MI week 2

Tuesday (2a)

Due today

Report including the following four works - address each in 1-2 paragraphs, and submit on eClass 2a.

• al-Said, Labib. The Recited Koran, pp. 11-27, 53-76
• Frishkopf, Michael. Mediated Qur'anic Recitation and the Contestation of Islam in Contemporary Egypt , pp. 75-84 top part , and pp. 111 (Conclusions) to 114 (& read more if you’d like). Listen to the audio examples: ex 3.1, Mustafa Ismail - Mujawwad style, ex 3.2, Mustafa Ismail - Murattal style, ex. 3.3, Ahmad al-Ajmi - Saudi style,
• Nelson, Kristina. The Art of Reciting the Qur'an (on reserve, in bookstore, and also online); browse this important book. Read selectively according to your interests, and get a sense of its overall scope and limits. (Note: You do not need to read the whole book! This is an opportunity to practice an important scholarly technique: selective skimming.)
• Koran by Heart, a beautiful documentary about a Qur'an competition. (Kristina Nelson served as consultant on this film.)

Also: memorize Surat Ikhlas (chapter 112 of the Qur'an) -- containing just four short verses -- and try to perform along with the recording, using this website: http://quran.com/112. Note that you can turn transliteration on or off, and listen. The Qur'an contains 114 chapters or suras, arranged roughly from long to short. Surat al-Ikhlas (chapter of sincerity), also known as Surat al-Tawhid (chapter of Unity) is said to contain the essence of the Qur'an as a whole.

Thursday (2b)

No class today, but please submit assignments on time anyway.

Due today:

• Shiloah pp. 1-26
• Empire of Faith part 2
• Schimmel, pp. 29-50