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from the original seminar description, by Fred Donner ... in this section, you will be able to see the readings that were included in the institute, and read a brief annotation of selected works ... PLAN OF WORK (June 19, 2000 - July 21, 2000) The goal of the "Islamic Origins" Institute was to allow junior college, college, and university teachers to familiarize themselves with the scholarly issues and debates surrounding the rise of Islam, so that they could, in turn, offer their students a more nuanced and historically grounded view of this critical phenomenon in world history. This broad goal was met through a combination of assigned readings of some of the more important recent scholarly literature, collective discussion and analysis of that scholarship and the issues it raises, and the preparation of written syntheses based on recent scholarship. Participants were not expected to have the linguistic or methodological training to undertake original research with primary documents. The main activity of the Institute was a five-week series of daily meetings of 90 minutes each, during which particular issues were discussed. (During week 3, which included Independence Day, only three sessions were held). For this reason, the primary requirement was the physical presence of participants at all discussions throughout the five weeks of the Institute, and participation in those discussions. The discussions were built largely around a set of required readings (see schedule of readings below), but at times one of the faculty offered a mini-lecture when the discussion led into areas not covered by the readings or when fuller background was required. The goals of the discussion were (1) to help all participants understand the issues on the table and how the assigned readings helped in understanding them (or failed to do so), and (2) to help formulate effective ways to convey this material to non-specialists--beginning students, the general public, etc. In some instances, where particularly heavy loads of reading were assigned, readings were apportioned out among the participants, and teams of participants prepared a brief written evaluation of their assignment for general distribution, and made a brief oral presentation on it to stimulate discussion. Each participant was also asked to prepare, during the course of the Institute, a short (6-10 page) paper, in which he or she undertook a comparative analysis of a number of pieces of scholarship (chosen from the assigned Institute readings, with additional readings suggested by the faculty if the participant desired – please see Participants and Projects section). This enabled participants to explore in greater depth particular issues of interest to them, and helped participants synthesize the insights they drew from the Institute. All papers were reviewed by one of the Institute faculty, and constructive comments or suggestions were offered. Days 1-3. The Traditional Views of Islamic Origins [Each participant to review one or more of:]
[Each participant to read:] Maxime Rodinson, "A Critical Survey of Modern Studies on Muhammad," in Merlin Swartz (ed.), Studies on Islam, 23-85.
Days 4-5. Some Early Revisionist Views of Islamic Origins Patricia Crone and Michael Cook, Hagarism. The making of the Islamic World, chaps. 1-5.
Days 1-3. The Late Antique Background to the Rise of Islam
R. B. Serjeant, "Haram and Hawtah, the sacred enclave in Arabia," in Abdurrahman Badawi (ed.), Mélanges Taha Husain, 41-58. H.A.R. Gibb, "Pre-Islamic Monotheism in Arabia," Harvard Theological Review 55 (1962), 269-80. M. Jung, "The Religious monuments of ancient souterhn Arabia, a preliminary typological classification," AION 48 (1988), 177-218. Days 4-5. Further Revisionist Views; Non-Islamic Sources
Robert Hoyland, Seeing Islam as Others Saw It, 523-44.
THIRD WEEK [ 3 days only; Independence Day holiday … ] Days 1-3. The Arabic-Islamic Historiographical Tradition
Patricia Crone, Meccan Trade and the Rise of Islam, chap. 9 ("The Sources").
Days 1-3. The Character of Muhammad’s Movement
Ofer Livne-Kafri, "Early Muslim Ascetics and the World of Christian Monasticism," Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 20 (1996), 105-29.
Days 4-5. The Islamic Conquests: Nature and Scope Fred M. Donner, "Islam, Conquests of," Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. Fred M. Donner, "Centralized Authority and Military Autonomy in the Early Islamic Conquests," in Averil Cameron (ed.), The Byzantine and Early Islamic Near East, III: States, Resources, and Armies, 337-60. Patricia Crone, "The First-Century Concept of Higra," Arabica 41 (1994), 352-87. Fred M. Donner, "The Formation of the Islamic State," Journal of the American Oriental Society 106 (1986), 283-96. Ira M. Lapidus, "The Arab Conquests and the Formation of Islamic Society," in G. H. A. Juynboll (ed.), Studies on the First Century of Islamic Society, 49-72. Days 1-3. The Impact of the Conquests: Urbanism Benjamin Z. Kedar, "The Arab Conquests and Agriculture," Asian and African Studies 19 (1985), 1-16. Hugh Kennedy, "From Polis to Madina: Urban Change in Late Antique and Early Islamic Syria," Past and Present 106 (Feb. 1985), 3-27. Alan Walmsley, "Byzantine Palestine and Arabia: Urban Prosperity in Late Antiquity," in N. Christie and S. Loseby f(eds.), Towns in Transition: Urban Evolution in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, 126-58. Donald Whitcomb, "The Misr of Ayla: New Evidence for the Early Islamic City," in G. Bisheh (ed.), Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan, V: Art and technology throughout the ages, 277-88. Donald Whitcomb, "The Misr of Ayla: Settlement at Aqaba in the Early Islamic Period," in G.R.D. King & Averil Cameron (eds.), The Byzantine and Early Islamic Near East II: Land Use and Settlement Patterns, 155-70. A. Nasif, "The Identification of the Wadi’l-Qura and the ancient Islamic site of al-Mibyat," Arabian Studies 5 (1979), 1-19. S. A. al-Rashid, al-Rabadah: Portrait of early Islamic civilisation in Saudi Arabia. Harlow, Longman, 1986. Days 4-5. Conclusion: The formation of "Classical Islam"
Oleg Grabar, "The Umayyad Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem," Ars Orientalis 3 (1959), 33-62. Amikam El'ad, "Why did ‘Abd al-Malik build the Dome of the Rock? A Re- examination of the Muslim sources," in Julian Raby & Jeremy Johns (eds.), Bayt al-Maqdis: ‘Abd al-Malik's Jerusalem, 33-58. N. Khury, "The Dome of the Rock, the Ka’ba, and Ghumdan: Arab myths and Umayyad monuments," Muqarnas 10 (1993), 57-65. Michael L. Bates, "Byzantine Coinage and Its Imitations, Arab Coinage and Its Imitations: Arab-Byzantine Coinage," Aram 6 (1994), 381-403. Michael L. Bates, "The Coinage of Syria under the Umayyads, 692-750 A.D.," Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on History of Bilad al-Sham, 3: Bilad al-Sham in the Umayyad Period, 195-228. Uri Rubin, "Morning and Evening Prayers in Islam," Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 10 (1987), 40-64. Michael Lecker, "Biographical Notes on Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri," Journal of Semitic Studies 41 (1996), 21-63. Garth Fowden, Empire to Commonwealth: Consequences of Monotheism in late antiquity, Introduction, chapter 6, and Epilogue.
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