, 18 (1) 2-20. DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8129.2011.00486.x
• Friedland, Roger. 2016. ‘Thinking Through Religious Nationalism’, pp. 419-462 in Ernst Van Den Hernel (Eds.) Words: Religious Language Matters, (Fordham University Press). Available Online via PRIMO

Lecture/Tutorial 2: Political Life of Early Islam.

Essential Reading:

• Waines, David.1995. An Introduction to Islam. (Cambridge; Cambridge University Press). Chapter 6: “The Way of the Imams”. Pp. 155-172. (Scan Available on MyAberdeen)

• Cleveland, William L. 2018. A History of the Modern Middle East. (Oxford; Westview Press). Chapter 1: “The Rise and Expansion of Islam”, pp. 4- 19. DOI: 10.4324/9780429495502

Further Reading:

• Faruqi, Isma’ail R. 2012. Islam: Religion, Practice, Culture and World Order, (Institute of Islamic Thought), READ Part II: “Moments of the Muslim’s Religious Life” (available online via JSTOR.org )

• Morgan, Diane. 2009. Essential Islam: A Comprehensive Guide to Belief and Practice, (Santa Barbara; Praeger) READ CHAPTER ONE “What Muslim’s Believe: Essential Articles of Faith. (Available online via PRIMO).

Lecture/Tutorial 3: Traditional Islam and Empire.

Essential Reading:

• Karen Barkey. 2014. Empire of Difference: The Ottomans in Comparative Perspective (Cambridge; Cambridge University Press). “Introduction” pp. 3-14. (Scan available on MyAberdeen)

• Baer, G. (1997). The Waqf as a Prop for the Social System (Sixteenth- Twentieth Century). Islamic Law and Society , 4 (3), 264-297. DOI: 10.1163/1568519972599752

• Cleveland, William L. 2018. A History of the Modern Middle East. (Oxford; Westview Press). READ Chapter 3: “The Ottoman and Safavid Empires: A New Imperial Synthesis” DOI: 10.4324/9780429495502

• Barkey, Karen and Gavrills, George. 2015. ‘The Ottoman Millet System: Non Territorial Autonomy and It’s Contemporary Legacy’, Ethnopolitics, 15 (1): 24-42. DOI: 10.1080/17449057.2015.1101845

Further Reading:

• Morgan, Diane. 2009. Essential Islam: A Comprehensive Guide to Belief and Practice, (Santa Barbara; Praeger) READ CHAPTER FOUR “Islamic Law and Cultural Practices” (Available online via PRIMO).

• Beverley McCloud, Aminah et. al. 2013. An Introduction to Islam in the 21^st Century, (John Chichester; Wiley and Sons). READ chapter 3“Religious Structures” (Available online via PRIMO).

• Peri, O. (1992). Waqf and Ottoman Welfare Policy: The Poor Kitchen of Hasseki Sultan in Eighteenth Century Jerusalem . Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient , 35 (2), 167-186. DOI: 10.2307/3632408

• Emon, Anver. M, 2012. Pluralism and Islamic Law: Dhimmis and Other in the Empire of Law, Oxford Scholarship Online.

Lecture/Tutorial 4: Reformism and Revivalism.

Essential Reading:

• Choueiri, Youssef M. 1997. Islamic Fundamentalism, (London and New York: Continuum). READ Chapter 1: “Islam and Islamic Revivalism”, and Chapter 2: “Islamic Reformism”. (Scan available on MyAberdeen)

• Aboul-Enein, Youssef. 2010. Militant Islamist Ideology: Understanding the Global Threat, (Annapolis; Naval Institute Press).

Chapter 8: “The 1925 Caliphate Debates”, pp. 53-71.

Chapter 12: “Ibn Abdul – Wahhab (1703 -1792), pp. 112-115

Available at: http://site.ebrary.com/lib/aberdeenuniv/docDetail.action?docID=10454933

• Macris, Jeffrey, 2016. ‘Investigating the Ties between Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, early Wahhabism and ISIS’, The Journal of the Middle East and Africa, 239-255. DOI: 10.1080/21520844.2016.1227929

Further Reading:

• Cleveland, William L. 2018. A History of the Modern Middle East. (Oxford; Westview Press). READ Chapter 7: “The Response of Islamic Society” DOI: 10.4324/9780429495502

• Ali, Souad Tagelisir. 2009. A Religion, Not a State: Ali ‘Abd al-Raziq’s Islamic Justification of Political Secularism, (Utah; University of Utah Press). Available online via PRIMO.

• Dallal, Ahmad. 1993. “The Origins and Objectives of Islamic Revivalist Thought, 1750-1850”, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 113 (3): 341-359.

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/605385

• Beverley McCloud, Aminah et. al. 2013. An Introduction to Islam in the 21^st Century, (John Chichester; Wiley and Sons). READ chapter 5 “Islamic Political Theology” (Available online via PRIMO).

• Morgan, Diane. 2009. Essential Islam: A Comprehensive Guide to Belief and Practice, (Santa Barbara; Praeger) READ CHAPTER FIVE “The Many Faces of Islam” (Available online via PRIMO).

Lecture/Tutorial 5: Failure of Arab Nationalism and pan-Islamism.

Essential Reading:

• Kepel, Gilles. 2003. Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam, (London; I. B. Tauris). Chapter 3: “Building Petro-Islam on the Ruins of Arab Nationalism”, pp. 61 -81. (Scan available on MyAberdeen)

• Chatterjee, Partha. 1993. Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World, (London; Zed books)

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ARdhllTNxnAC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false Read Chapter 1

• Gelner, Ernest. 2006. Nations and Nationalisms. (Oxford; Blackwell Publishing). Scan available on Myaberdeen). Read Chapter 1.

• Anderson, Benedict.1991. Imagined Communities, (London; Verso). Read Chapters 1 (http://pips.uinsu.ac.id/assets/plugins/content_upload/files/Benedict_Anderson_Imagined_Communities_Reflections_on_the_Origin_and_Spread_of_Nationalism__2006(1)(1).pdf)

• Spohn, W. 2003. ‘Multiple Modernity, Nationalism and Religion: A Global Perspective’, Current Sociology, 51 (3/4): 265 -286. DOI: 10.1177/0011392103051003007

Further Reading:

• Michel, Patrick (Eds.). 2017. Religion, Nations and Transnationalism in Multiple Modernities, (New York; Palgrave Macmillan). Online via PRIMO

• Hossein, Alizadeh. 2018. ‘Pan-Islamism: Attempt of Political Islam in the restoration of the Caliphate a Century After Its Abolition in 1924’, Journal of Mediterranean Knowledge’ 32(2): 203-214 DOI: 10.26409/2018JMK3.2.06

• Cleveland, William L. 2018. A History of the Modern Middle East. (Oxford; Westview Press). READ Chapter 15: ““The Middle East in the Age of Nasser: The Egyptian Base”, pp. 293-313.” DOI: 10.4324/9780429495502

• Beverley McCloud, Aminah et. al. 2013. An Introduction to Islam in the 21^st Century, (John Chichester; Wiley and Sons). READ chapter 6 & 7 “Islam and the State Part I & Part II” (Available online via PRIMO).

Reading for Group Presentations

Key Ideologues – al-Banna, Shariati, Maududi, and Qutb.

Reading For Hasan al-Banna

• Aboul-Enein, Youssef. 2010. Militant Islamist Ideology: Understanding the Global Threat, (Annapolis; Naval Institute Press).

Chapter 13: “Hasan al-Banna”

Available at: http://site.ebrary.com/lib/aberdeenuniv/docDetail.action?docID=10454933

• al-Banna Hassan, “Towards the Light” access: https://www.kalamullah.com/Books/Towards%20the%20Light.pdf
• al-Banna, Hassan, “Between Yesterday and Today” access: http://ebooks.rahnuma.org/religion/Hassan_Al_Bana/between_yesterday_and_today.pdf

• Marechal, Brigitte. 2008. The Muslim Brothers in Europe: roots and discourse. (Boston; Brill). Available online via PRIMO

• Jansen, Johannes J.G. 1992. ‘Hasan al-Banna’s Earliest Pamphlet’, Die Welt Des Islams, New Series 32 (2): 254-258. (Available on JSTOR).

• DOI: 10.1111/j.1478-1913.2009.01270.x

Reading For Sayyid Qutb:

• Qutb, Sayyid. Milestones

Pdf available at: http://majalla.org/books/2005/qutb-nilestone.pdf)

• Khatab, Sayed. 2005. The Power of Sovereignty: The Political and Ideological Thought of Sayyid Qutb, (Florence; Routledge). DOI: 10.4324/9780203086940

• Soage, Ana Belen. 2009. ‘Hasan al-Banna and Sayyid Qutb: Continuity or Rupture?’, The Muslim World, 99(2): 294-311. DOI: 10.1111/j.1478-1913.2009.01270.x

• Shepard, William E. 2003. Sayyid Qutb’s Doctrine of “Jāhiliyya”, International Journal of Middle East Studies , 35 (4): 521-545.

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3879862

• Khatab, Sayed. 2002. “Hakimiyyah” and “Jahiliyyah” in the Thought of Sayyid Qutb

Middle Eastern Studies, 38 (3):145-170.

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4284246

• Toth, James. 2013. Sayyid Qutb: The life and Legacy of a Radical Islamic Intellectual, (Oxford; Oxford University Press).

Available at: https://www.dawsonera.com/abstract/9780199790968

• Aboul-Enein, Youssef. 2010. Militant Islamist Ideology: Understanding the Global Threat, (Annapolis; Naval Institute Press).

Chapter 14: “Sayyid Qutb”, pp. 122-132.

Available at: http://site.ebrary.com/lib/aberdeenuniv/docDetail.action?docID=10454933

Reading for Ali Shariati:

• Shari’ati. 1979. Marxism and Other Western Fallacies: An Islamic Critique access: http://islaminmalayalam.com/books/p.%20Marxism%20and%20other%20western%20fallacies%20(English).pdf

• Shari’ati, A. Fatima Is Fatima https://www.al-islam.org/printpdf/book/export/html/9540

• Shari’ati. Red Shi’ism: The Religion of Martyrdom, Black Shi’ism: The Religion of Mourning https://www.al-islam.org/articles/red-shiism-ali-shariati

• Chatterjee, KIngshuk. 2011. Ali Shariati and the Shaping of Political Islam in Iran, Springerlink (available online via PRIMO).

• Mojtaba Madavi. 2014. ‘One Bed and Two Dreams? Contentious Public Religion in the Discourses of Ayatollah Khomeini and Ali Shariati’, Studies in Religion, 43 (1): 25-52. DOI: 10.1177/0008429813496102

• Anjar Nugroho. 2017. ‘Ali Shariati’s Revolutionary Islamic Thought and Its Relevance to the Contemporary socio-political transformation’, Indonesian Journal of Islam and Muslim Societies, 7(2): 251-276.

DOI: 10.18326/ijims.v7i2.251-276

• Pasaoglu, Mehmet. 2013. ‘Nationalist Hegemony Over Islamist Dreams in Iran and Pakistan: Who were Shariati and Maududi?’, Asian Politics and Policy, 5(1): 107-124. DOI: 10.1111/aspp.12001

• Adedi, Mehbi. 1986. “Ali Shariati: The Architect of the 1979 Islamic Revolution of Iran”

Iranian Studies , 19(3/4): 229-234.

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4310540

• Abrahamian, Evrand. 1982. “’Ali Shari’ati: Ideologue of the Iranian Revolution”

MERIP Reports , 102: 24-2

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3010795

Reading for Abdul ala- Maududi:

• Maudoodi, Syed Abdul Ala’. 1988. Towards Understanding the Quran. (Leister; Islamic Foundation). https://muslim-library.com/books/2019/05/en_Towards_Understanding_The_Quran_vol_1.pdf

• Maududi, Syed Abdul. 2011. The First Principles of Islamic Economics, (Markfield; Islamic Foundation). https://www.maybank.com/iwov-resources/pdf/islamic/learning-centre/book-in-brief_1st-principle-islamic-economy.pdf

• Maududi, Syed Abdul. Jihad in Islam. https://islamicstudies.info/literature/Jihad-in-Islam.pdf

• Ahmad, Ifran. 2009. “Genealogy of the Islamic State: Reflections on Maududi’s Political Thought and Islamism”, The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 15: 145-162.

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20527694

• Pasaoglu, Mehmet. 2013. ‘Nationalist Hegemony Over Islamist Dreams in Iran and Pakistan: Who were Shariati and Maududi?’, Asian Politics and Policy, 5(1): 107-124. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9655.2009.01547.x

• Hartung, Jan-Peter. 2014. A System of Life: Mawdudi and the Ideologiation of Islam, (Oxford; Oxford University Press). Available online via PRIMO

• Marc Gaborieau. 2009. ‘South Asian Muslim Diasporas and Transnational Movements: Tablighi Jama’at and Jama’at-I Islami’, South African Historical Journal, 61(1): 8-20. DOI: 10.1080/02582470902804266

• Nasr, Seyyed Vali Reza. 1996. Mawdudi and the Making of Islamic Revivalism, (New York; Oxford University Press). Available online via PRIMO

• Nasr, Seyyed Vali Reza.1994. The Vanguard of the Islamic Revolution: The Jama’at-i Islami of Pakistan, (University of California Press). Available online via PRIMO

Lecture/Tutorial 6: Egypt, Takfir and the Muslim Brothers

Essential Reading:

• Abed-Kotob, Sana. 1995. “The Accommodationists Speak: Goals and Strategies of the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt”, International Journal of Middle East Studies , 27 (3): 321-339  Available at:: http://www.jstor.org/stable/176254

• Ramadan, A. 1993. “Fundamentalist Influence in Egypt: The Strategies of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Takfir Groups”, in Marty and Appleby (eds.), Fundamentalisms and the State, (Chicago; University of Chicago Press). Scan available on MyAberdeen.

• Muhammad ‘Abdus Salam Faraj. Jihad: The Absent Obligation Access: https://ebooks.worldofislam.info/ebooks/Jihad/The%20Absent%20Obligation.pdf

Further Reading:

• Voll, J. “Fundamentalism in the Sunni Arab World”, in Marty and Appleby (eds.), Fundamentalisms Observed, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press).

• Leiken, Robert S. and Brooke, Steven. 2007. “The Moderate Muslim Brotherhood”, Foreign Affairs , 86(2): 107-121

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20032287

• Dalacoura, Katerina. 2018. ‘Islamism, Secularization, Secularity: The Muslim Brothers in Egypt as a Phenomenon of Secular Age’, Economy and Society, 47(2): 313-334 DOI: 10.1080/03085147.2018.1458944

• Jeffrey Cozzens. 2009. ‘Al-Takfir w’al Hijra: Unpacking an Enigma’, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 32(6): 489-510. DOI: 10.1080/10576100902886044

Lecture/Tutorial 7: The Iranian Revolution

Essential Reading:

• Cleveland, William L. 2018. A History of the Modern Middle East. (Oxford; Westview Press). READ Chapter 20: “The Iranian Revolution and the Resurgence of Islam”.DOI: 10.4324/9780429495502

• Gholizadeh, Shadi and Hock, Derek 2012. ‘The Discursive Construction of the 1978-79 Iranian Revolution in the Speeches of Ayatollah Khomeini’, Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 22(2): 174-186 DOI: 10.1002/casp.1095

• Namazi, Rasoul. 2019. ‘Ayatollah Khomeini: From Islamic Governance to Sovereign State’, Iranian Studies, 52 (1-2): 111-131. DOI: 10.1080/00210862.2018.1551054

• Takeyh, Ray. 2009. Guardians of the Revolution: Iran and the World in the Age of the Ayatollahs. (Oxford; Oxford University Press). Available online via PRIMO. READ Chapter One: “Khomeini’s Ideology and Iran’s Grand Strategy”

Further Reading:

• Panah, Marayam. 2007. The Islamic Republic and the World: Global Dimensions of the Iranian Revolution, (London; Pluto Press). READ chapters 1,2 & 3. Available online via PRIMO.

• Eisenstadt, Amineh. 2007. ‘The Iranian Revolution: The Multiple Contexts of the Iranian Revolution’, Perspectives on Global Development and Technology, 6 (1-3): 129- 157.

• Elgam, Elzain. 2008. Islam in the British Broadsheets: The Impact of Orientalism on Representations of Islam in the British Press, (Reading; Ithaca Press). Read Chapter 4: “The Rushdie Affair” Available online via PRIMO.

Lecture/Tutorial 8: Hizbullah

Essential Reading:

• Alagha, Joseph. 2006. Shifts in Hizbullah’s Ideology: Religious Ideology, Political Ideology, and Political Program, (Amsterdam; Amsterdam University Press).

Chapter 2: “The Salience of Hizbullah’s Religious Ideology”, pp. 69 – 114.

Available at: http://site.ebrary.com/lib/aberdeenuniv/docDetail.action?docID=10182204

• Avon, Dominique Khatchadourian. 2012. Hezbollah: A History of the “Party of God”, (Cambridge; Harvard University Press).

Part II: Documents of the Hezbollah:

“Open Letter”, pp. 103-129.

“Political Charter”, pp. 130-162.

Available at: http://site.ebrary.com/lib/aberdeenuniv/docDetail.action?docID=10623022

• Saouli, Adham. 2011. ‘Hizbullah in the Civilizing Process: Anarchy, Self-Restrains and Violence’, Third World Quarterly, 32 (5): 925-942. DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2011.578966

• May, Samantha. 2019. ‘The Rise of the “Resistance Axis”: Hezbollah and the Legacy of the Taif Agreement’, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, 25(1): 115-132. DOI: 10.1080/13537113.2019.1565184

Further Reading:

• Sultan, Cathy. 2008. Tragedy in South Lebanon: The Israeli-Hezbollah War of 2006, (Minneapolis; Scarletta Press),

Chapter 7: “Water Wars and Land Grabs: The Litani River and The Shebaa Farms”, pp. 73 – 88.

Available at: http://site.ebrary.com/lib/aberdeenuniv/docDetail.action?docID=10320028

• Early, Bryan R. 2006.”Larger than a Party, yet Smaller than a State”: Locating Hezbollah’s Place within Lebanon’s State and Society” World Affairs  , 168, ( 3) :115-128

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20672740

• Kramer, Martin. 1993. “Hizbullah: The Calculus of Jihad”, pp. 539 – 556, in Marty and Appleby (eds.), Fundamentalisms and the State, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press). https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/martinkramer/files/calculus.pdf

Lecture/Tutorial 9: Hamas

Essential Reading:

• Roy, Sara. 2011. Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza, (Princeton; Princeton University Press).

Chapter 6: “A Brief History of Hamas and the Islamic Movement in Palestine”.

Available at: https://www.dawsonera.com/abstract/9781400838325

• Maqdsi, Muhammad. 1993. “Charter of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) of Palestine”, Journal of Palestine Studies , 22 (4): 122-134

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2538093

• Hamas. 2017. ‘Hamas in 2017: Th Document in Full’, Middle East Eye, https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/hamas-2017-document-full

• Mishal, Khalid 2009. Hamas Politburo Chief Khalid Mishal Remarks on Hamas Charter, President Obama, Comparisons with Hizbullah and Other Matters, New York Times, 5 May (excerpts), Journal of Palestine Studies, 38 (4): 215-217. DOI: 10.1525/jps.2009.38.4.215

• Legrain, Jean-Francois, 2001, “Palestinian Islamisms: Patriotism as a Condition of Their Expansion”, in Marty and Appleby (eds.), Accounting for Fundamentalisms, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press). Scan Available on MyAberdeen

Further Reading:

• Hroub, Khaled. 2015. Hamas: A Beginners Guide, (London: Pluto Press) DOI: 10.2307/j.ctt183p4vc

• Aljamal, Yousef M. 2016. ‘Hamas: A Terrorist Organisation or Liberation Movement?’, Politikologija Religije, 13 (1). Available online via PRIMO

• Natil, Ibrahim. 2015. Hamas Transformations: Opportunities and Challenges, (Newcastle; Cambridge Scholars Publishing). Available online via PRIMO.

• Horoub, Khaled. 2017. ‘A New Hamas? The Revised Charter’, Journal of Palestine Studies, 46(4): 100-111.

• Issam, M A Adwan. 2019. ‘Hamas’ Charter: Changes and Principles’, Politikologija Religije, 13 (1). Available online via PRIMO.

• Gunning, Jeroen. 2020. ‘Like Two Peas in A Pod or Two Roads Diverging?: Comparing Hamas and Hizbullah’, Mediterranean Politics, 10: 1-7. DOI: 10.1080/13629395.2020.1718359

Lecture/Tutorial 10: Islamist Welfare and Woman’ Jihad

Essential Reading:

• Scott, James C. 1987. “Resistance without Protest and without Organization: Peasant Opposition to the Islamic Zakat and the Christian Tithe”, Comparative Studies in Society and History , 29(3): 417-452 Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/179032

• May, Samantha. 2013. “The Politicisation of Piety”. Middle East Critique, 22 (2):pp.146-164. DOI: 10.1080/19436149.2013.783536 

• Deeb, Lara. 2006. The Enchanted Modern: Gender and Public Piety in Shi’i Lebanon, (New Jersey; Princeton University Press). Chapter 6.Available online via PRIMO.

• Martini, Alice. 2019. ‘Making Women Terrorists into Jihadi Brides: An Analysis of Media Narratives on Women Joining ISIS’, Critical Studies on Terrorism, 11 (3): 458-447. DOI: 10.1080/17539153.2018.1448204

Further Reading:

• Mahmood, Saba. 2005. Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject, (Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press). https://genderstudiesgroupdu.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/saba_mahmood_politics_of_piety_the_islamic_revibookfi-org.pdf

• Mahmood, Saba. 2001. ‘Feminist Theory, Embodiment and the Docile Agent’, Cultural Anthropology, 16 (2): 202-236. DOI: 10.1525/can.2001.16.2.202

• Jackson, Leonie. 2019. ‘Framing British ‘Jihadi Brides”: Metaphor and the Social Construction of IS Women’, Terrorism and Political Violence, 1-19,  DOI: 10.1080/09546553.2019.1656613

• Roy, Sara. 2011. Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza, (Princeton; Princeton University Press).

Chapter 7: “Islamist Conceptions of a Civil Society”.

Available at: https://www.dawsonera.com/abstract/9781400838325

• Jensen, Michael Irving. 2008. Political Ideology of Hamas: A Grass Roots Perspective, (London; I.B. Tauris).

Chapter 1: “Islamism in Palestine and the Quest for the Sound Muslim”, pp. 1-10.

Available at: http://site.ebrary.com/lib/aberdeenuniv/docDetail.action?docID=10310808

• Knudsen, Are. 2005. “Crescent and Sword: The Hamas Enigma”, Third World Quarterly , 26 (8): 1373-1388

Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4017719

• Burton, Guy. 2012. “Hamas and its Vision of Development”, Third World Quarterly, 33 (3): 525-540

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41507185

Lecture/Tutorial 11: Transnational Islam: Al-Qaeda and ISIS (Daesh).

Essential Reading:

• Tamimi, Aymenn Jewaad. 2014. ‘The Dawn of the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham’, Middle East Forum: Current Trends in Islamist Ideology, vol. 16 http://www.hudson.org/content/researchattachments/attachment/1389/tamimi.pdf

• Bernard Haykel. 2016. ‘ISIS and al-Qaeda – What are they thinking? Understanding the adversary’, ANNALS, 668 71-81. DOI: 10.1177/0002716216672649

• Pollard, Stacey Erin. Et,al. 2017. ‘Understanding the Islamic State’s Competitive Advantages: Remaking State and Nationhood in the Middle East and North Africa’, Terrorism and Political Violence, 29(6): 1045-1065 DOI: 10.1080/09546553.2015.1108310

• Brands, Hal and Feaver, Peter. 2017. ‘Was the Rise of ISIS Inevitable?’, Survival, 57 (3) 7-54. DOI: 10.1080/00396338.2017.1325595

Further Reading

• Holbrook. 2015. ‘Al-Qaeda and the Rise of ISIS’, Survival, 57(2): 93-104. DOI: 10.1080/00396338.2015.1026070

• Van der Veer, Peter. 2001. ‘Transnational Religion’ http://www.transcomm.ox.ac.uk/working%20papers/WPTC-01-18%20Van%20der%20Veer.pdf
• Dobbin, James and Jones, Seth G. 2017. ‘The End of a Caliphate’, Survival, 59 (3): 55-72. DOI: 10.1080/00396338.2017.1325596

• Ayoob, Mohammed. 2004. “Political Islam: Image and Reality”, World Policy Journal , 21 (3): 1-14.

Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40210231

• Volpi, Frederic. 2010. ‘Framing Islamism: Understanding the Dynamics of Globalised Violence and Politics’, International Studies Review, 12 (3): 430-436. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2486.2010.00946.x

• Mohamedou, M. 2018. A Theory of ISIS: Political Violence and the Transformation of the Global Order, (London; Pluto Press). Available online via PRIMO.

• Leander, Anna et al. 2017. ‘Digital/Commercial (in)visibility: The Politics of Daesh Recruitment Video’s’, European Journal of Social Theory, 20(3): 348-372. DOI: 10.1177/1368431016668365

• Toguslu, Erkon. 2019. ‘Caliphate, Hijrah, and Martyrdom as Perfomative Narrative in ISIS Dabiq Magazine’, Politics, Religion, and Ideology, 20(1): 94 -120.

• Mello, Brian. 2018. ‘The Islamic State: Violence and Ideology in a Post-Colonial Revolutionary Regime’, International Political Sociology, 12 (2): 139 -155. DOI: 10.1093/ips/oly003

Lecture 13: The Re-emergence of the Taliban in Afghanistan

Essential Readings

• Wani, Zahour Ahmad. 2021. ‘Afghanistan’s Neo-Taliban Puzzle’, South Asia Research, 41 (2): 220-237. DOI: 10.1177/02627280211000165

• Weigand, Florian. 2017. ‘Afghanistan’s Taliban- Legitimate Jihadists or Coercive Extremists?’, Journal of Intervention and State Building, 11 (3): 359-381. DOI: 10.1080/17502977.2017.1353755

• Yousaf, Farooq. 2021. ‘Afghanistan’s Future Under the Taliban Regime: Engagement or Isolation?’, Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism, pp.1-18. DOI: 10.1080/18335330.2021.1982139

Further Readings

• Ibrahimi, Niamatullah. 2020.’ Intra-Jihadist Conflict and Cooperation: Islamic State=Khorasan Province and the Taliban in Afghanistan’, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 43 (12): 1086-1107. DOI: 10.1080/1057610X.2018.1529367

• Kuehn, Felix (ed). 2019. The Taliban Reader: Islam and Politics in their own words (New York; Oxford University Press).

Essays

Essay Deadline:Thursday 28^th April 4pm, 2022.

Word Count: 3,000 (10% leeway).

Note: Footnotes are included in the word count. Bibliography is NOT included in the word count

Suggested Essay Questions:

I encourage students to think of their own essay question, but this must be discussed and agreed upon in advance with the course co-ordinator.

1. Using examples, discuss the different strategies and ideologies of Islamist nationalist groups and transnational (global) Islamist groups?

2. Is Islamism a product of modernity or a return to the past? Discuss giving examples.

3. In what ways have Islamic concepts of hijra, jihad, and jahiliyya been interpreted by Islamist movements or thinkers? Compare and contrast between at least two movements/thinkers.

4. Explain the Islamic legal concept of ijtihad and why is it so important to the development of Islamism?
5. To what extent, and in what ways, has the early Islamic imperial period been used as a model for later Islamist movements?
6. How useful is Mark Juergensmeyer’s conceptualization of ‘Religious Nationalism’ in understanding contemporary Islamist movements?
7. In what ways do political understandings of a ‘Caliphate’ challenge Western assumption of the nation-state in terms of sovereignty and territory?
8. How can charity in Islam be conceived as ‘woman’s jihad’?

I am happy to encourage students to think of their own essay question, but this must be discussed and agreed upon in advance.

What you need to do now:

• Book a place in a tutorial group via MyTimetable and note the day/week numbers/time and (if applicable) room.
• Note your lecture arrangements.
• Note your assignment deadlines.
• Read the Student Handbook.
• Start the prescribed reading.
• Familiarise yourself with the information on key education policies.  These policies are relevant to all students and will be useful to you throughout your studies.  They contain important information and address issues such as what to do if you are absent, how to raise an appeal or a complaint and how the University will calculate your degree outcome.

These policies should be read in conjunction with this course guide and the School of Social Science Student Handbook, in which School specific policies are detailed. Further information for students can also be found here.

• Check the week numbers for session 2021/22.

What else do you need to know about?

Attendance and Progress Monitoring

Set criteria are used to determine when a student should be reported in the monitoring system.  You will be warned that your class certificate may be ‘at risk’ (C6) if you:

or

The University expects that you will engage with your studies, interact with all designated learning activities and complete all assessment. Through non-engagement or a failure to submit coursework, it is possible to lose your class certificate and therefore, your right to undertake assessment. You may hear this referred to as a ‘C7’ or a warning that this may happen, referred to as a ‘C6’. In Social Science, we take the view that if you do not attend 70% or more of the tutorials or seminars for a course, even if the absence is for medical or other good cause, then you cannot be deemed to have fulfilled the requirements of the course and your class certificate may be withdrawn.

You are strongly advised to make yourself fully aware of your responsibilities if absent due to illness or other good cause. In particular, you are asked to note when self-certification of absence is permitted or if you are required to submit a medical certificate.

All absences (medical or otherwise) should be reported through Student Hub, where you can upload any required supporting documentation, such as a medical certificate.

Please familiarise yourself with the University’s Policy and Procedures on Student Absence.

If you are having trouble meeting our requirements, you must talk to your tutor or Course Co-ordinator.

If you lose your class certificate and wish to appeal, you should contact sssmonitoring@abdn.ac.uk in the first instance.

Submission of Assignments

Please submit your assignment electronically through TurnitinUK (go to MyAberdeen).  The submission date is that logged on TurnitinUK.

Your course work must be properly referenced.  Please note all books, articles, websites, etc. that are referenced in essays need to have been directly consulted before they are referenced.  Guidance on referencing and citing is available on the web and noted in the Student Handbook.  Details will also be provided in the tutorials.

Anonymous Marking

There is an expectation within the University and the School that any assignment that contributes towards your overall course mark or programme award (e.g., in-course assignments, projects, dissertations, or presentations) will be marked anonymously. This means that the person marking your assignment will not know your identity when they do so. There are cases when this is not possible, practical, or beneficial. If you have questions about whether and why your assignments in a particular course are being marked anonymously, contact your course co-ordinator.

Extensions

The School aims to ensure fair and equal treatment in the assessment of all students and accordingly essay extensions will be granted in accordance with the following rules:

• Extensions of up to 1 week may be granted by the tutors/course co-ordinator;
• Extensions exceeding 1 week may be granted only by the course co-ordinator;
• Extensions must be sought before the essay deadline.

Extensions are granted only where students have encountered exceptional or unforeseen difficulties, Covid-19 disruptions, or are subject to long-term episodic illnesses, or are affected by any relevant impairment, in the period during which they are expected to prepare the essay.

Extensions are normally only granted in advance of an essay deadline.  Some students are granted provisions by Student Support Services on the grounds of disability.  However, extensions for the coursework of these students must still be authorised following the normal procedure.

Late Submission

The University has introduced standard penalties for late submission of coursework or parts of coursework. Late submission refers to submission of work after the published deadline without an agreed extension, and in the absence of exceptional circumstances.  Further detail can be found through the Policy on Late Submission of Work.

Any assessed coursework that is submitted beyond the deadline, without an agreed extension, will be recorded as late and a penalty will be applied as follows:

Students who fail to submit work by the deadline will be reported in the monitoring system (C6).

Plagiarism and Referencing

We expect what you submit as course work to be your own work. One way we try to ensure this is by requiring that essays be submitted to TurnitinUK via MyAberdeen.

TurnitinUK is an online service which compares student assignments with online sources including webpages, databases of reference material, and content previously submitted by other users across the UK. The software makes no decision as to whether plagiarism has occurred; it is simply a tool which highlights sections of text that have been found in other sources, thereby helping academic staff decide whether plagiarism has occurred.  TurnitinUK will be accessed directly through MyAberdeen

Advice about avoiding plagiarism, the University’s Definition of Plagiarism, a Checklist for Students, Referencing and Citing guidance, and instructions for TurnitinUK can be found by visiting the Student Learning Service webpages.

We distinguish between bad practice and cheating. We do not tolerate students’ deliberately passing off the work of others as their own and will investigate any suspected cases.  You must make sure you understand the rules and follow the instructions given to you. 

Self-Plagiarism

While it is entirely legitimate for you to pursue a particular interest through the levels and courses of your degree, you should not recycle assessed coursework from one course to another or from a taught course to a dissertation. Such recycling is likely to attract a poor grade because:

• Unless the questions are identical, work that answers one essay question well is likely to be poorly fitted or even irrelevant to another;
• Work that fits well within the requirements of one exercise (a short Level 1 essay for example) will fail to meet the standard or level of detail required for a different exercise (a Level 4 essay or a dissertation for example);
• We expect students to progress through their years of study. A level of understanding that attracts a good grade at Level 1 will be much less impressive at Level 3.

Guidance on approved referencing techniques can be found in the Good Writing Guide in the course pages in MyAberdeen.

The University regards plagiarism as a serious offence.  In extreme cases it can result in the student being removed from the course. 

Feedback

We provide feedback that aims to be timely, constructive, clear, detailed and helpful.

Staff offer feedback through a combination of the following:

Oral and written comments on assessed work, class presentations, multiple choice tests, dissertation presentations and guidance on exam techniques.

Student/Staff Liaison Committee Meetings (feedback)

There are two Student/Staff Liaison Committee (SSLC) meetings per half-session, attended by Academic Representatives and School Representatives.  Mid-term meetings will take place during weeks commencing 21 or 28 February 2022 and end-of-term meetings during week commencing 9 May 2022.

Toolkit

The Toolkit was created to help students and staff at the University of Aberdeen learn new digital skills, understand how to use University software, discover useful apps and explore University services. This digital companion includes walkthroughs, tutorials, course overviews, introductions, software and much more.

Further Information

• If you would like help with your study, such as essay writing techniques, contact the Student Learning Service.
• If you need additional help during your course or at exam time, contact the Student Advice and Support Office.

If I have any other questions then who can I ask?

• Your tutor (contact details will be given to you at your first tutorial meeting)
• The course co-ordinator (see front of guide)
• Your departmental support (see front of guide)
• The School Office, email: socsci@abdn.ac.uk     

Please do remember to check your university e-mail account regularly.  If you decide to contact staff by e-mail, please write the message carefully so that it is immediately clear who the message is from and what the issue is.

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