Contemporary Islamic Movements

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Abstract

This subject addresses contemporary Islamic revivalism, and revivalist movements and their influence on Muslim societies. Students will critically examine the concepts of religious renewal and revival, and the notion of reform within the Islamic tradition. The subject will analyse the underlying internal and external factors that sparked the emergence of the revivalist movements. Students will examine significant revivalists from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century, including their thoughts and responses to Islamic tradition, modernity and post-modernity. In addition, the subject will explore emergent religious movements in Muslim societies that have developed separate traditions and communities of their own with some global presence.

Syllabus

Religious reform, renewal and revival within the Islamic traditionThe emergence of the puritanical movements (Muhammad ibn Abdel Wahhab and Muhammad ibn al-Shawkani)The Sufi revivalism (Khalid al-Baghdadi and Muhammad ibn Ali Al-Sanusi)The socio-political revival of Indian Muslims and the foundation of Pakistan (Sir Saiyd Ahmad Khan)Islamic Modernism (Jamal Al-Din al-Afghani and … For more content click the Read More button below.

Religious reform, renewal and revival within the Islamic tradition
The emergence of the puritanical movements (Muhammad ibn Abdel Wahhab and Muhammad ibn al-Shawkani)
The Sufi revivalism (Khalid al-Baghdadi and Muhammad ibn Ali Al-Sanusi)
The socio-political revival of Indian Muslims and the foundation of Pakistan (Sir Saiyd Ahmad Khan)
Islamic Modernism (Jamal Al-Din al-Afghani and Muhammad Abduh)
The emergence of political Islam or Islamism: Muslim Brotherhood
The emergence of Political Islam or Islamism: Hizb Ut-Tahrir (Taqiuddin al-Nabhani)
The Nur movement in Turkey (Said Nursi)
The Deobandi Islamic movement of India
The Tablighi Jamaat proselytizing movement (Muhammad Ilyas al-Kanddhalwi)
Political Islam in subcontinent and the emergence of Jamaat-e-Islami (Abul A'la Maudidi)
The revivalist movements of Asia Pacific (Nahdatul Ulama, Muhammadiyah and Jammat Islamiyah)
Welayat-e Faqih and Puritans Shia (Khomeini, Sistani and Fadlallah)
The emergence of transnational Islamic movements (Hizmet movement)
Islamist and militant Islamic movements
Islamic revivalism as a response to modernity and postmodernity
The role of globalisation and the emergence of Islamic revivalist groups in the West

Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of this subject, students should:

be able to demonstrate a critical understanding of the development of traditional Islamic religious reform and revival;

be able to evaluate the root causes that contributed to the emergence of puritanical movements and the shaping of their ideologies;

be able to demonstrate a critical understanding of the development of the Islamic political movements across Asia;

be able to demonstrate analytical skills in examining the geo-political, social, cultural and religious variables and their impact on contemporary Islamic movements;

be able to analyse Islamic modernism and the contemporary response to modernity and post-modernity;

be able to evaluate and discuss the root causes that contributed to the emergence and development of Islamic political and militant movements across the Muslim world;

be able to discuss critically the narratives of the various Islamic revival movements; and

be able to demonstrate independent research, organisation, written and oral communication skills through the presentation of a substantial work.