The Qur’an
January 31-February 1, 2003

The Program in the Humanities and Human Values
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

With Support from the University Center for International Studies and The United States Department of Education Title VI Program

Topics & Speakers | Time & Cost

What is the Qur’an, what are its origins, what subjects does it address, how does it speak to its adherents, and why is it important to Muslims and non-Muslims alike in the modern world? These and similar large, complex, and often vexing questions underscore the goals of this seminar – an exploration of the Qur’an from a variety of perspectives.

We’ll start by looking at the Qur’an from the standpoints of religion, history, and literature. How do Muslims read and understand this powerful text? In what ways is it comparable to the Bible as a source of religious doctrine and practice? Is there a systematic theology in the Qur’an? What literary and aesthetic significance does it have for Muslims and non-Muslims? In this segment of the seminar, we’ll also discuss the role of the Qur’an in the controversy a few years ago over Salman Rushdie and his novel, The Satanic Verses.

We’ll go on to explore the Qur’an as the principal text of Islamic law and as a shaping force in the lives of Muslims. At the levels of legal theory and practice, we will ask what the Qur’an has to say about human rights, jurisprudence, ethics, punishment and mercy, and political relations between Muslim and non-Muslim societies. We’ll then inquire into what the Qur’an says about the treatment of women and issues such as sexual and gender equity. In this part of the seminar, we’ll also explore some of the ways in which Islamic feminists are producing new interpretations of an ancient text.

Next, the seminar will address the complexities of the relationship of the Qur’an to the events of September 11, 2001. We’ll see that in the months following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the Qur’an became a focal point for Muslims and non-Muslims with a variety of cultural, social, and political goals. We’ll see, for example, that well-intentioned efforts to clarify or even “prove” conflicting understandings about volatile terms such as “jihad” and “martyrdom” provide a case study in the uses and abuses of a sacred text.

As almost everyone knows, the Qur’an was center stage in the recent controversy over the Summer Reading Program for incoming students at UNC Chapel Hill. Our concluding panel session will invite discussion of this episode, which continued as this brochure went to press and provoked a number of important questions – Is an invitation to read the Qur’an the equivalent of missionary work? In what ways does an understanding of the Qur’an contribute to the aims of liberal education?

Preparatory reading includes excerpts from the Qur’an, which will be mailed to participants in advance of the seminar.

Topics and Speakers

The Qur’an as Scripture

Carl Ernst, Zachary Smith Professor of Religious Studies

The Qur’an, Modern Muslims, and the Law

Ebrahim Moosa, Associate Professor of Religion and Co-Director, Center for the Study of Muslim Networks, Duke University

Women and the Qur’an

Miriam Cooke, Professor of Modern Arabic Literature and Culture and Co-Director, Center for the Study of Muslim Networks, Duke University

After September 11: The Use and Abuse of a Sacred Text

Charles Kimball, Professor and Chair of Religion, Wake Forest University

Reading and Understanding the Qur’an

Professors Ernst, Moosa, Cooke, and Kimball

Time and Cost

The seminar is scheduled for Friday, January 31, 4:30 p.m. through Saturday, February 1, 2003, 1:00 p.m.

The tuition is $110 ($95 before January 24), and the optional light supper on Friday evening is $11. Scholarship tuition is $55 ($47.50 before January 24). 10 contact hours for 1 unit of renewal credit. The deadline is January 3 for the block of rooms held for this seminar.