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HU Credits:
2
Degree/Cycle:
2nd degree (Master)
Responsible Department:
Comparative Religion
Semester:
1st Semester
Teaching Languages:
English
Campus:
Mt. Scopus
Course/Module Coordinator:
Hannelies Koloska
Coordinator Office Hours:
Wednesday 1-2pm
Teaching Staff:
Dr. Hannelies Koloska
Course/Module description:
Paradise constitutes a topic of great significance in Islamic belief and literature throughout the centuries. Paradisiac imagery rich in sensual promises, shaped non-Muslim admiring and repulsive perception of Islam. This course will introduce analyze main texts of the Qur’an and Hadith literature on paradise and will explore their historical context and reception in literature, art and architecture. We will explore the importance and range of the Islamic eschatological worldview in its different shapes and will discuss the polemics against Islamic paradisiac imagery.
Course/Module aims:
Students will learn how the human body, afterlife and paradise is conceptualized in the Qur’an. They will analyze how the image of paradise developed in the Qur’an and Hadith in their historical contexts.
The course will analyze and discuss the development of theological, artistic and political conceptualizations of paradise among Muslims and their perception among non-Muslims.
Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
- have advanced knowledge of Islamic concepts of afterlife, human existence and paradise.
- are able to analyse concepts and motifs in the Qur’an and can provide an overview of their appearance and development.
- are familiarized with analytic tools to read and understand the Qur’an in its historical context.
-demonstrate an understanding of the complexities involved in Muslim belief in paradise.
- able to discuss and critically approach current Non-Muslim and Muslim ideas about paradise
Attendance requirements(%):
In case of absence the teacher has to be notified (not more than 3 times).
Teaching arrangement and method of instruction:
- group/pair or individual works
- close reading
- interactive learning
Course/Module Content:
1. Eschatology (Theory and Concepts)
2. The Eschatological Body
3.Paradise in the Qur’an and in Hadith
4. Muḥammad’s Ascension 5. Contemporary Description of Paradise
Contemporary Description of Paradise
6. Western Eyes on Islamic Paradise
7. The Role of Paradise in Islamic Art and Architecture
Required Reading:
Günther, Sebastian, & Lawson, Tedd (eds.). Roads to Paradise: Eschatology and Concepts of the Hereafter in Islam (2 vols.). Leiden, Niederlande: Brill, 2017 (articles).
Lange, Christian: Paradise and Hell in Islamic Traditions. Cambridge: Cambridte University Press, 2016.
al-Azmeh, Aziz: Rhetoric for the senses: A consideration of Muslim paradise narratives, in JAL 26 (1995), 215–31.
Saleh, Walid: The etymological fallacy and Quranic studies: Muhammad, paradise, and late antiquity, in A. Neuwirth, N. Sinai, and M. Marx (eds.), The Qurʾān in context: Historical and literary investigations into the Qurʾānic milieu, Leiden 2009, 649–98.
Additional Reading Material:
Moodle
Course/Module evaluation:
End of year written/oral examination 0 %
Presentation 20 %
Participation in Tutorials 20 %
Project work 60 %
Assignments 0 %
Reports 0 %
Research project 0 %
Quizzes 0 %
Other 0 %
Additional information:
Readings will be in Arabic and English translation.
Final Papers can be submitted in English, Arabic or German.
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