Great Islamic Traditions class session today! We were still doing some getting to know each other and hadn’t even really started looking at the reading when students started asking some questions that will be crucial for our work this semester. Who gets to talk about Muslims and Islam? What does it mean for us–non-Muslims and Muslims–to study Islam and Muslims from an “outsider” perspective? How do we ensure that we have access to Muslim perspectives (note the plural!) on Islam while still maintaining as best we can an academic objectivity?
At the same time, as we recognize the diversity in Islam and among Muslims, where do we draw our boundaries, form our definitions, so that we can actually get anywhere and make sense of anything? We need to define what we are going to study at least for ourselves.
We’ll spend a bit more time at the start of next week thinking through some of the big issues that surround studying Islam as a religion. Then we’ll dive into the details a bit more closely, but we’ll keep these broader questions in closer few as we do so. Looking forward to some great explorations!