RELST-301 The Life of Muhammad: Narratives of Devotion and Debate
Why does Muhammad’s biography generate so much debate? Students study primary sources, in translation, from the earliest available writings to the modern period, and include works from diverse interpretations of Islam. Emphasis on different ways narratives have been deployed: to develop the legal tradition, in ritual, to cultivate Muhammad’s image as a spiritual model, and even in colonizing practices of Europeans. We focus on debates and controversies that for centuries accompanied the preservation of Muhammad’s memory and those that are reemerging. Examples include visual depiction of Muhammad, the affair of Rushdie’s novel The Satanic Verses, and global responses to the Danish cartoon publications.
Writing-Intensive (18)
Credits
1
Cross Listed Courses
ASNST-301