Instructor: Dr. Mohammed Sinan Siyech Date/times: May 3 - June 7, Sundays 10 AM - 12 PM US Eastern Standard Time Course summary: Most of us as Muslims are living inside a world shaped by forces we were never taught to name. We use the technology, live in the cities, navigate the institutions - but rarely stop to ask where all of this came from, and what it has done to us. Modernity carries with it a set of ideas - secularism, liberalism, nationalism, capitalism - that emerged from a specific place and a specific history, and were then spread across the world, often by force. Understanding these ideas, where they came from, and what they assume about human beings and society is one of the most important intellectual tasks facing Muslims today. This course offers a structured introduction to modernity and its core components. We move through each of the major ideological pillars - secularism, liberalism, nationalism, colonialism, and capitalism - examining their origins, their internal logic, and the ways they have shaped Muslim societies and Muslim thought. We draw on postcolonial and critical readings, always asking where these concepts sit in relation to the Quran and the teachings of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, and what Muslim scholars and thinkers have said in response. The goal is to help students think more clearly about the world they actually live in - and to begin imagining what a more grounded way of engaging with it might look like. Course objectives: By the end of the course: • You will have a solid grasp of the core concepts of modernity and how they developed in the Western context.• You will be able to critique these concepts by situating them historically and exposing the assumptions they carry.• You will be familiar with how mainstream Islamic scholars and thinkers have engaged with and responded to these ideas.• You will have begun developing your own framework for thinking about modernity from an Islamic perspective. Course schedule: Islam and Modernity Sundays 10 AM - 12 PM EST US Eastern Standard Time Week 1 May 3 Islam and Modernity: An Introduction Mapping the concept of modernity and how Muslim thinkers have responded to it Week 2 May 10 Secularism and Islam How secularism emerged from European history and was exported globally through colonialism Week 3 May 17 Liberalism and Islam Tracing liberalism's origins, its intolerant undercurrents, and its framing of Islam as a problem Week 4 May 24 Nation-States, Nationalism and Islam How the nation-state was built and how it sits against Islamic principles of governance Week 5 May 31 Colonialism and Islam How European colonialism restructured economies, legal systems, and Muslim thought worldwide Week 6 June 7 Capitalism and Islam The history of capitalism, its dependence on colonialism, and what an Islamic economic alternative might look like Week 7 June 14 Possible makeup/review
