2009/2010 COURSE CATALOGUE

NAIROBI, KENYA

Course: MARY AFST 515: Introduction to Islam in East Africa

Introduction:
This course will introduce the study of Islam in East Africa in its historical and doctrinal aspects. Islam as a lived religion in Africa will be discussed in the various ways through which it has interacted with its African believer. The following is a breakdown of the course:

Course Outline

Introduction to Islam 

• Pre-Islamic Arabia

• The emergence of Islam

• Social changes introduced by Islam 

Fundamental Beliefs of Islam 

• The pillars of Islamic faith 

• Muslim rituals 

• Muslim moral system 

• The Qur'an 

• Hadith 

Moral Categories in Islam 

• Mumin 

• Shirk 

• Belief and Unbelief 

Sources of Islamic Law

• The Shariah in the global context 

• Muslims and Islamic Law 

Islam in Kenya

• The emergence of Islam at the coast of Kenya 

• Early Muslim communities in Kenya 

• African Muslim community and Islam: The concept of Ummah in an African social life

• Muslim African social life 

• Muslim rituals amongst African Muslims 

• Significance of Muslim rituals in social lives of Kenyan Muslims 

• Reading of Mwanakupona, Muslim women in the society 

• Muslim discourses and the Kenyan society

• Muslims as a minority in Kenya

• Diversity in Muslim responses to politics in Kenya 

• Social stratification in Kenyan Islam 

• Contemporary and emerging Muslim political identities: from the IPK to Ufungamano initiative

• A review of Muslim leadership institutions in Kenya

Islam in the world 

• Understanding Muslim politics in the world 

• Islamic fundamentalism and its influences in East Africa 

• Islamic Shariah in the context of evolving global concerns 

• Understanding the concept of Jihad 

• Islamic community and the idea of democracy 

• Women rights in Islam 

Conclusion 

Bibliography 

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_______. (2000). Islam: A Short History. New York: Modern Library.

Bakari, M. and S.S. Yahya (Eds.). (1995). Islam in Kenya. Nairobi: Mewa publications.  

Blakely, T. et al. (1994). Religion in Africa: Experience & Expression. London: James Currey. 

Denffer, A. V. (1983). Ulum al Quran: An introduction to the Sciences of the Quran. Leicester: Islamic foundation. 

Doi, A. R.I. (1997). Shariah: Islamic Law. London: Ta Ha Publishers. 

Hammudah, A.. (1985). Islam in focus. Karachi: London Book house. 

Harrow, W. K. (1991). Faces of Islam in African Literature. Portsmouth: Heinemann. 

Haynes, J. (1996). Religion and Politics in Africa. East African Edition.  Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers. 

Humphreys, R. S. (1999). Between Memory and Desire: The Middle East in a Troubled Age. Berkeley: University of California Press. 

Lawrence, B.B. (1998). Shattering the myth: Islam beyond violence. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 

Lings, M. (2001). Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources. (Rev. ed.). Cambridge: The Islamic texts society. 

Mernissi, F. (2002). Islam and Democracy: Fear of the modern world. Cambridge: Perseus Pub. 

Murata, S. & Chittick, W. C. (1994). The Vision of Islam. New York: Paragon House. 

Oded, A. (2000). Islam and politics in Kenya. Boulder: L. Reinner. 

Wadud, A. (1992). Qur'an and Woman. Kuala Lumpur: Fajar Bakti. 

Webner, R. & Ranger T. (1996). Post Colonial Identities in Africa. London: Zed Books.