Relign Empire:Case of Islam

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

What does empire have to do with religion? Isn’t religion a set of beliefs in the mind that individuals either affirm or deny? In this course, we explore the nature and development of religion in the context of past empires. This historical focus on the way religion aligned with or diverged from (and even rebelled against) imperial ideologies and institutions (prior to the current international order) will help us rethink (and challenge assumptions of) what we mean by religion and religious community. Are there still empire-based notions of religion with us today? The course focus is Islam, but we will refer significantly to other formulations of religion and empire across the Mediterranean and the New World (the so-called West). We look largely to primary sources (in translation), including art and architecture as well as texts (both sacred and imperial), to help us grasp the sometimes symbiotic and sometimes contentious ways in which imperial order (conquest, expansion, ambition) is reflected in religious thought and symbols.