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Semester 2

The Qur'an - Islam's Holy Book (IMES10086)

Subject

Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies

College

CAHSS

Credits

20

Normal Year Taken

4

Delivery Session Year

2023/2024

Pre-requisites

Visiting students must have completed at least 3 courses in a related subject area at grade B or above. We will only consider University/College level courses.

Course Summary

The Qur'an is the central text of Islam. Perceived as being as God's unchangeable and final word, it has had a huge influence on the development of Islamic thought, amongst others in theology, law, and Sufism. This course provides an analytical overview of the origins of the Qur'an, its structure and content, and approaches to its interpretation. Through the lecture of key passages of the Qur'an and selected commentaries, the course illustrates the significance of the text for Islamic thought and the diversity of the interpretations it has generated. The course is jointly taught with PG students.

Course Description

The course will offer short introductory presentations to the individual topics and will then focus on the discussion of selected readings from primary and secondary sources. The core element of the course is an individual research project that will lead to the final essay. This essay is supposed to discuss in detail one aspect of Qur'anic research. It should make an argument rather than just providing a survey of a topic. The literature review forms the basis for this research project and is intended to provide a critical assessment of the relevant literature for the final essay. The students will present a preliminary version of their research projects in a class presentation which is intended to outline the main argument of the research project and put it in its scholarly context. The feedback they receive on their presentations and on the literature review should in turn inform their final essay.

Assessment Information

Written Exam 0%, Coursework 100%, Practical Exam 0%

view the timetable and further details for this course

Disclaimer

All course information obtained from this visiting student course finder should be regarded as provisional. We cannot guarantee that places will be available for any particular course. For more information, please see the visiting student disclaimer:

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