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Islamic studies

May 04, 2023

This article is about the study of Islam in modern academia. For the traditional study of Islam defined and practiced by Muslim Islamic scholars, see Islamic sciences.

Islamic studies refers to the academic study of Islam,[1] and generally to academic multidisciplinary "studies" programs—programs similar to others that focus on the history, texts and theologies of other religious traditions, such as Eastern Christian Studies or Jewish Studies but also fields such as (environmental studies, Middle East studies, race studies, urban studies, etc.)[2][3]—where scholars from diverse disciplines (history, culture, literature, art) participate and exchange ideas pertaining to the particular field of study.[4]

Carole Hillenbrand describes Islamic studies as "a discipline that seeks to explain what the Islamic world has achieved in the past and what the future holds for it."[5]

Many academic Islamic Studies programs include the historical study of Islam, Islamic civilization, history of the Muslim world, historiography, Islamic law, Islamic theology and Islamic philosophy. Specialists in Islamic Studies concentrate on the detailed, academic study of texts written in Arabic within the fields of Islamic Theology, Islamic Law, and the Qur'an and Hadith along with ancillary disciplines such as Tafsir or Qur'an Exegesis. However, they also often apply the methods adapted from several ancillary fields, ranging from Biblical studies and classical philology to modern history, legal history and sociology.

Overview

Scholars in the field of Islamic studies are often referred to as "Islamicists" and the discipline traditionally made up the bulk of what used to be called Oriental studies. In fact, some of the more traditional Western universities still confer degrees in Arabic and Islamic studies under the primary title of "Oriental studies". This is the case, for example, at the University of Oxford, where Classical Arabic and Islamic studies have been taught since as early as the 16th century, originally as a sub-division of Divinity. This latter context gave early academic Islamic studies its Biblical studies character and was also a consequence of the fact that throughout early-Modern Western Europe the discipline was developed by churchmen whose primary aim had actually been to refute the tenets of Islam.[6] Today, academic Islamic Studies is usually taught and studied alongside or after an extensive study of the Arabic language, with named undergraduate and graduate degrees in Arabic and Islamic Studies existing at universities such as Georgetown University, the University of Exeter, University of Oxford, University of Leeds, SOAS at the University of London, Yale University and several universities in Holland and Germany, notably Leiden University and Tübingen University.

A recent HEFCE report emphasises the increasing, strategic importance for Western governments since 9/11 of Islamic studies in higher education and also provides an international overview of the state of the field.[7]

History

 
Ilkhanate Empire ruler, Ghazan, studying the Quran
 
Portrait of a painter during Reign of Mehmet II (1444-1481)
 
A Persian miniature of Shah Abu'l Ma‘ali a scholar.

The first attempt to understand Islam as a topic of modern scholarship (as opposed to a Christological heresy) was within the context of 19th-century Christian European Oriental studies.

In the years 1821 to 1850, the Royal Asiatic Society in England, the Société Asiatique in France, the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft in Germany, and the American Oriental Society in the United States were founded.[8]

In the second half of the 19th century, philological and historical approaches were predominant. Leading in the field were German researchers like Theodore Nöldeke 's study on the history of the Quran, or Ignaz Goldziher 's work on the prophetic tradition.[8]

Orientalists and Islamic scholars alike preferred to interpret the history of Islam in a conservative way. They did not question the traditional account of the early time of Islam, of Muhammad and how the Quran was written.[8]

In the 1970s, the Revisionist School of Islamic Studies questioned the uncritical adherence to traditional Islamic sources and started to develop a new picture of the earliest times of Islam by applying the historical-critical method.[9][10]

Themes

History of Islam

Main article: History of Islam

To understand the history of Islam provides the indispensable basis to understand all aspects of Islam and its culture. Themes of special interest are:

Theology

Mysticism

Main article: Sufism

Sufism (تصوف taṣawwuf) is a mystic tradition of Islam based on the pursuit of spiritual truth as it is gradually revealed to the heart and mind of the Sufi (one who practices Sufism).

It might also be referred to as Islamic mysticism. While other branches of Islam generally focus on exoteric aspects of religion, Sufism is mainly focused on the direct perception of truth or God through mystic practices based on divine love. Sufism embodies a number of cultures, philosophies, central teachings and bodies of esoteric knowledge.

Law

Main articles: Sharia and Fiqh

Islamic jurisprudence relates to everyday and social issues in the life of Muslims. It is divided in fields like:

Key distinctions include those between fiqh, hadith and ijtihad.

Philosophy

Main article: Islamic philosophy

Islamic studies scholars also deal with the long and rich tradition of philosophy as developed by Muslim philosophers.

It is divided in fields like:

Sciences

Main articles: Science in the medieval Islamic world and Islam and science

Islamic studies scholars are also active in the history and philosophy of science. Significant progress in science was made in the Muslim world during the Middle Ages, especially during the Islamic Golden Age, which is considered a major period in the history of science.

Scholars also study the relationship between Islam and science, for example in the application of Islamic ethics to scientific practice.

Literature

 
The Jamia Qurania Arabia Lalbagh institute in Bangladesh has a large stock of Islamic literature in Arabic, Bengali, Persian and Urdu.
Main article: Islamic literature

This field includes the study of modern and classical Arabic and the literature written in those languages. It also often includes other modern, classic or ancient languages of the Middle East and other areas that are or have been part of, or influenced by, Islamic culture, such as Hebrew, Turkish, Persian, Urdu, Azerbaijanian and Uzbek.

Architecture

Main article: Islamic architecture

Islamic architecture is the entire range of architecture that has evolved within Muslim culture in the course of the history of Islam. Hence the term encompasses religious buildings as well as secular ones, historic as well as modern expressions and the production of all places that have come under the varying levels of Islamic influence.

Art

Main article: Islamic art

Islamic visual art has, throughout history, been mainly abstract and decorative, portraying geometric, floral, Arabesque, and calligraphic designs. Unlike the strong tradition of portraying the human figure in Christian art, Islamic art is typically distinguished as not including depictions of human beings.[13] The lack of portraiture is due to the fact that early Islam forbade the painting of human beings, especially the Prophet, as Muslims believe this tempts followers of the Prophet to idolatry.[citation needed] This prohibition against human beings or icons is called aniconism. Despite such a prohibition, depictions of human beings do occur in Islamic art, such as that of the Mughals, demonstrating a strong diversity in popular interpretation over the pre-modern period. Increased contact with the Western civilization may also have contributed to human depictions in Islamic art in modern times.[citation needed]

Comparative religion

Main article: Islam and other religions

Islamic comparative religion is the study of the relationship between Islam and other religions.

Economics

Main article: Islamic economic jurisprudence

Islamic economics studies how economics may be brought in accordance with Islamic law.

Psychology

Main article: Islamic psychology

Islam and Modernity

One field of study deals with how Islam reacts on the contact with Western modernity.

Journals

See also

Notes

  1. ^ for example[11]

References

  1. ^ Clinton Bennett (2012). The Bloomsbury Companion to Islamic Studies. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 2. ISBN 978-1441127884.
  2. ^ Repko, Allen F.; Szostak, Rick; Buchberger, Michelle Phillips (2020). Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies. SAGE publications. p. xx. ISBN 9781544379371. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  3. ^ Dorroll, Courtney M., ed. (2019). Teaching Islamic Studies in the Age of ISIS, Islamophobia, and the Internet. Indiana University Press. p. 105. ISBN 9780253039835. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  4. ^ Seyyed Hossein Nasr, ed. (2008) [1987]. Islamic Spirituality - Foundations. Routledge. p. 9, note 1. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  5. ^ Hillenbrand, Carole. "What is Islamic studies?". The British Academy. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  6. ^ Robert Irwin (25 January 2007). For Lust of Knowing: the Orientalists and their Enemies (1st ed.). Penguin. ISBN 978-0140289237.
  7. ^ . 2008. p. 66. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2018-12-28.
  8. ^ a b c The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World: Islamic Studies - History of the field, Methodology
  9. ^ Alexander Stille: Scholars Are Quietly Offering New Theories of the Koran, The New York Times, 2 March 2002
  10. ^ Toby Lester: What Is the Koran?, The Atlantic, January 1999
  11. ^ "Introduction to Islamic Theology (TH-553)". Hartford Seminary. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  12. ^ Zayed, Tareq M. "Knowledge of Shariah and Knowledge to Manage 'Self' and 'System': Integration of Islamic Epistemology with the Knowledge and Education". Academia.edu. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  13. ^ Kalin, I.; Ayduz, S.; Dagli, C. (2014). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Science, and Technology in Islam. Oxford Encyclopedias of Islamic Studies. Oxford University Press. p. 263. ISBN 978-0-19-981257-8. Retrieved 9 Dec 2022. Figural representation is virtually unused in Islamic art because of Islam's strong antagonism of idolatry. It was important for Muslim scholars and artists to find a style of art that represented the Islamic ideals of unity (tawhid) and order without figural representation
  14. ^ . www.hum.huji.ac.il. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  15. ^ "Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit". Ssus.ac.in. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  16. ^ . Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2019.

Bibliography

May 04, 2023
islamic, studies, this, article, about, study, islam, modern, academia, traditional, study, islam, defined, practiced, muslim, islamic, scholars, islamic, sciences, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, lea. This article is about the study of Islam in modern academia For the traditional study of Islam defined and practiced by Muslim Islamic scholars see Islamic sciences This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article possibly contains original research Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations Statements consisting only of original research should be removed July 2010 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Islamic studies news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2013 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations December 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message Islamic studies refers to the academic study of Islam 1 and generally to academic multidisciplinary studies programs programs similar to others that focus on the history texts and theologies of other religious traditions such as Eastern Christian Studies or Jewish Studies but also fields such as environmental studies Middle East studies race studies urban studies etc 2 3 where scholars from diverse disciplines history culture literature art participate and exchange ideas pertaining to the particular field of study 4 Carole Hillenbrand describes Islamic studies as a discipline that seeks to explain what the Islamic world has achieved in the past and what the future holds for it 5 Many academic Islamic Studies programs include the historical study of Islam Islamic civilization history of the Muslim world historiography Islamic law Islamic theology and Islamic philosophy Specialists in Islamic Studies concentrate on the detailed academic study of texts written in Arabic within the fields of Islamic Theology Islamic Law and the Qur an and Hadith along with ancillary disciplines such as Tafsir or Qur an Exegesis However they also often apply the methods adapted from several ancillary fields ranging from Biblical studies and classical philology to modern history legal history and sociology Contents 1 Overview 2 History 3 Themes 3 1 History of Islam 3 2 Theology 3 3 Mysticism 3 4 Law 3 5 Philosophy 3 6 Sciences 3 7 Literature 3 8 Architecture 3 9 Art 3 10 Comparative religion 3 11 Economics 3 12 Psychology 3 13 Islam and Modernity 4 Journals 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References 8 BibliographyOverview EditScholars in the field of Islamic studies are often referred to as Islamicists and the discipline traditionally made up the bulk of what used to be called Oriental studies In fact some of the more traditional Western universities still confer degrees in Arabic and Islamic studies under the primary title of Oriental studies This is the case for example at the University of Oxford where Classical Arabic and Islamic studies have been taught since as early as the 16th century originally as a sub division of Divinity This latter context gave early academic Islamic studies its Biblical studies character and was also a consequence of the fact that throughout early Modern Western Europe the discipline was developed by churchmen whose primary aim had actually been to refute the tenets of Islam 6 Today academic Islamic Studies is usually taught and studied alongside or after an extensive study of the Arabic language with named undergraduate and graduate degrees in Arabic and Islamic Studies existing at universities such as Georgetown University the University of Exeter University of Oxford University of Leeds SOAS at the University of London Yale University and several universities in Holland and Germany notably Leiden University and Tubingen University A recent HEFCE report emphasises the increasing strategic importance for Western governments since 9 11 of Islamic studies in higher education and also provides an international overview of the state of the field 7 History Edit Ilkhanate Empire ruler Ghazan studying the Quran Portrait of a painter during Reign of Mehmet II 1444 1481 A Persian miniature of Shah Abu l Ma ali a scholar The first attempt to understand Islam as a topic of modern scholarship as opposed to a Christological heresy was within the context of 19th century Christian European Oriental studies In the years 1821 to 1850 the Royal Asiatic Society in England the Societe Asiatique in France the Deutsche Morgenlandische Gesellschaft in Germany and the American Oriental Society in the United States were founded 8 In the second half of the 19th century philological and historical approaches were predominant Leading in the field were German researchers like Theodore Noldeke s study on the history of the Quran or Ignaz Goldziher s work on the prophetic tradition 8 Orientalists and Islamic scholars alike preferred to interpret the history of Islam in a conservative way They did not question the traditional account of the early time of Islam of Muhammad and how the Quran was written 8 In the 1970s the Revisionist School of Islamic Studies questioned the uncritical adherence to traditional Islamic sources and started to develop a new picture of the earliest times of Islam by applying the historical critical method 9 10 Themes EditHistory of Islam Edit Main article History of Islam To understand the history of Islam provides the indispensable basis to understand all aspects of Islam and its culture Themes of special interest are Historiography of early Islam History of the Quran Historicity of Muhammad Early Muslim conquestsTheology Edit Kalam Islamic studies of theology often include study of the traditional science of Kalam Note 1 Islamic eschatologyMysticism Edit Main article Sufism Sufism تصوف taṣawwuf is a mystic tradition of Islam based on the pursuit of spiritual truth as it is gradually revealed to the heart and mind of the Sufi one who practices Sufism It might also be referred to as Islamic mysticism While other branches of Islam generally focus on exoteric aspects of religion Sufism is mainly focused on the direct perception of truth or God through mystic practices based on divine love Sufism embodies a number of cultures philosophies central teachings and bodies of esoteric knowledge Law Edit Main articles Sharia and Fiqh Islamic jurisprudence relates to everyday and social issues in the life of Muslims It is divided in fields like the study of sharia Islamic economics Qur an and Hadith studies 12 Key distinctions include those between fiqh hadith and ijtihad Philosophy Edit Main article Islamic philosophy Islamic studies scholars also deal with the long and rich tradition of philosophy as developed by Muslim philosophers It is divided in fields like Early Islamic philosophy Avicennism Averroism Islamic philosophy Modern Islamic philosophy Sufi philosophy Transcendent theosophy List of Muslim philosophers Illuminationist philosophy Islamic ethics Sufi metaphysicsSciences Edit Main articles Science in the medieval Islamic world and Islam and science Islamic studies scholars are also active in the history and philosophy of science Significant progress in science was made in the Muslim world during the Middle Ages especially during the Islamic Golden Age which is considered a major period in the history of science Timeline of Islamic science and engineering Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam Astronomy in medieval Islam Islamic astrology Inventions in medieval Islam Mathematics in medieval Islam Medicine in medieval Islam Ophthalmology in medieval Islam Physics in medieval Islam Psychology in medieval IslamScholars also study the relationship between Islam and science for example in the application of Islamic ethics to scientific practice Qur an and science Islamic creationismLiterature Edit The Jamia Qurania Arabia Lalbagh institute in Bangladesh has a large stock of Islamic literature in Arabic Bengali Persian and Urdu Main article Islamic literature Arabic literature Arabic epic literature Islamic poetry Arabic poetry Persian literature Urdu LiteratureThis field includes the study of modern and classical Arabic and the literature written in those languages It also often includes other modern classic or ancient languages of the Middle East and other areas that are or have been part of or influenced by Islamic culture such as Hebrew Turkish Persian Urdu Azerbaijanian and Uzbek Architecture Edit Main article Islamic architecture Islamic architecture is the entire range of architecture that has evolved within Muslim culture in the course of the history of Islam Hence the term encompasses religious buildings as well as secular ones historic as well as modern expressions and the production of all places that have come under the varying levels of Islamic influence Art Edit Main article Islamic art Islamic calligraphy Islamic pottery Muslim musicIslamic visual art has throughout history been mainly abstract and decorative portraying geometric floral Arabesque and calligraphic designs Unlike the strong tradition of portraying the human figure in Christian art Islamic art is typically distinguished as not including depictions of human beings 13 The lack of portraiture is due to the fact that early Islam forbade the painting of human beings especially the Prophet as Muslims believe this tempts followers of the Prophet to idolatry citation needed This prohibition against human beings or icons is called aniconism Despite such a prohibition depictions of human beings do occur in Islamic art such as that of the Mughals demonstrating a strong diversity in popular interpretation over the pre modern period Increased contact with the Western civilization may also have contributed to human depictions in Islamic art in modern times citation needed Comparative religion Edit Main article Islam and other religions Islamic comparative religion is the study of the relationship between Islam and other religions Islam and Christianity Islam and Jainism Islam and Judaism Judeo Islamic philosophies 800 1400 Economics Edit Main article Islamic economic jurisprudence Islamic economics studies how economics may be brought in accordance with Islamic law Islamic banking Islamic economics in the worldPsychology Edit Main article Islamic psychology Psychology in medieval Islam Sufi psychologyIslam and Modernity Edit One field of study deals with how Islam reacts on the contact with Western modernity Al Nahda Islam and modernity Liberal and Progressive Muslim movementsJournals EditDie Welt des Islams Brill Islamic Law and Society Brill Islam and Christian Muslim Relations Routledge Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam The Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation The Hebrew University of Jerusalem 14 Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies open access Lancaster University Journal of Islamic Studies Oxford University Press Hakeem Al Hind Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit Kerala India 15 Al Mahara Maharajas College Kochin India The Muslim World Blackwell Publishing Studia Islamica Maisonneuve amp Larose Pax Islamica Mardjani Publishing House Journal of Islam in Asia International Islamic University Malaysia 16 Al Qantara Spanish National Research Council Journal of Shi a Islamic Studies The Islamic College Studia Islamika Center for the Study of Islam and Society PPIM Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University of Jakarta INDONESIA See also EditArabist Glossary of Islam List of non Muslim authors on IslamNotes Edit for example 11 References Edit Clinton Bennett 2012 The Bloomsbury Companion to Islamic Studies Bloomsbury Academic p 2 ISBN 978 1441127884 Repko Allen F Szostak Rick Buchberger Michelle Phillips 2020 Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies SAGE publications p xx ISBN 9781544379371 Retrieved 28 November 2019 Dorroll Courtney M ed 2019 Teaching Islamic Studies in the Age of ISIS Islamophobia and the Internet Indiana University Press p 105 ISBN 9780253039835 Retrieved 28 November 2019 Seyyed Hossein Nasr ed 2008 1987 Islamic Spirituality Foundations Routledge p 9 note 1 Retrieved 7 March 2020 Hillenbrand Carole What is Islamic studies The British Academy Retrieved 9 December 2021 Robert Irwin 25 January 2007 For Lust of Knowing the Orientalists and their Enemies 1st ed Penguin ISBN 978 0140289237 International Approaches to Islamic Studies in Higher Education A report to HEFCE 2008 p 66 Archived from the original on 2016 03 04 Retrieved 2018 12 28 a b c The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World Islamic Studies History of the field Methodology Alexander Stille Scholars Are Quietly Offering New Theories of the Koran The New York Times 2 March 2002 Toby Lester What Is the Koran The Atlantic January 1999 Introduction to Islamic Theology TH 553 Hartford Seminary Retrieved 15 March 2021 Zayed Tareq M Knowledge of Shariah and Knowledge to Manage Self and System Integration of Islamic Epistemology with the Knowledge and Education Academia edu Retrieved 29 May 2018 Kalin I Ayduz S Dagli C 2014 The Oxford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Science and Technology in Islam Oxford Encyclopedias of Islamic Studies Oxford University Press p 263 ISBN 978 0 19 981257 8 Retrieved 9 Dec 2022 Figural representation is virtually unused in Islamic art because of Islam s strong antagonism of idolatry It was important for Muslim scholars and artists to find a style of art that represented the Islamic ideals of unity tawhid and order without figural representation Archived copy www hum huji ac il Archived from the original on 4 October 2013 Retrieved 17 January 2022 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit Ssus ac in Retrieved 29 May 2018 Journal of Islam in Asia Archived from the original on 29 November 2014 Retrieved 30 April 2019 Bibliography EditAzim Nanji ed 1997 Mapping Islamic Studies Genealogy Continuity and Change Walter de Gruyter ISBN 978 3 11 081168 1 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Islamic studies amp oldid 1149190234, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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