Islamic Studies Year 1 Foundation
The module covers the themes of
1. Tawheed – Ones of Allah, Islamic monotheism, definitions and introduction. Risalah and Akhirah
2. Five tenets of Islam: (a) The the Declaration of Faith (Shahadah), Prayer (Salat), Almsgiving (Zakat), Fasting (Sawm), and Pilgrimage (Hajj); their significance in Islamic beliefs; and their role in bringing the person closer to Allah and in uniting the community.
(b) Festivals and religious observances, such as Eid al-Fitr and Al-Adha, as well as marriages and funerals
(c) The Articles of Faith: Jihad, the nature and destiny of humanity, the command to encourage good and forbid evil, Divine predestination of all events, Allah’s being and relationship with the created world, Angels, Books, Prophets, and especially the significance of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) (Khatmun Nabiyyin) as a role model for behaviour and attitude.
3. Khilafa system: The Early Dynasties of Islam
(a) The Umayyads: the establishment of the dynasty, the major events of their rule, their decline and collapse.
A detailed examination of the following caliphs: Mu’awiya (661–80), Abd al–Malik (685-705), ‘Umar II (717–20), and Marwan II (744-50)
(b) The early “Abbasids”: their annexation of the caliphate, the modifications they made to state administration, and their collapse and weakness after 850.
(c) A thorough examination of the following caliphs should be conducted: Abu al-‘Abbas al-Saffah (750–54), Abu Ja’far al–Mansur (754–75), al–Mahdi (77–85), Harun al–Rashid (786–809), al–Ma’mun (813–33), and al–Mutawakkil (847-61)
4. Religious Thought in Early Islam (a) The formation of Shari’ah in its early stages; the contributions of Malik b. Anas, Abu Hanifah, al-Shafi’i, and Ahmad b. Hanbal; and their legal procedures
(b) The compilation of the Prophet’s Sunnah, which culminated in the Six Canonical Collections (the Sahih Sittah), and the techniques used by the principal Hadith collectors (c) The controversy over reason and revelation, the Mu’tazilah’s core beliefs and attitude towards knowledge, their theological rivals, and the contribution of Abu al-Hasan al-Ash’ari
5. Mi’eraj – Isra, Mujiza, Karamat and Istidraj
6. The Divine Sources: Qur’an and Hadith
7. The human sources: Materialistic thoughts and ideas
8. Practical concepts: Maslaha and Darura, Education and Training, Culture and Society
9. The states’ legal authority
10. Independent authority
11. Society’s impact on the formation of authority
12. Future of Islamic law Islam in the World Today
(a) The Salafis, Muhammad ‘Abduh and Hasan al-Banna, Sayyid Ahmad Khan and Muhammad Iqbal are examples of early modern Islamic intellectual groups.
(b) The relationship between Islam and other religions, particularly Judaism and Christianity (c) The status of women in Islam (d) Minority Muslims’ role in society at large and adherence to Islamic principles.
13. What Islam gave to the world.