Islamic Thought: Field Guidelines
September 2004 (Kadi)

The aim of the field is to give the students thorough training in  number of areas of Islamic thought, especially in the early period (first/seventh-fifth/eleventh centuries), and to enable them to carry out advanced research in those and related areas.  This means that there is great emphasis in course work on the original sources written mainly in Arabic in the first centuries of Islamic civilization.

In order to be able to take the courses offered in Islamic thought, students must have completed NELC’s third-year Arabic (Arab 30101-30103), or its equivalent, after which they must take and pass the Advanced Arabic Syntax sequence (Arab 40101-40102).  They must also have taken, or take simultaneously with the Islamic thought courses, NELC’s two-quarter sequence Introduction to Islamic Civilization (NEHC 30601-30602 ) or its equivalent, given that one of the comprehensive exams they have to take is an exam in Islamic Civilization.  The second Near Eastern language they are required by NELC Rules to study for two years is normally Persian, but it can be substituted with another language if the student’s area of interest requires that (such as Latin for students working on Andalusia, or Greek or Syriac for students working on pre-Islamic-into-early Islam topics).  Since having reading fluency in French and German is necessary for proficiency in the field, students are encouraged to start learning these languages as early as possible and to stick strictly to the NELC time-table about high-passing one of them by the end of the fist year and the second before the beginning of the third year.  In some cases where a specific topic requires a language other than French or German (e.g., Andalusian studies, which require Spanish in lieu of German), students may apply to the Student Affairs Committee for substituting French or German with another language. 

All students specializing in Islamic thought must take and pass at least three of the following four sequences:

The Classical Sources (Arab 40443-40444);
Readings in Qur’an Exegesis (40406-40407);
Readings in Islamic Political Thought (40329-40330);
And Islamic Heresiography and Sectarianism (40413-40414)
 
Other strongly recommended courses are:
Methodology: Historical Hadith (40438);
Readings in Sira Literature (NEHC 40392);
Readings in Islamic Ritual Law (NEHC 40393);
Arabic Manuscripts and the Art of Editing (40446-40447);
The Arabic Papyri (40425-40426);
Survey of Classical Arabic Literature (NEHC 30636).

As is stated in the NELC Rules and Regulations (article 2), the number of courses required for the M.A. in Islamic thought is 18 courses; for the Ph.D., 9 to 18 additional courses are required.

Overall, students working in the field of Islamic thought must take courses which make them thoroughly familiar with Islamic history and Arabic literature; the courses, Islamic Origins (NEHC 30641) and The High Caliphate (NEHC 30642), are particularly important.  They are also encouraged to take courses that are offered in or outside NELC (e.g., Divinity School, History, Sociology, Anthropology) and that suit their specific interests.  They should also keep in mind that they have to take a comprehensive exam in a minor, in addition to a major, in their third or fourth year, and hence they should select their elective courses such that they develop a reasonable proficiency in a field other than Islamic thought, their major field.  The comprehensive exams also include an exam in methodology, whence the necessity that students constantly enhance their ability to read and comprehend primary Arabic texts in varying genres and, simultaneously, to broaden their knowledge of the enormous field of Islamic thought by reading as much secondary literature as possible beyond what is required by their course work.