REL 37800 - The Qur’an In Muslim Life

Scholarly investigation of the Qur’an and the manifold ways in which it has been received, understood, interpreted, and contested by Muslims throughout the ages. Topics include the history of the text, its structure, literary features, and major themes, as well as its aural, devotional, social, and material dimensions, the issue of translation and debates over matters of interpretation.

Preparation for Course
P: Junior or senior class standing, or consent of instructor.

Cr. 3.
Student Learning Outcomes
1. Learn the main historical, thematic, and literary features of the Qur’an as both a sacred book considered sacrosanct and infallible by Muslims, and as a literary text whose language, imagery, and forms have exerted a wide-ranging influence on the development of art, culture, and society from Morocco to Indonesia.
2. Think, speak, and write analytically about the idea of scripture as a force which shapes, and is shaped by, human experience in time and space through examining the manifold ways in which the Qur’an has been received, preserved, understood, interpreted, and contested by Muslims throughout history.
3. Foster an informed understanding of the role of the Qur’an in contemporary Muslim life and thought through examining the ways in which classical forms of encounter and interpretation have been projected into the present to confront the vagaries of modernity.