Humanities 388
Non-Western Religions
Fall 2002
Professor David A. Salomon
Islam Essay

You may opt-out of one essay. If you choose to opt-out of this essay, you must download the "Opt-Out Sheet" on the class webpage and submit it when the essays are due.

Choose ONE and only one of the following questions. Answer it in a complete and thoughtful essay. Your essay should be a well-developed, clear, logical and complete idea developed from a definite thesis statement. Use texts where appropriate to support your answer. You need not consult secondary sources for this paper, but if you do, give credit for the information you use. Certainly use Blair and Bloom’s text as a source. Unless otherwise noted, do not use Internet sources. Use the conventions of good essay writing; if you have doubts as to what those are, either see the instructor and/or visit the Writing Center.

Essays should be typed (double-spaced) and approximately 4-6 pages in length–no fewer than 4 full pages will suffice for this assignment, and longer than that is undoubtedly necessary to answer of the questions in any kind of depth. This paper is due on Wednesday, December 18. Papers must be submitted on time. Papers handed in late will receive a one grade deduction for each class late. I will be happy to look at drafts ahead of time; in fact, I encourage it!

The goal here is to do more than merely summarize course notes and your text. Read the questions carefully. Proofread your work.

1) Ritual prayer (worship or salat) is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Write an essay in which you discuss the importance of prayer/worship/salat to the Moslem faith. Consider the ways in which prayer seems to be woven into all other spiritual practices and doctrine in Isalm.

2) In what sense is Islam a "historical religion"? In other words, how is Islam innately linked to the history of its followers? This question requires a discussion of the various factions, including Shiism and Sunnism, that have arisen in the history of Islam.

3) Write an essay in which you outline three clear "threats" to Islam in the West, focusing on why the "threats" you have chosen are indeed threats. In other words, make sure you document what in Islamic doctrine (and/or the Koran) the ideas you have chosen threaten.

Because the Koran will be your most important source, it will be helpful to look at indices to find the sections in the Koran that discuss your topic. Two helpful indices can be found at http://www.umr.edu/~msaumr/topics/ and http://www.unn.ac.uk/societies/islamic/index.htm (click "Quran" in the top navigation bar). There are many others available on the Internet. Do not use interpretations or commentaries on these web sites as sources in your paper; only use the indices to help find relevant passages.