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Module

HIS3330 : Islamism and its Origins

  • Offered for Year: 2020/21
  • Module Leader(s):
  • Owning School: History, Classics and Archaeology
  • Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
Semester 1 Credit Value: 20
ECTS Credits: 10.0

Aims

This module will attempt to trace the historic origins of Islamist ideology. It has been claimed that the modern Islamist agenda traces its roots to pre-modern radical theologians such as Ahmad Ibn Taymiyya and Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab. Yet, to what extent was Islamist ideology in the 20th Century conditioned by the transformative impact of Western colonial modernity? To what extent can the Islamist notions of thinkers such as Hasan al-Banna, Mawlana Mawdudi and Sayyid Qutb be compared with these of the other ideological movements of the 20th century, such as fascism, Marxism-Leninism and nationalism? How important is it to recognize the specifically colonial origins of Islamism?

Aims:
-       To familiarise students with critical debates concerning the historic origins of Islamists ideology
-       To enable students to engage with these debates through analysis of texts written by prominent Islamists
-       To provide a broad awareness of the cultural, economic and political contexts in which Islamism emerged

Outline Of Syllabus

Topics may be chosen from:

Historic Origins of Radical Islam: From the Kharijites to Ibn Taymiyya
Islamic Revivalism
Islamic Reformism
Hasan al-Banna and the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood
Maulana Mawdudi and radical Islam in Pakistan
Sayyid Qutb and Qutbism
Islamism and Socialism
Khomeini and the Islamic Revolution in Iran
Hasan al-Turabi and Sudan’s ‘Salvation Revolution’
Women and Radical Islam
Islamic Militancy

Teaching Methods

Module leaders are revising this content in light of the Covid 19 restrictions.
Revised and approved detail information will be available by 17 August.

Assessment Methods

Module leaders are revising this content in light of the Covid 19 restrictions.
Revised and approved detail information will be available by 17 August.

Reading Lists

Timetable