REL 232 Women and Islam (Same as History 278) (Not offered 1998-99)*

This course will be an introduction to Islamic religion and culture that takes issues of gender as its organizing focus. We begin with a consideration of notions of honor, purity, and the dangerous feminine in the Mediterranean machismo world. We will then give attention to the career and teaching of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the role played by women in the establishment of Islam, as well as to the Quranic understanding of the relation of the sexes. We then examine the relation of the sexes as reflected in legal, mystical, literary, and folkloristic texts with special attention to the relation of sexual and sacral desire. This will allow us to consider the cultural ecological foundations of the creation of male and female identity in Islam as well as the importance of class difference (e.g., village vs. city, rich vs. poor) that must be recognized in a careful examination of this issue. We conclude with a consideration based both on literature and the social analysis of contemporary debate about the role of women in Islam and why this issue is in many ways the centerpiece of the problem of Muslim identity in the modern world. Requirements: two 4- to 6-page papers and a final exam. Lecture and discussion.
Open to all classes without prerequisite.

DARROW