Assignment: ISLAMIC REVIVALISM
First Step: Read chapter (Routinizing the Iranian Revolution) in Islam in the Modern World (IMW)
1. What were the causes of the Iranian revolution of 1979?
2. Why was the revolution called Islamic?
3. What is the meaning of Wilayat al-Faqih? Why is this concept central to the understanding of the revolution of 1979? How did secular opposition view this concept?
4. Who was Khomeini? What were the main characteristics of his approach to religion and politics?
5. What explains the rise of hardliners in Iran?
6. Is there any opposition to the guardianship of the clerics?
Second step: Read the following primary documents in Islam in Transition (IT)
A. Read Abu-L-Ala Mawdudi. Mawdudi was originally from India and played an enormous influence on contemporary Islamic revivalism.
1. What compels Mawdudi to differentiate Islam from democracy, communism, and fascism?
2. Is Islam a democracy? Why or why not? What is a theo-democracy? What is the difference between a democracy and a theo-democracy?
3. Is Communism a revised version of Islam? Why or why not? What commonalities and differences have Islam and Communism if any?
4. Is Islam a form of dictatorship? Why or why not? In what way an Islamic state might resemble Fascism? But is it for Mawdudi? Why or why not?
5. According to Mawdudi, what constitutes the perfect model of an Islamic state?
6. Should Islam regulate economic, social, and family life? Why or why not? When is ijtihad possible?
7. What is the purpose of an Islamic state?
8. What place will dhimmi occupy in an Islamic state? Will they be full citizens of this state? To your view, is this satisfactory?
9. Does Mawdudi explain concretely how an Islamic state will carry its mission of social reform?
B. Read AyatullahRuhullahKhumayni and Ayatullah Mahmud Taliqani
1. What do these two authors have in common with Mawdudi?
2. How does Khumayni justify the rule of the jurisprudent (wilayat-i faqih)?
3. What is the economic program of Taliqani?
C. On the basis of these three texts, describe what a truly Islamic government would be about (political system, family relationships, economics, relationship with the West and non-Muslim minorities).
D. Read Abdolkarim Soroush .Why can religiosity coexist with democracy?
Reference books :
1. Islam in the Modern World book (IMW).
2. Islam in Transition book (IT).