ISL-01: Overview of Islam, Islamic Law (Shar’iah) and the Islamic World

This course offers a broad and purely academic presentation of Islam which was designed for Muslim and non-Muslim students. It is used in EUCLID’s interfaith and Islamic finance programs. It covers the history of Islam, the “5 Pillars,” as well as a discussion of The Quran, Hadith, and Shariah.

The course uses a selection of sources, some by Muslims and aiming at instructing covered as well as one scholarly but generally antagonistic source (on Hadith). The resource on Jihad comes from a respected source associated with the Royal House and Kingdom of Jordan.

This course is an introduction to Islam as a prophetic religious tradition. It explores the different ways in which Muslims have interpreted and put into practice the prophetic message of the Prophet Mohammed through historical and phenomenological analyses of varying theological, philosophical, legal, political, and literary sources. These analyses aim for course participants to develop a framework for explaining the sources and symbols through which historically specific experiences and understandings have been signified as Islamic.

• Credit value: 3 (US standard) | 6 (ECTS standard)
• Indicative duration (full time): 4-6 weeks
• Indicative duration (part-time): 5-8 week
• Certificate: Yes

This course is based on standard EUCLID methodology. Students may refer to the following resources:

Academic Guidelines (HQ version)
Academic Guidelines (most recent version even if unofficial)
Student Orientation Guidelines (most recent version even if unofficial)
Zotero instructions for EUCLID students
Grammarly instructions for EUCLID students

At the end of this course, the student will be able to:

• discuss the life and message of the Prophet Mohammed
• identify the sources of Islamic doctrine and practice
• explain specific terms such as: Shia, Sunni, Wabhabism, Hadith, Riba
• discuss the state of Islam today in its diverse expressions.

Course material is provided in the form of embedded videos, audio MP3s, and/or downloadable PDFs.