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HU Credits:
2
Degree/Cycle:
1st degree (Bachelor)
Responsible Department:
Islamic & Middle East Stud.
Semester:
2nd Semester
Teaching Languages:
English
Campus:
Mt. Scopus
Course/Module Coordinator:
Simon Wolfgang Fuchs
Coordinator Office Hours:
Tuesday, 14:30-16
Teaching Staff:
Prof. Simon Fuchs
Course/Module description:
Abandoning the longstanding Islamic scholarly tradition by directly approaching the Quran, the deeds and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, and the pious first generations of Muslims (al-salaf al-salih) afresh suddenly appeared very compelling. The course tells the story of the rise (and potential fall) of Salafi thinking until today.
Course/Module aims:
Learn about the development of Salafi thinking in the 20th century and how its protagonists have tried to project their methodology back to the very early days of Islam. Get a sense of what unites Salafis in terms of creed and where potential conflicts and fractures lie.
Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
- Be able to explain the major features of Salafism
- Distinguish between the various Salafi stances on politics and violence
- Familiarize yourself with the major fault lines of the movement and internal conflicts
- Map the role of Saudi Arabia in spreading Salafism globally in the 20th century while acknowledging local variations
- Trace the scholarly debate in the issue, ranging from the dating of the emergence of Salafism to its contents and the proclaimed phenomenon of “post-Salafism”
Attendance requirements(%):
100
Teaching arrangement and method of instruction:
Lectures, discussions, group-work, analysis of primary sources
Course/Module Content:
The term Salafi and Salafism, despite its frequent usage, is little understood in public and media discourses. In this course, we will attempt to make sense of this still mysterious phenomenon. While we will consider previous Muslim approaches that highlighted the importance of reports on the sayings and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad (ahadith, singl. hadith), our focus will be on the 20th century and the circumstances that turned Salafis into a coherent movement. The course will explore both the various political stances Salafis have taken (and continue to take) but will also highlight Salafi debates on the proper Salafi method (manhaj) and question of creed (aqida). In this context, the role of Saudi Arabia will be crucial in both delineating and spreading the ideas of the movement, most notably through the International University of Medina. We will also be exploring to what extent we can discern local variants of Salafism and whether there is indeed, as has been claimed, the phenomenon of post-Salafism emerging.
Required Reading:
Rock-Singer, Aaron (2022): In the shade of the Sunna. Salafi piety in the twentieth-century Middle East. Oakland California: University of California Press.
Hamdeh, Emad (2020): Salafism and Traditionalism. Scholarly authority in modern Islam. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Bonnefoy, Laurent (2011): Salafism in Yemen. Transnationalism and religious identity. New York: Columbia University Press.
Brown, Jonathan A. C. (2015): “Is Islam easy to understand or not? Salafis, the democratization of interpretation and the need for the ulama.” In Journal for Islamic Studies 26 (2), pp. 117–144.
Dallal, Ahmad (2000): “Appropriating the Past: Twentieth-Century Reconstruction of Pre-Modern Islamic Thought.” In Islamic Law and Society 7 (1), pp. 325–358.
Commins, David D. (1990): Islamic reform. Politics and social change in late Ottoman Syria. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
Lauzière, Henri (2016): The making of Salafism. Islamic reform in the twentieth century. New York: Columbia University Press.
Meijer, Roel (Ed.) (2009): Global Salafism. Islam's new religious movement. New York: Columbia University Press.
Nafi, Basheer M. (2009): “Salafism Revived: Nuʿmān al-Alūsī and the Trial of the Two Aḥmads.” In Die Welt des Islams 49, pp. 49–97.
Wagemakers, Joas (2016): Salafism in Jordan. Political Islam in a quietist community. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
Weismann, Itzchak (2024): The Controversy over the Law Schools (lā madhhabiyya) in Twentieth-Century Syria. In Islamic Law and Society (31), pp. 403–430.
Khan, Ahmad (2016): Islamic Tradition in an Age of Print: Editing, Printing and Publishing the Classical Heritage. In Elisabeth Kendall, Ahmad Khan (Eds.): Reclaiming Islamic tradition. Modern interpretations of the classical heritage. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 52–99.
Riexinger, Martin (2008): How Favourable is Puritan Islam to Modernity: A case Study on the Ahl-i Hadis in British India. In Gwilym Beckerlegge (Ed.): Colonialism, Modernity, and Religious Identities. Religious Reform Movements in South Asia. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, pp. 147–165.
Pall, Zoltan (2018): Salafism in Lebanon: Local and Transnational Movements. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Blanc, Théo; Roy, Olivier (2024): Post-Salafism: From global to local Salafism. In Mediterranean Politics.
Additional Reading Material:
A full syllabus with required readings and supplementary readings will be distributed in class and will also be made available on Moodle.
Grading Scheme :
Written Exam % 50
Active Participation / Team Assignment 20 %
Mid-terms exams 30 %
Additional information:
Please note that regular attendance is mandatory. Absences will result in a deduction from your grade. If a student accumulates more than three absences (excluding reserve duty and exceptional circumstances supported by documentation), they will be required to discontinue the course. Students are expected to come to the sessions prepared for discussion, having read the assigned material at home.
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