Subject Code/Name: ISLM20003 The Qur'an: An Introduction Workload: Weekly:
- 1 x 1.5 Hour Lecture
- 1 x 1 Hour Tutorial
Class attendance (lecture and tutorial) is required for this subject; if you do not attend a minimum of 75% of classes without an approved exemption you will not be eligible for a pass in this subject.
Assessment:• In-class test in Week 9 (30%)
• Interviews & journal assignment due in week 10 - 500 words (20%)
• 2,000-word major essay due in the examination period (50%)
Lectopia Enabled: Yes, with screen capture. However, the audio is hard to hear. Also, sometimes to lecturer forgets to turn on the microphone so you can’t hear the audio. It is best just to attend the lectures.
Past exams available: No, there is no exam for this subject. No sample essays were given either.
Textbook Recommendation: • Saeed, A. The Qur'an: An Introduction London, Routledge 2008
• Abdel-Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford 2005
You will need to get your hands on the first one since the subject is basically taught from the book. The second one is a translation of the Qur’an, you don’t have to use Abdel-Haleem’s one if you don’t want to, you can use any other one of your choice. Both books can be found online (I have a pdf version of both, PM me and I’ll send it over) so you don’t have to buy them.
Lecturer(s): Professor Abdullah Saeed, Mr Rowan Gould
Lecture 1: Introducing the Qur’an and its Context
Lecture 2: The Early Revelations
Lecture 3: God and Humanity in the Qur’an
Lecture 4: Prophets in the Qur’an: The Religion of Abraham
Lecture 5: The Qur’an and Other Religions
Lecture 6: The Qur'an in Daily Life
Lecture 7: The Qur’an and Interpretation
Lecture 8: Law, Ethics and Gender in the Qur’an
Lecture 9: Mystical Approaches to the Qur’an
Lecture 10: Modern Approaches to Qur’anic Interpretation
Lecture 11: Eschatology of the Qur’an
Lecture 12: Western Scholarship on the Qur’an
Year & Semester of completion: 2014, Semester 2
(From 2015, according to the handbook this subject is only offered in semester 1)
Rating: 4.4 Out of 5
Comments: This was quite an enjoyable subject. I’d think that anyone with an interest on the Qur’an or Islam would find this subject quite enjoyable. It is an introductory subject so you don’t need any prior knowledge about the Qur’an or about Islam. The content was easily understood with the help of the readings. There aren’t many contact hours and the workload is fair. The most challenging part is probably the research essay, but if you start early (talking Week 3-4) it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
Course Structure This subject was run pretty well. There is one 1.5-hour lecture and a 1-hour tutorial per week. On top of this, every week there are probably 4-5 “required readings” that you will be required to do before you come to the lecture every week. These are mainly chapters from other relevant books with the pdf version posed on the LMS although sometimes you will be asked to watch a video. I found that in some weeks, the readings were unmanageable and were overly long and hence didn’t do them. However, I would highly recommend doing them, if you don’t have time just skim through it quickly so you have a basic idea of the content. I say this because some of the questions on the class test in week 9 were taken from the readings.
There are also “Recommended Readings”, these are optional readings. They provide you with more insight on what is going to be discussed in class. If you don’t have time, just leave these ones alone and do the “Required Readings”
Lectures Lectures were taken by Abdullah Saeed and Rowan Gould. All of them were focused around the Qur’an. You start with an introduction to the Qur’an, where it was revealed, when it was revealed and then move on to topics in the Qur’an such as the concept of God, humanity, other Prophets and other Religions. The last few weeks are concerned with interpretation and modern scholarship on the Qur’an.
I found Abdullah’s lecturers to be much more engaging and easy to understand. He would define concepts using simple English and was very enthusiastic about his teaching. Whenever we asked him a question, he would answer it really well, at times he would take upto 5 minutes to answer a question just to make sure we understood his answer ! However, at times I think he was a bit too slow and towards the end he would sometimes rush through the lecture.
Rowan was okay, he was understandable if you really paid attention but he would often use complex terms and words without explaining them to us and this makes him really hard to follow. He would get too philosophical at times, which tbh wasn’t required. He wold often use one tone throughout his lectures and this put many people to sleep. He was less engaging at times, but a good thing about him is that he wouldn’t rush through the lecture.
These lectures weren’t your standard sit there and listen type of lectures. You could ask questions during the lecture. We would also get a break in the middle for relaxing/asking question/etc…
Tutorials Rowan took all the tutorial classes (afaik), they were held in the Sidney Myer building. These tutorials were a really good opportunity to ask questions about things you were unclear about or discuss something of interest to you.
In the tutorial you would be given a tutorial sheet which had questions on the lecture and the tutorials. Often, you were given a few verses on the Qur’an that you had to read and answer questions on. You would do this with other people on your table. Most of the questions did not require a yes/no answer, they were asking for your views on an issue/how you interpret this verse. At times however, the questions would be based on facts.
After the tutorial, you would be given a quiz to take home and do. MAKE SURE you do this and do it properly. Most of the test questions were similar to the ones on these quizzes. The answers would be posted on the LMS and you would go over the answers in the next tutorial class.
I found tutorials effective for consolidating the information given in the lecture. It was also a good time to meet your classmates. Would highly recommend going to them.
Assessment There were 3 assessment tasks:
In-class test in Week 9 (30%): This was a short 70 question multiple choice and true/false test taken during the lecture time. You are given 60 minutes to complete it and the questions were based on lectures, tutorials and the prescribed readings. At first, it may seem like there is isn't going to be enough time to answer all the question, but have no fear probably about 1/3 of the class finished early. There were no trick questions, as long as you had listened to the lecture, done the tutorial questions and gone through the readings you should have no problems with this. The tutor would also hand out a quiz at the end of each tutorial. Make sure you know how to answer these PROPERLY. If you get the wrong answer, find out why you got the wrong answer and what the right answer is etc…
In 2015, this seems to have changed to a 1,000 word class test (according to the handbook). I don’t know if this means they’ve changed the format of the test, I would hope not, I found the test to be really fair.
Interviews & journal assignment due in week 10 - 500 words (20%): There were two stages to this, neither of which was too time consuming:
Part 1 involved interviewing two of your friends about selected verses from the Qur’an. There were three sets of verses, but you only had to select one. You had to interview your friend about their interpretation of the verses, how they came to their understandings, whether or not the verses were fair etc… You had to do these during your own time.
Part 2 is the actual write up which you will be handing in. You have to write up your reflections on the interview results, along with your own reflections on the verses into 500 words. You had to write about firstly how you and your friends interpreted the verses, then the differences and similarities between you and your friend’s views and how these may have come about. This isn’t a formal essay so you were allowed to write in the first person. I found it really hard to fit all my reflections into 500 words (even though there was a 20% margin) and I had to leave out a lot of details. Try not to go into too much depth with the interpretations, try to point out the major themes of your selected verses and leave the minor ones alone (or give them a brief mention).
2,000-word major essay due in the examination period (50%): This can take a while to do, so I suggest that you start early! For this essay, you are given a choice of 6 questions. Alternatively, you can make up your own question and have it approved by your tutor. I would highly suggest choosing a topic early in the semester. That way you can research your topic and get your resources so that you are set to write up your essay.
From the subject guide: The purpose of this assignment is to develop your ability to conduct independent research into a broader area of study regarding the Qur’an and its interpretation, to engage critically with scholarly arguments in the field, and to present an argument in clear, coherent, written English.
Try writing out an outline before you start and e-mail it to your tutor. The tutor is really helpful in helping you come up with ideas and suggesting resources. By having an outline, it will ensure that your essay is focussed around the question and will ensure that you do not deviate off topic.
The examiner is not looking for a simple yes/no answer, but rather wants to see that you can engage in some of the scholarly debate regarding the Qur’an. Keeping this in mind, try to keep your essay neutral. It is somewhat like the journal exercise in that you can compare and contrast views. Remember, when you cite a scholar and his views, you have to discuss it and question it not just simply state it. Try to avoid generalisations and simple descriptions. Also, make sure you have a fair few sources.
In terms of the marking criteria:
-20 % is for research and referencing, so make sure you know how to reference. Make sure you are consistent with your referencing, don’t switch between styles half way through your essay because you thought the Harvard system was easier…
-30 % is for structure and expression, which is why I emphasize doing an outline before you start. Also remember this is a formal academic essay, so write in clear, academic English. In terms of structure: The essay has to include an introduction which outlines the issue you are discussing and the main argument. I would highly recommend sub-heading for the body paragraphs (will help to organise your ideas better) and the conclusion should draw together your essay and synthesize the results in a clear and concise manner.
-50% is for your argument and analysis. This makes up half the mark for your essay, so put a lot of thought into your argument. Try to avoid generalisations as I’ve said before and try to explain your argument (with examples if necessary). Remember that the essay is 2,000 words, so make sure your argument can fit the word limit (you should have no problems with the word limit).
Final Comments Overall, a well coordinated and enjoyable subject. However, a drawback of this subject is that the course co-ordinator (Abdullah Saeed) is hardly available. He has other commitments overseas. He only took half the lectures (I think) and he was really hard to contact. I e-mailed him multiple times but he didn’t respond, so if you want to talk to someone about the subject, it would have to be Rowan. Rowan was easy to contact, but at times I would have preferred to talk to Abdullah.
If you know how to write a good, argumentative essay and know how to reference, I recommend this subject (70% of the assessment is essay based). I picked this subject because it wasn't 100% essay based and the journal exercises was only 500 words (compared to 1,500 in other subjects I looked at).
So yeah, stay on top of the assessments and this subject shouldn’t be too hard. If you have any other queries, feel free to contact me ! Goodluck