IJC 204 Islamic Sociology
A discipline of Islamic studies and social sciences, Islamic Sociology studies human societies and relations among social phenomena and many parts of society through Islamic perspectives. Through lectures, discussions and fieldwork assignments, students explore sociological concepts and disciplines from an Islamic point of view. Beginning with the origins of sociology, which, according to many, is Ibn Khaldun’s “Introduction” (Muqaddimah), students study and analyze social systems and structures, historical cyclical changes and social processes. Course participants build a solid foundation for further studies in the field of sociology based on the Islamic paradigm. Topics of investigation and learning from sociological and anthropological perspectives include Islam and Muslim communities, social, economic and political realities and experiences related to Islam and Muslims, Muslim contributions to sociology, the imbrication of Islam and ‘Muslimness’ with race, ethnicity, class, gender, etc. The course provides a contextual, multilayered and complex understanding of social, political and intellectual movements related to Islam and Muslims, such as Muslim reformisms, Islamisms, Islamic feminisms, etc. Students are encouraged to investigate central questions in sociology about contemporary Islam and Muslims, such as the relationship between religion and secularism, postcolonialism and orientalism, and so on.
Learning Outcomes
Review, analyze, present, interpret, and evaluate various arguments, assumptions and concepts related to Islamic psychology and its subdisciplines.
Express information, arguments, theses, and analyses accurately and clearly in written and oral forms to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
Demonstrate skills in library research and building a bibliography, and use standard conventions of style for scholarly writing.
Demonstrate essential knowledge and skills required for a sociological investigation and analysis of issues in the Muslim world.
Explain the differences between secular and Islamic approaches to studying social phenomena, compare and contrast sources of knowledge for both perspectives, and describe the relationship between sociology and religion.
Demonstrate understanding of their knowledge’s limits and how this might influence their analysis and interpretations.
Explain several theoretical perspectives about Islam and Muslim communities and their interactions with concepts of race, class, gender, ethnicity, etc., and analyze power relationships and social governance to evaluate these social statuses and social class.
Apply key concepts and sociological theories developed within classical and contemporary sociology in general, specifically in the sociology of Islam, to address lived experiences, the trends and policies of social control in different countries.
Report sociological findings in collaboration with their research partners.