ISLAMIC STUDIES
PROGRAMMES AND LITERATURE REVIEW

by
Joseph Kenny, O.P.

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1. Informal programmes for Christians
2. Formal courses for the generality of Christians
3. Courses to be part of a B.A. programme in Philosophy or Theology
4. Programmes for a specialist in Islam

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Information on Islam in its various aspects should be available to anyone with the interest or duty of knowing about it. This information can be provided in formal programmes or informally.

Courses on Islam should not be planned in isolation from general Christian formation. It should be stressed that the courses proposed here should be part of integrated programmes on all aspects of Catholic life at every level.

1. INFORMAL PROGRAMMES

For Christian learning about Islam for the first time

A programme for the mass of the laity includes:

• reference to Islam in preaching and talks,
• articles in newspapers, especially Catholic ones. See my series Among Muslims.
• making available reading material and video and audio cassettes that treat of Islam; a systematic list could provide most of what could be had in a formal course.

For those who have done a formal course

The second kind of informal programme is continuing education and updating for those who have already been familiarized with the basics of Islam. This includes current articles on the development of thought and policies in the world of Islam, and Christian-Muslim relations. There can also be conferences, for example on the following themes:

CHRIST

1. A Muslim overview. (by a Muslim)
2. Profile of a prophet in the Qur'ān, as relevant to Christ.
3. The Qur'ān and adīth picture of Christ.
4. The historical-critical problem of Qur'ānic Christology.
5. Christ in medieval and later Muslim literature.
6. Qur'ānic Christology compared with previous heterodox Christologies.
7. Qur'ānic Christology compared with orthodox Christology.
8. Jesus today in word and sacrament, addressing and healing the world, with particular reference to Muslims.

QUR'ĀN

1. The role of Scripture in forming the Muslim community an "Arabic Qur'ān".
2. The editorial shaping of the Qur'ān.
3. The Qur'ān on God as One Being and Unassociated Sovreign Agent.
4. Muslim ideas of God's speech and Qur'ānic inspiration, revision and abrogation.
5. The Qur'ān as a sacrament and object of reverence; miraculosity (i`jāz).
6. The Qur'ān on God's mercy and providence.
7. The Qur'ān on God's justice towards man's sin, merit, recompense and intercession.
8. Comparison of Christian and Muslim ideas of God.

SOCIETY

1. The Muslim umma; brotherhood, unity.
2. Authority in the umma after the death of the Prophet.
3. The meaning and role of Sharī`a: various views.
4. Qur'ānic ethical norms that faciliate the smooth functioning of society.
5. The status of women: various views.
6. Non-Muslims, faith and salvation: various views.
7. Rights of man and the treatment of non-Muslims: various views.
8. Cooperating with non-Muslims: various views.

2. FORMAL COURSES FOR THE GENERALITY OF CHRISTIANS

Formal courses are necessary particularly for lay leaders, catechists and religious. It should be a minumum of 45 hours, either in a 3 week intensive course or spread over a longer period. Its purpose is to provide a general knowledge of Islam, enabling the graduate to interact with Muslims on a daily basis, with a comprehension of the Muslim's faith, how Christianity is different, and how he can respond to objections or otherwise witness to his faith. The course should also help the graduate to understand and interpret in a balanced manner the events affecting Muslim-Christian relations in his country.

The three week course comprises 45 hours of formal lectures, with more than that time provided for reading, discussions and videos. All this can be re-arranged as the organizers see best, but because intensive sessions are often wearying, I propose a programme which allows for more personal work and digestion of what is given in lectures. Each day would have 3 hours of lecture, 3 scheduled hours of personal reading, and 2 hours of discussion. The following is a possible daily horarium for a 5 day week:

6:00	Rise
6:30	Mass
7:30	Breakfast
8:00	Reading (1 & 2)
10:00	Lecture (1)
11:00	Lecture (2)
12:00	Discussion (1)
1:00	Prayer & lunch
2:00	Rest
3:00	Lecture (3)
4:00	Discussion (4)
5:00	Sports
7:00	Prayer
7:30	Supper
8:00	Recreation, video, reading

	Courses	Hours
011	Early Islam	10
012	The Qur'ān, Hadīth & Sharī`a	5
013	Basic practices	5
014	Islam in West Africa	10
015	Dialogue and apologetics	15

Distribution over the three weeks

	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3
Lecture 1	011	011	012
Lecture 2	013	014	014
Lecture 3	015	015	015

Course descriptions and syllabus

Basic text for all the courses: West Africa and Islam (AECAWA Publication, 2000)

011 Early Islam

The political, economic and religious situation of the Middle East at the rise of Islam, the life of Muammad, the first rapid spread of Islam, and a brief survey of subsequent history.

Basic text:
J. Kenny, West Africa and Islam, chs. 2-11.
J. Kenny, Early Islam
Suplementary:
W. Montgomery Watt, Muammad, prophet and statesman
Watt, Muammad at Mecca
Watt, Muammad at Medina
videos: The Message; The Sword of Islam etc.

Distribution of the 10 hours:
1 Introduction & Chapter 1
2 Chapters 2 & 3
3 Chapters 4 & 5
4 Chapters 6 & 7
5 Chapters 8 & 9
6 Chapters 10 & 11
7 Chapters 12 & 13
8 Chapters 14 & 15
9 cushion
10 cushion

Themes for study and examination:

• The authenticity of the history, in the light of the time it was written and influence of apologetics of this time against Jews and Christians and their beliefs. See Introduction; Ch. 2 and the legends of M.'s youth; Ch. 3, prophetic experience and interpretation; Ch. 4, the intellectual battle; Ch. 5, in Ethiopia.
• The originality of Islam or outside influences. See Ch. 1;
• How Muhammad's prophetic authority grew. See Ch. 3, first preaching; Ch. 4, physical resistance, resistance to compromise; Ch.5, the claim of the night ride and ascension, negotiations with Medina,
• How Muhammad's political authority grew.
• Muhammad's wives and the circumstances of the marriages.
• Muhammad's daughters' marriages.
• Muhammad's ethics of warfare. See Ch. 4, physical resistance; the hijra, p. 39; Ch. 7; Ch. 9.
• How Muhammad dealt with the Hypocrites (Ch.6; pp. 84-87) & poets.
• How Muhammad dealt with the Jews.
• How Muhammad answered the economic, political and religious needs of Arabia in his time. Ch. 1; 15. See also "The economic aspect of Islam" in AECAWA, Christianity and Islam in dialogue, with reference to economies of trade and of booty.

012 The Qur'ān, Hadīth & Sharī`a

The arrangement of the Qur'ān, Muslims' idea of inspiration and reverence for the Qur'ān. What is Hadīth, when it was composed and where found. What is Sharī`a and its position in an Islamic society. Islamic theory of the state.

Basic text:
J. Kenny, West Africa and Islam, chs. 13-15
Supplementary:
J. Kenny, Scholarship in early Islam: Qur'ān and Hadīth studies (to be posted)

Distribution of the 5 hours:
1 The Qur'ān: layout, style
2 The Qur'ān: Muslim theory of inspiration; respect and use of Qur'ān
3 Hadīth
4 Sharī`a: sources, role in Islam
5 Islamic theory of the state

013 Basic practices

Beliefs, prayer, fasting, zakāt, pilgrimage, marriage.

Basic texts:
J. Kenny, West Africa and Islam, chs 16-22
J. Kenny, Basic practices of Islam and Christianity
Supplementary:
J. Kenny, The Risāla of Ibn-abī-Zayd al-Qayrawānī, an annotated translation

Distribution of the 5 hours:

1 Beliefs

2 Prayer

3 Fasting & Zakāt

4 Pilgrimage

5 Marriage

014 Islam in West Africa

The coming of Islam to West Africa through North Africa and the Sahara. Influence on its spread through the economic, political and religious situation of West Africa, as shown in its various periods.

Basic texts:
J. Kenny, West Africa and Islam, chs.23-32
J. Kenny, The spread of Islam through North to West Africa
Supplementary:
Trimingham, History of Islam in West Africa, Islam in West Africa
Peter Clarke, West Africa and Islam

Distribution of the 10 hours:
1 The coming of Islam to Egypt
2 The coming of Islam to the Maghrib and the Sahara
3 Ghana and contemporary societies
4 The Murābis (Almoravids)
5 Mali & Songhay
6 The jamā`a period and the beginning of jihāds
7 The Sokoto jihad
8 Islam under colonial rule
9 Islam in the independent period
10 cushion

015 Dialogue and apologetics

A study of the Church's documents regarding religious liberty, the salvation on non-Christians, mission and dialogue. Examination of what is common, similar or different between Islam and Christianity. Muslim apologetics and responses. What in Christianity could attract or repel a Muslim. Pastoral approaches.

Basic text:
J. Kenny, West Africa and Islam, chs. 33-45
J. Kenny, Views on Christian-Muslim relations
Supplementary: (much of it included in Views)
Vatican II documents
Paul VI, Ecclesiam suam
John Paul II, Redemptoris missio
Pontifical Council for inter-religious relations, Dialogue and mission (1984), Dialogue and Proclamation 1991)
AECAWA, Dialogue
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Dominus Jesus
Encounter, various articles

Distribution of the 15 hours:
1 Religious liberty
2 Salvation of non-Christians
3 Dialogue & mission
4 Common values in Islam
5 Differences
6 Muslim apologetics & response
7 Christian attractions and weaknesses
8 Protestant approaches (no salvation of Muslims, modalism, Qur'ān to prove the Bible & Jesus)
9 Catholic approaches
10-15 cushion

3. COURSES IN A B.A. PROGRAMME IN PHILOSOPHY OR THEOLOGY

The next level is a B.A. level series of at least 90 hours (three 30 hour courses) on:

• 1) Introduction and basic practices of Islam,
• 2) Islam in West Africa,
• 3) Islamic world view (theology) and dialogue.

This level is necessary for future priests and can also be available for some religious, catechists and lay leaders. Its purpose is to enable the graduate to provide leadership in Muslim-Christian relations, and to form Christians both in informal programmes and by teaching the formal 3 week course.

4. PROGRAMMES FOR A SPECIALIST IN ISLAM

The final level is the training of specialists. This can be at the level of an M.A. degree, the minimum requirement for seminary teachers, and at the level of Ph.D., a necessary requirement for teaching Islam at a postgraduate level so as to prepare seminary teachers.

For a deeper knowledge of Islam, one should have a knowledge of:

• Arabic language,
• the various areas of Islamic studies,
• the different tendencies or schools of thought in each of these areas.
• the basic literature of these areas and tendencies.

I present here just a rushed draft introductory survey to a vast subject.

General works

There is the Encyclopedia of Islam; Index islamicus; Gilliot's bulletin of ancient texts published in Egypt in each issue of MIDEO. Be familiar with the periodicals IDEO receives.

• Gibb, H.A.R. & J.H. Kramers, Shorter Encyclopaedia of Islam (Brill, 1953)
• Gibb, H.A.R., The Encyclopaedia of Islam, new ed. (Leiden: Brill, 1960-)
• Faruqi, Isma'il al-, The cultural atlas of Islam (N.Y.: Macmillan, 1986)
• Verhoeven, F.R.J., Islam: its origin and spread in words, maps and pictures (R. & K. Paul, 1962)

Arabic Language

• Normally, a course in Arabic, at Dar Comboni in Cairo or elsewhere, will give a working knowledge of the language. You should be aware, however, that Arabic language is a specialized subject in its own right, with quite a vast literature of classical and modern works. Unless you are specializing in this or in Arabic literature, you may not go into it; it is somewhat peripheral to Islamic studies.
• Each area has its own special vocabulary. I refer to some vocabulary lists as the subject comes up.

Arabic Literature

• Arabic literatures is also largely regarded as peripheral to Islamic studies. Yet any formation in Arabic language will introduce the student to some Arabic literature. Like the newspaper and the spoken dialects, it is important to give a living context to vocabulary found in the Qur'ān and religious books.
• The work of حنا فخوري is a basic reference work to the history of Arabic literature.

Qur'ān

• For the basic text, note the difference of verse numbering in the "Cairo" edition, now commonly used throughout the world, and the older "Flügel" edition, followed by Arberry, Blachčre etc.
• For variant readings, see Jeffery Materials for the history of the text of the Qur'ān, and القراءات القرآنية by أحمد مختار عمر & عرد العال سالم مكرم.
• For a concordance, see M. Fu'ād `Abdalbāqī, المعجم المفهرس لألفاظ القرآن. It is a one volume book, easy to use, but it may be easier to use a CD-Rom (by Sakhr, and others)
• For translations, see my separate bibliography.
• For Arabic tafsīrs, see my separate bibliography.
• For modern tendencies, note e.g. the difference between:
  • Louis Premare, that much editing was done after the death of Muhammad,
  • John Burton, that the Q is much as Muhammad left it.
• For the question of نسخ, see the classical references in my tafsīr bibliography. Note the modern Muslim tendency to reject any نسخ within the Qur'ān.
• Note the study of the rhetorical structure of the Q by Michel Cuypers: MIEDEO 22 & 23, and Annales de l'IFAO

Hadīth

• Note the 6 basic صحيح collections, also the several recognized additional works -all on CD-Rom. Before that you had to use Wensinck's huge reference books to get through the jungle of Hadīdh.
• For authenticity and origin, see Joseph Schacht.
• For modern attitudes, see Fazlur Rahman, Islam, and several articles in Islamic Studies, in my separate bibliography.
• On the question of نسخ, note the difference between al-Ghazālī, that Hadīth can overrule the Q, and most modern writers who reject as inauthentic any hadīth that does not harmonize with the Q.

Fiqh

• For the origin of the four schools, see Schact and Coulson.
• Note that the Mālikī school predominates in West Africa. The basic work is my The Risāla of Ibn-abī-Zayd al-Qayrawānī, an annotated translation.
• See the same work for a vocabulary list for fiqh.
• For social law, see the classical works of Turtushī and Māwardī, especially for implications for Christians.
• For some modern studies, see Fattāl...

Kalām

• For general survey of historical development, see Watt, Formative period, and the much expanded up-date by Josef Van Ess (in German).
• See separate bibliography (to be posted).
• See Kenny, thesis, Muslim theology as presented by M. b. Yūsuf as-Sanūsī.

Sufism

• Kenny, Islamic Sufism: Experience and organization
• See the general works of Gardet, Caspar.
• Check the Ibadan Islamic Library, section K (in the computer) for lengthy bibliography.

Pre-Islamic Arabia and Middle-East background to Islam

• See Kenny, Early Islam, and Cambridge History of Islam.
• For a critical view, see Lammens' several works.
• See many new works on archaeology, inscriptions...

Life of Muhammad

• See Kenny, Early Islam; the Arabic of Ibn-Hishām, Alfred Guillaume's translation (Lahore: OUP, 1968/55).
• Watt, W. Montgomery, Muhammad at Mecca (Clarendon, 1965/60/53)
• Watt, W. Montgomery, Mohammad, prophet and statesman (OUP, 1964/61)
• Watt, W. Montgomery, Muhammad at Medina (Clarendon, 1962/56)
• For other Arabic sources, see separate list. See Watt for evaluation of each.
• Note tendencies: older orientalists who attack M; middle-of-the-road people like Watt, propagandists like Martin Lings.

Rāshidūn

• Holt, P.M. & A.K.S. Lambton & B. Lewis, The Cambridge history of Islam (2 vols. CUP, 1970), v. 1, ch. 1 by Veccia Vaglieri, "The patriarchal period"
• Gabrieli, Francesco, Muhammad and the conquests of Islam, tr. V. Luling & (London: World Univ. Lib., 1968)
• Butler, Alfred J., The Arab conquest of Egypt (NY: AMS, 1973/1902)

Umayyad, `Abbāsid periods

• See separate list of Arabic sources (to be posted). Note that all the texts are available on a single CD-ROM.
• Surveys: Watt, The majesty that was Islam
• Shaban, M.A., Islamic history, a new interpretation
• Shaban, M.A., The `Abbāsid revolution
• Muir, William, The caliphate: its rise, decline and fall, intr. Z.N. Zeine (Beirut: Khayats, 1963/1898)

North and West Africa

• Kenny, The spread of Islam through North to West Africa (Lagos: Dominican Publications, 2000)
• See in in web edition of the same, an extensive bibliography for different periods and different countries.
• Cuoq, Joseph, Les musulmans en Afrique (Maisonneuve et Larose, 1975)
• Cuoq, Joseph, Recueil des sources arabes concernant l'Afrique occidentale du 8e au 16e sičcle (Paris: Centre Nat. de la R.S., 1975)
• Cuoq, Joseph, Histoire de l'islamisation de l'Afrique de l'Ouest, des origines a la fin du 16e sičcle (Paris: Guethner, 1984)
• Levtzion, Nehemia, Corpus of early Arabic sources for W. African history (Cambridge UP, 1981)

Modernism إصلاح

• See Jomier, Commentaire coranique du Manār (M. Abduh & Rashīd Ridā)
• See countless current articles referring to M. Abduh etc.
• Note the works of Ashmawi and other innovative Egyptian writers.

Inter-religious relations

• See Kenny, Views on Christian-Muslim relations, for samples of Vatican and Muslim documents...
• See separate bibliography (to be posted).
• See my bibliography on St. Thomas and Islam (mostly on philosophy).
• Note different tendencies. (See Views and the bibliography.)