Islam and Christianity share both remarkable similarities and remarkable differences. In the grand scheme, both are relatively recent religions, with Christianity taking hold in Northern Europe at about the same time that Islam took hold in the Persian world (although Christianity appeared on the scene six centuries before Islam). Through the years, Islam and Christianity and the civilizations they created have influenced each other to greater and lesser extents in terms of arts, sciences, culture, and medicine. The Crusades produced the most violent confrontation of the two worlds, but it is also important to note the effect of Christian missionaries on Islam and that of Islamic science and literature on the West.
In light of the threat of terrorism in the new world order of the twenty-first century, it is imperative that the West and the Islamic world improve their understanding of their respective cultures. This course is conceived to reveal the interaction of these two religions and civilizations throughout their histories, highlight their similarities and differences, and, finally, show that Muslims and Christians share much common ground, especially in terms of morality, life issues, and family.
Lecture 1 D¯ar al-Isl¯am and Western Christendom
Lecture 2 The Islamic World and the West
Lecture 3 Western Christianity and Islam: Their Views of Each Other Over the Ages
Lecture 4 Islamic Civilization: A Survey of Its Foundation and Growth
Lecture 5 Islamic Theology, Philosophy, and Mysticism and Their Influence on the West
Lecture 6 Islamic Science, Theoretical and Applied: Its Achievements and Influence on Western Science and Technology
Lecture 7 Islamic Art: Its Spirit, Philosophy, Forms, and Influence on Western Art
Lecture 8 Literature in the Islamic World: Arabic and Persian Literature and the West
Lecture 9 The Western Expansion into the Islamic World and the Influence of Western Institutions, Thought, and Art on That World
Lecture 10 The Advent and History of Modernism in the Islamic World
Lecture 11 Islamic Education, Western Educational Institutions, and Ideas in the Islamic World: The Role of Modern Western Science in Education in Islamic Countries
Lecture 12 Modern Western Scholarship on Islam and the Image of Islam in the West
Lecture 13 Islamic Responses to the Modern West: Modernist, Mahdiist, "Fundamentalist," and Traditional
Lecture 14 Islam and the West Today