Classes Taught at Barnard/Columbia by Professor Najam Haider

Islam in the Post-Colonial World

Barnard College/Columbia University, Fall 2010, Fall 2011, Spring 2013

This course focuses on the multiple manifestations of the Islamic vision in the modern world.  The semester begins with a survey of the central elements that unite a diverse community of Muslim peoples from a variety of geographical and cultural backgrounds.  This includes a look at the Prophet and the Qur’ān and the ways in which both were actualized in the development of jurisprudence and sufism/mysticism.  The course then shifts to the modern period, examining the impact of colonization and the rise of secular modernity on the Muslim world.  Topics range from intellectual attempts at societal/religious reform (e.g., Islamic Revivalism, Modernism, Progressivism) and political re-interpretations of traditional Islamic motifs (e.g., Third-Worldism and Jihadist discourse) to traditional efforts at accommodating scientific and technological innovations (e.g., evolution, bioethics).  The class ends by examining the efforts of American and European Muslim communities to carve out distinct spheres of identity in the larger global Muslim community (umma) through expressions of popular cultural (e.g., Hip-Hop).

Revolution and Revival in the Muslim World

Barnard College/Columbia University, Spring 2011

This class focuses on the history and development of revolutionary movements in the Muslim world.  The course begins by examining the life of the Prophet with a particular emphasis on his efforts at socio-ethical reform and his role as the political leader of a nascent religious community. The remainder of the semester is devoted towards the analysis of pre-modern and modern movements/groups who utilized this original template to justify their own versions of an ideal “Islamic” community.  The class includes a detailed study of the origins of Kharijism, the early Umayyad civil wars, the ‘Abbāsid Revolution, the rise of Ismā‘īlism as manifest in the establishment of a Fāṭimid Caliphate and the Nizārī “Assassin” order, the emergence of Shī’ī political activism with the Safavid state, and the growth of apocalyptic reform movements such as the Bābīs in Iran.  It culminates with a close examination of the ideology of modern Jihadist groups found in Egypt and Saudi Arabia as well as al-Qā’ida.

http://www.najamhaider.com/classes-taught/