MI week 1
Tuesday (1a)
Class
Greetings and introductions to ourselves
assalamu alaykum السلام عليكم - Peace be upon you
wa alaykum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله وبركاته - And upon you peace and God's mercy and blessings
Greetings and Introduction to Islam and Islam & Music
(and the role of Arabs and the Arabic language)
Islam: الاسلام
Islamic Creed (al-Shahada): الشهادة
Tawḥīd, Nubuwwa, Risāla
kalimatu l'tawhid: laa ilaaha illaallah لا اله الا الله محمد رسول الله
muhammadun rasulullah محمد رسول الله
Islamic/Muslim....
vs Islamicate/Muslim
(Egyptian Copt Salāmā Mūsā (1887-1958) once said, “I am a Christian by religion and a Muslim by fatherland.”
Maps: the Muslim-majority world vs the Arab world
Music: موسيقة
Aesthetic expressions of the Shahāda
Vocal sound (language performance) (Cat Stevens and children) (Sami Yusuf [1])
Call to Prayer (al-Adhan): الأذان
Adhan - mu'adhdhin - ma'dhana (minara or "minaret")
Global variety
Try performing (Helbawy recordings)
Sufi hadra
dhikr + madīḥ = shahāda
hadras of Egypt (Ali Zayn al-Abidin ziyara day; 5 Sufi hadras)
The relation of Music and Islam
Music (موسيقى = "musiqa") or Singing (غناء = "ghināʾ) or Sound (صوت = sawt). Problems of translation, interpretation. Etic vs Emic approaches.
Music and Islam:
- What are the relations between Music and Islam?
- What are the practices and functions of music, singing, or sound in Islam? How can we understand them, and what do they tell us?
- What are the beliefs and attitudes towards music? What are the discourses about music?
- How has Islam conditioned music, and vice versa?
Music (Sounds) of the Islamic World
Orientalist images of the muezzin (mu'adhdhin)
The sounds of Islam: Adhan
Some key dualities for this course
- Etic vs Emic
- Source vs Reference
- Critical review (report) = summary + critique
Course Mechanics
Refer to the syllabus.
Due today (not graded!)
- Review course
- Locate resources
- Submit a short statement about yourself, and what you hope to learn from this class (not graded)
Use this form to submit all assignments. Please be sure to indicate the due date on the form. Except for today, all assignments are due before class.
Thursday (1b)
Due today (note that assignments are due by class time!)
Report on the following (1-2 pages total) [remember page counts are 1.5 spaced, 1" margins, Times New Roman font - but you'll submit this as text using the assignment submission form]
Read:
- Schimmel 1992 pp. 1-28, from Schimmel, Annemarie. 1992. Islam : An Introduction. Albany: State University of New York Press. One paragraph will suffice to summarize (and critique if you can).
- Frishkopf 2008, “Music”, in The Islamic World, edited by Andrew Rippin. New York: Routledge, 2008, pp. 510-526. Again, write a paragraph.
Watch: Empire of Faith, part 1. Take note of (a) sounds of Islam represented in the film (diegetic sound); (b) the film's non-diegetic soundtrack. Critique: who is behind this film and why? Who is behind the ideas? How is Islam reified? Search: Find at least one online video introducing Islam by and for Muslims. What is the difference between this video and Empire of Faith? (include the link in your report)
Add to your report: one question or issue (about anything you have read, seen, or heard in the course so far) - to be discussed in class.