I'm also teaching 2nd new topics course Fall 2020, "GOVT 444: Revolutionary Islam & the State: Militants, Nationalists, Rebels," from Kharijites to Khomeini to IS" @GeorgeMasonU. D.C. area students enrollment through Consortium (registrar.gmu.edu/topics/washing…). Please spread the word!
The second course covers ideological and political-theological interpretations of "Islam" by different states, movements & organizations throughout history from the Kharijites and the 'Abbasid revolution to Ayatullah Khomeini, religion in pan-Arab Ba'thism, up to AQ & IS(IS).
Both courses include not only key secondary studies on weekly course topics but also prioritize exposure to select primary sources in transl., w/ 'reading guides/terminology lists' where helpful to students. Modeling this after my co-teaching of McGill Islam & Politics courses.
Teaching a new topics course @ScharSchool@GeorgeMasonU: "GOVT 444: Revolutionary Islam & the State: Militants, Nationalists, and Rebels";
Course examines 'Islam' as revolutionary mobilizing tool from 7th century till today:
Open to D.C. Consortium universities' students:
Course looks at how Islam has been used as a mobilization tool by states, non-state actors from nation-state Islamists, transnational social movement organizations, jihadi groups, the Ba'th, & military-Islamist alliances;
Prioritizes primary as well as secondary readings.
Though writing a syllabus is time-consuming, I'm having a pretty good time designing my @ScharSchool GOVT 444 topics course 'Revolutionary Islam & the State,' particularly incl. case studies from the 'Abbasid revolution to Khomeini, AQ, & IS + a 'Past & Present Kharijites' week.
It's official, no longer listed as being taught by an amorphous "Staff" instructor:
(2) GOVT 444: Revolutionary Islam & the State: Militants, Nationalists, & Rebels
COURSE OUTLINE: "GOVT 444: Revolutionary Islam & the State: Militants, Nationalists, & Rebels" @ScharSchool (Fall 2020, enrollment open now):
COURSE OUTLINE: "HIST 387: Jihad in the Islamic World" @HistArthGMU (Fall 2020);
Enrollment open to GMU degree & non-degree students & members of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area:
Finalized the primary sources for both of my Fall courses. Most assigned for home & there will be some additional, including part of Islamic State's 'Structure of the Caliphate' in class:
First, GOVT 444: Revolutionary Islam & the State: Militants, Nationalists, and Rebels:
Finalized the primary sources for both of my Fall courses.
Second, HIST 387: Jihad in the Islamic World (online course):
Adding selections from Malik ibn Anas, Ibn Rushd, & Ibn Taymiyya to HIST 387.
Non-degree students may enroll in either HIST 387: Jihad in the Islamic World or GOVT 444: Revolutionary Islam & the State: Militants, Nationalists, and Rebels. Both will be accessible as online courses.
Instead of forcing students to view 2 weekly 45-minute video lectures, I've opted for shorter 7-20 minute mini-lectures organized topically/thematically.
Some of the slides from this week's mini-lectures for HIST 387: Jihad in the Islamic World:
Instead of forcing students to view 2 weekly 45-minute video lectures, I've opted for shorter 7-20 minute mini-lectures organized topically/thematically.
Some of the slides from this week's mini-lectures for HIST 387: Jihad in the Islamic World:
Second (synchronous online) class of GOVT 444: Revolutionary Islam & the State: Militants, Nationalists, and Rebels, which included a discussion of @Hegghammer's working typology proposal for a preference vs. theology-based lens for different types of Islamist groups:
Week 2 of HIST 387: Jihad in the Islamic World:
Week 2 of HIST 387: Jihad in the Islamic World:
Week 2 of GOVT 444: Revolutionary Islam & the State: Militants, Nationalists, and Rebels:
Thinking about the conception(s) of "revolution"/thawra in Islamic thought & history and the multifaceted nature of individual & group identities:
Week 2, HIST 387: Jihad in the Islamic World:
"Conceptions of Jihad Throughout History"
Week 2 of GOVT 444: Revolutionary Islam & the State: Militants, Nationalists, and Rebels:
Week 2 of GOVT 444: Revolutionary Islam & the State: Militants, Nationalists, and Rebels:
GOVT 444: Revolutionary Islam & the State: Militants, Nationalists, and Rebels
Week 3 (Sept. 7 & Sept. 9): Social Movement Theory (Framing, Culture, Ideology, & Identity Formation)
HIST 387: Jihad in the Islamic World
Week 3 (Sept. 6-12): Sufi Conceptions of Jihad in Early & Medieval Islamic History
HIST 387: Jihad in the Islamic World
Week 5 (Sept. 20-26): From Expansion to Empire
HIST 387: Jihad in the Islamic World
Week 5 (Sept. 20-26): From Expansion to Empire
HIST 387: Jihad in the Islamic World
Week 6 (Sept. 27-Oct. 3): Jihad in the Age of the Crusades
GOVT 444: Revolutionary Islam & the State: Militants, Nationalists, and Rebels
GOVT 444: Revolutionary Islam & the State: Militants, Nationalists, and Rebels
Week 7 (Oct. 5 & 7): The Abbasid Revolution: A Premodern Case
GOVT 444: Revolutionary Islam & the State: Militants, Nationalists, and Rebels
Week 7 (Oct. 5 & 7): The Abbasid Revolution: A Premodern Case
HIST 387: Jihad in the Islamic World
Week 8 (Oct. 11-17): Jihad & Resistance in the Age of Colonialism, Part 1
GOVT 444: Revolutionary Islam & the State: Militants, Nationalists, and Rebels
Week 8 (Oct. 13 & 14): Kharijites & the Emergence of Al-Qaeda and Global Jihadism
CLASS 1: Past & Present Kharijites: The First Muslim Rebels & Their Legacy (Oct. 13)
GOVT 444: Revolutionary Islam & the State: Militants, Nationalists, and Rebels
Week 8 (Oct. 13 & 14): Kharijites & the Emergence of Al-Qaeda and Global Jihadism
CLASS 2: Al-Qaeda and the Origins of ‘Global Jihadism’ (Oct. 14)
GOVT 444: Revolutionary Islam & the State: Militants, Nationalists, and Rebels
Week 8 (Oct. 13 & 14): Kharijites & the Emergence of Al-Qaeda and Global Jihadism
CLASS 2: Al-Qaeda and the Origins of ‘Global Jihadism’ (Oct. 14)
GOVT 444: Revolutionary Islam & the State: Militants, Nationalists, and Rebels
Week 9 (Oct. 19 & 21): Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL)
Part 1
HIST 387: Jihad in the Islamic World
Week 9 (Oct. 18-24): Jihad & Resistance in the Age of Colonialism, Part 2
The Dervishes of Somalia
HIST 387: Jihad in the Islamic World
Week 9 (Oct. 18-24): Jihad & Resistance in the Age of Colonialism, Part 2
Views on Jihad in Colonial India
GOVT 444: Revolutionary Islam & the State: Militants, Nationalists, and Rebels
Week 9 (Oct. 19 & 21): Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL)
Part 2: Islamic State & Rebel Governance
One week on IS was enough time.
The next two weeks in GOVT 444: Revolutionary Islam & the State: Militants, Nationalists, and Rebels focuses on the Iranian Revolution, then Sudan, Hizbullah, the Islamic Courts Union & Al-Shabab, & the role of "Islam" in Ba'th Syria & Iraq.
GOVT 444: Revolutionary Islam & the State: Nationalists, Militants, & Rebels
Week 10 (Oct. 26 & 28): Khomeini & Shi’ite Revolution in Iran: Islamizing Nationalism: PART 1
HIST 387: Jihad in the Islamic World
Week 10 (Oct. 25-31): Conceptualizing Martyrdom in Religions
GOVT 444: Revolutionary Islam & the State: Nationalists, Militants, & Rebels
Week 10 (Oct. 26 & 28): Khomeini & Shi’ite Revolution in Iran: Islamizing Nationalism: PART 2
In class we discussed not only Imami Shi'i legal ideas but also the influence of Platonic philosophy.
GOVT 444: Revolutionary Islam & the State: Nationalists, Militants, & Rebels
Week 11 (Nov. 2 & 4): Khomeini & Shi’ite Revolution in Iran: Islamizing Nationalism: PART 2
HIST 387: Jihad in the Islamic World
Week 11 (Nov. 1-7): The ‘Martyr’ in Islam
GOVT 444: Revolutionary Islam & the State: Nationalists, Militants, & Rebels
In a new video, IS-Somalia released footage showing, it says, a multi-hour battle in the Cal Miskaad Mountains between insurgents & Somali Puntland regional state forces backed by U.S. forces and air strikes:
THREAD 🧵
The "battle" was defensive on IS-Somalia's part, with the militant group saying it was "repelling" a Puntland state attack, aided by U.S. forces & air power, on it in the Cal Miskaad Mountains;
IS-Somalia also shows the training of a handful of fighters it says make up one of its "security detachments," units tasked with assassinations, planting IEDs, & conducting surveillance on Somali government & ATMIS forces, including in & around Mogadishu:
In 2022, Islamic State (IS) claims it or its affiliates carried out 2,058 attacks globally causing 6,881 casualties (killed & wounded), destroying 2,310 houses or residences, 156 heat-sensor cameras (mostly in Iraq), & 865 vehicles of various types.
THREAD 🧵
Islamic State (IS) claims it carried out attacks in Yemen (1), Uganda (1), Benin (2), Indian-administered Kashmir/"Hind" (2), Iran (2), Palestine (1), Cameroon (7), Philippines (6), Burkina Faso (4), Libya (3), Mali (22), Somalia (32),
THREAD 🧵
Islamic State (IS) claims it carried out attacks also in: Niger (11), Chad (10), the DRC Congo (167), Mozambique (156), Egypt (95), Pakistan (58), Iraq (484), Syria (297), Nigeria (517), & Afghanistan (181);
IS-Mozambique claims it attacked a "Christian" village in the Palma area in Cabo Delgado province two days ago, killing 2 villagers:
IS-Mozambique claims it attacked a joint Mozambican & Tanzanian army patrol in an ambush in Palma, Cabo Delgado province, destroying 3 vehicles and seizing weapons & ammunition:
IS-Mozambique claims it attacked a joint Mozambican & Tanzanian army patrol in an ambush in Palma, Cabo Delgado province, destroying 3 vehicles and seizing weapons & ammunition:
Starting in 2011, Al-Shabaab began withdrawing, after publicly announcing its intention to do so, from Mogadishu & continued to withdraw from major urban centers in the face of a major AMISOM & Somali government, backed by allied militias in some areas, offensive.
🧵THREAD
AS generally did not choose to make "last stands," unlike Islamic State in Mosul and (to a lesser extent) Raqqa city in 2016-2017, perhaps having learned its lesson during disastrous "Ramadan offensives" in previous years. Insurgent operations & media were interrupted.
🧵THREAD
Today AS is facing a major threat to its territorial occupation & presence in a number of regions (e.g. Hiraan, Galguduud) as Somali federal forces, some clan militias, & ATMIS forces ramp up pressure across multiple regions in an attempt to stretch insurgent forces.
Al-Shabaab funery prayer (salat al-janaza) & burial of Shaykh Nur Mu'alim 'Abdi Rahman, a religious scholar affiliated with the Islamic Courts Union & then Al-Shabaab.
A thread🧵:
Born in 1960/1961 (1380 hijri) in Adan Yabal, Middle Shabelle, he studied in Mogadishu & later at the University of Science and Technology in Yemen & Sudan, memorizing the Qur'an & studying Arabic grammar, Qur'anic exegesis (tafsir), & Shafi'i fiqh.
In his final years, he was active in religious missionary propagation (da'wa), influencing many of the "mujahidin & martyrdom-seekers" through his lectures in local mosques.
Al-Shabaab Juba wali Mohamed Abu 'Abdullah led the janaza prayer for the shaykh.