Berkeley Offers Islamic History Course Online

U.C. Berkeley ^ | 3/26/02 | U.C. Berkeley

[twigs]

I agree with you entirely. I took a distance learning course on Islamic History last spring from our local community college in the Philadelphia suburbs. Nor did I pay $500! I learned a lot and was most grateful after 9/11 that I had read something about Mohammed and how the religion developed. Interestingly, the course was offered again this spring and, I believe, was cancelled. I presume from lack of interest. I was astounded. I would think people would be lined up to take it in light of the events of last fall.

[Physicist]

And when a liberal pans a book he hasn't read, based solely on the fact that the author is a known conservative, how do we react?

To be sure, we all frown upon Berkeley and the attitudes it typically espouses. (I say "typically" because the stench of Berkeley politics does not taint everything there; the physics research at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, for example, is world-class.) But that being said, I fail to see why the Islamic history course should be singled out for criticism on FreeRepublic, instead of, say, the art history course.

Berkeley is radically leftist. It deserves criticism for that, but not for doing what a university ought to be doing right now, which is offering a public course on a suddenly important topic.

[cyberaxe]

.....see post #9 and #15.....

.....i agree we should all strive to learn more about Islam.....

.....but one needs to weight what Berkeley will be creating.....

.....patriotic Americans or jihad johnnies.....

.....(hint) they aint got a real good record.....

[Steve0113]

The obvious (and rational) question is: will this be an apologism for Islam? or a truly objective view of it?

From the course description:

This broad-ranging course explores the rich and complex history of Islam from the birth of the religion to the present day.

What do you think?

[Physicist]

the rich and complex history of Islam

But it is rich and complex.

You don't dismiss the history of China because of what the communist thugs are doing there now, do you?

[Noumenon]

Here's your Islamic history:

Death
Destruction
Massacre
Cultural genocide
Despotism Barbarism

Any questions?

[Publius6961]

What do you think?

You chose to overlook the part that says (paraphrasing): concentrating on the spiritual aspects of Islam...

[Steve0113]

You chose to overlook the part that says (paraphrasing): concentrating on the spiritual aspects of Islam...

No, I didn't. Your paraphrase is misleading. The course description mentioned "the religious values of the culture". That's not the same as spirituality, since their "religious values" include beating women and murdering unbelievers.

[Steve0113]

You don't dismiss the history of China because of what the communist thugs are doing there now, do you?

No, and I don't follow your analogy. The Communists are relative newcomers in Chinese history, and a significant departure from the way Chinese society and culture used to be. Islam, on the other hand, is as it has always been. What Muslims are doing now is what they have always done.

[Physicist]

Islam, on the other hand, is as it has always been.

Codswallop. In the past, the wealth and splendor of such cities as Istanbul, Damascus, Baghdad, Samarkand and Tashkent was legendary (and this without oil money). The cities of Arabia boasted many of the greatest libraries and universities in the world. The Arabs led the world in the fields of mathematics and astronomy. They produced great works of literature (such as The Arabian Nights, which I heartily recommend in the Burton translation). They developed musical and artistic traditions--not to mention a cuisine--that are as complex and varied as any in the world. Their trade ships covered the known world. In short, it met all the criteria of a great civilization.

Much of that genius is wasted, now, but to deny that it ever existed is simply knee-jerk xenophobia.

[Steve0113]

to deny that it ever existed is simply knee-jerk xenophobia.

Or lack of coffee. You're right. What do you think happened to make them so primitive (and unproductive) today?

[Physicist]

What do you think happened to make them so primitive (and unproductive) today?

A good answer would probably require as much analysis (and likely produce as little definitive result) as has been spent on the fall of the Roman empire. My personal view of it (too simplistic by far) is that the Ottoman empire came to dominate the Islamic world to such a degree that the long political and economic collapse of that empire dragged the culture down with it. By WWI the Arabs were back to being impoverished nomads with no interest but to kill their Turkish oppressors, while the Turks were simply waiting for a Kemal Atatürk to come and sweep the past away.

[js1138]

So have the Islamic people ever participated in any way in the political thought of the last two hundred years? Other than Turkey.

Is there anything in Islam itself that would promote the idea of a secular state?

[Steve0113]

That makes sense -- I'll have to read up on it. Thanks for the analysis.

[sneddren]

On the topic of Berkeley, though not Islam, Berkeley is trying to pull a fast one and hook up with the NYFD. Details at http://www.berkeleyboycott.com/engine6.htm

[John Galt's cousin]

barbarian
1. A member of a people considered by those of another nation or group to have a primitive civilization. 2. A fierce, brutal, or cruel person. 3. An insensitive, uncultured person; a boor. See synonyms at boor.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000 http://www.bartleby.com/61/88/B0068800.html