Jews in the World of Islam
(NEJS 144a, Spring, 2016)
Professor Jonathan Decter
Mail Stop: 054
Phone: 62960
(decter@brandeis.edu)
Office: Lown 210
Office hours: Fri, 12-2
TF Elias Abrar (eabrar@brandeis.edu)
This course introduces students to Jews in the Islamic World from the beginnings of
Islam through the modern era. Topics include the legal and social status of Jews under
Islam, the structure and schisms of the Jewish community in Islamic empires, JewishMuslim relations, the intellectual transformations of Judaism under the impact of Islamic
and Arabic culture, and historiographic perspectives. Students will be exposed to a range
of primary and secondary source materials and have an opportunity to pursue a research
topic in depth.
Required Texts:
1) Kanan Makiya, The Rock: A Tale of Seventh-Century Jerusalem
2) Amitav Ghosh, In an Antique Land
3) Joann Sfar, The Rabbi’s Cat
4) Behar and Ben-Dor Benite, Modern Middle Eastern Jewish Thought
Readings are of three types. The first readings under a date/subject on the syllabus are
required and must be done in advance of the session for which it is assigned. After that,
every session has a reading called SOURCES with a session number. All readings
under SOURCES on the syllabus should also be done in advance and MUST be
brought to class (you can print them out or bring them on an electronic device). Finally,
there are Recommended readings. Many recommended articles are on LATTE (in an
appropriate section); Recommended books are not on LATTE.
Requirements and Evaluation: You will be graded according to two short papers,
one long paper, and class participation.
1. Two short papers (each worth 20% of final grade): Students will be required to
submit two short papers (3-4 pages).
The first short paper is dedicated to interpreting the text known as the Pact of Umar. In
addition to reading the Pact itself (which we are reading for class), you will read two
articles—one by Miri Rubin, another by Janina Safran—that take different approaches to
the Pact and its significance in Islamic history. Please compare the arguments of the two
authors and come up with your own thesis regarding how the Pact of Umar should be
interpreted. The first short paper is due on 2/9.
1
The second short paper is dedicated to analyzing another primary source (from among
those marked SOURCES on the syllabus). You are free to choose any SOURCE from
among the syllabus assignments. The second short paper is due on 4/15. The paper
should present a close reading that links the source to its context and the broad concerns
of the class (the exact content will vary depending on the type of source). You may wish
to discuss the paper in detail with the TF or the Professor.
2. Research paper (40% of final grade): Each student will be able to pursue a topic of
their choosing in depth. You may wish to explore a topic already on the syllabus in
greater depth (a good way to begin to explore such subjects is to read further in works
assigned for class or the recommended readings). A student may also pursue, in
consultation with the professor, a topic not covered on the syllabus. All research papers
should focus on a central problem or research question, make use of primary and
secondary sources, and present a clear and well-argued thesis. The due date for the final
paper is yet to be determined, though it will be due sometime during finals period. You
must submit a proposal (one paragraph) explaining the problem you are investigating
along with a starting bibliography no later than 3/18. The final draft of the paper is due
on Monday 5/9.
3. Class Participation (20% of final grade): Regular participation (which presumes
attendance) is essential. Participation means that the student shows clear evidence of
having prepared the reading and an attempt to discuss broad ideas suggested by the text.
Other Policies
Academic Honesty You must complete all assignments alone. In your writing, you
must follow rules of attribution, meaning that you must cite all sources consulted in
preparing your papers. As stated in the Student Handbook, “Every member of the
University community is expected to maintain the highest standards of academic honesty.
A student shall not receive credit for work that is not the product of the student’s own
effort.” Examples of penalties for a student found responsible for an infringement of
academic honesty are no credit for the work in question, failure in the course, and the
traditional range of conduct sanctions from disciplinary warning through permanent
dismissal from the University.
Students with documented disabilities: Students with disabilities certified by the
Coordinator of Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities in the Office of
Undergraduate Academic Affairs and First Year Services will be given reasonable
accommodations to complete required assignments. Disabilities that are not documented
and approved by the Office of Academic Affairs will not be given accommodations.
Late Assignments: Papers submitted late will suffer a 1/3 grade deduction per day late.
For example, a paper that would have received a grade of A on the assigned date would
receive an A minus if submitted one day late, a B plus if submitted two days late, and so
on.
2
SCHEDULE AND ASSIGNMENTS (assignments are to be read for the date under
which they appear)
1/15
Introduction
From the Jahiliyya to the Classical Age of Islam
1/19
The Jews of Arabia before Islam
Kanan Makiya, The Rock, 1-105
SOURCES Session 1 (as-Samawal Ibn Adiya, Sara al-Qurayziyya)
Recommended: Reuven Firestone, “Jewish Culture in the Formative Period of
Islam” in Cultures of the Jews (online resource); Michael Lecker, Jews and Arabs
in Pre- and Early-Islamic Arabia; Gordon Newby, The Jews of Arabia.
1/22
Jews and the Early Muslim Community
The Rock, 106-94
SOURCES Session 2 (Constitution of Medina, Selections from the Biography of
the Prophet by Ibn Ishaq, other texts)
Recommended: Moshe Gil, “The Constitution of Medina: A Reconsideration,”
Michael Lecker, “Did Muhammad Conclude Treaties with the Jewish Tribes
Nadir, Qurayza and Qaynuqa?” Israel Oriental Studies 17 (1997): 29–36.
Michael Lecker, The Constitution of Medina: Muhammad’s First Legal Document
1/26
The Image of Jews in the Qur’an
SOURCES Session 5 (Qur’an - 9:29-31; 5:51; 2:256; 2:61; 3:112; 3:78; 4:44-46;
5:13; 4:155-57; 4:160-61; 5:64; 17:4-5; 2:65; 7:166; 5:60)
David Nirenberg, Anti-Judaism: The Western Tradition (chapter on Islam)
1/29
Islamic and Jewish Traditions
“Israiliyat” from The Encyclopedia of Islam
SOURCES Session 4 (Noah (Epic of Gilgamesh, Genesis, and Qur’an); Abraham
(Genesis, Qur’an, Midrash); Moses and the Exodus (Exodus, Qur’an))
Recommended:
Abraham Geiger, Judaism and Islam (What Did Mohammed Learn from the
Judaism); Michael Pregill, “The Hebrew Bible and the Qur’an: The Problem of
Jewish ‘Influence’ on the Qur’an”; Jacob Lassner, Demonizing the Queen of
Sheba; Walid Saleh, In defense of the Bible: a critical edition and an introduction
to al-Biqāʻī's Bible treatise.
3
2/2
Jews and the Expansion of Islam
The Rock, 195-276
SOURCES Session 3 (Prayer of Shimon Bar Yohay, Pact of Umar, Conquest
texts)
2/5
The Jews in Islamic Empires
Robert Brody, The Geonim of Babylonia and the Making of Medieval Jewish
Culture, 35-82 (LATTE)
SOURCES Session 6 (Pirqoi Ben Baboi, Prayer for the Caliph, Installation of
Exilarch,)
Recommended: Jonathan Decter, “The Hidden Exilarch”
2/9
The Cairo Geniza FIRST SHORT PAPER DUE TODAY
In an Antique Land, pp. TBA
SOURCES Session 7 (Schechter’s Description of the Genizah)
Museum Exhibit: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/Taylor-Schechter/exhibition.html
Recommended: Stefan Reif, A Jewish Archive from Old Cairo;
Adina Hoffman and Peter Cole, Sacred Trash: the Lost and Found World of the
Cairo Geniza
2/12
A Mediterranean Society
In an Antique Land, pp. TBA
SOURCES Session 8 (Geniza documents from Goitein)
Recommended:
Goitein, A Mediterranean Society (5 vols). There is also a one volume
abridgment, edited by Jacob Lassner)
2/23
Merchants, Slaves, Women, and the Poor
SOURCES Session 9 (more Geniza documents from Goitein)
Recommended: Mark Cohen, Poverty and Charity in the Jewish Community in
Medieval Egypt; Goitein, Letters of Medieval Jewish Traders
2/26
Rabbanites and Karaites
“Karaism” entry in Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World (on-line resource)
Marina Rustow, Heresy and the Politics of Community: the Jews of the Fatimid
Caliphate, chapter 9 (LATTE)
SOURCES Session 10 al-Qirqisani, “History of Jewish Sects”, other documents)
Leon Nemoy, A Karaite Anthology; Meira Polliack, Karaism: a Guide to Its
History and Literary Sources
4
3/1
The Jews in al-Andalus (Islamic Spain)
Ross Brann, “The Arabized Jews”
SOURCES Session 11 (Abraham Ibn Daud, Sefer ha-Qabbalah; A Poetical
Attack on the Jews of Granada)
Recommended: Eliahu Ashtor, The Jews of Moslem Spain
The Islamic Remaking of Judaism
3/4
Arabization and Islamicization
Goitein, Jews and Arabs (selections)
SOURCES Session 12 (Al-Nadim, Fihrist; Saadia Gaon, Egron (two
introductions))
Recommended: “Judeo-Arabic” and “Literature, Judeo-Arabic” in the
Encyclopedia of the Jews in the Islamic World.
3/8
Rereading the Bible SOURCES Session 13 (Abraham Ibn Ezra, Introduction to Bible Commentary)
Recommended: Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World, Entry “Bible
Exegesis“; Daniel Frank, Search Scripture Well
3/11
Jewish-Islamic Polemics
Hava Lazarus-Yafeh, Intertwined Worlds: Medieval Islam and Bible Criticism,
chapters 1-2 (LATTE)
SOURCES Session 14 (As-Samawal Ibn al-Maghribi, Silencing the Jews
(Selections); Judah Halevi, Kuzari (selections), Maimonides, Guide of the
Perplexed, II:40, Heleq (section on prophecy))
Recommended: Moshe Perlmann, “The Medieval Polemics between Islam and
Judaism;” David Sklare, “Responses to Jewish Polemics by Jewish Mutakallimun
in the Tenth Century”; Camille Adang, Muslim Authors on Judaism and the
Hebrew Bible;
3/15
Philosophy
Sarah Stroumsa, “Saadya and Jewish Kalam”
SOURCES Session 15 Saadia Gaon, Book of Beliefs and Opinions
3/18
Philosophy - RESEARCH PAPER PROPOSAL DUE TODAY
Alfred Ivry, “The Guide and Maimonides’ Philosophical Sources”
SOURCES Session 16 (Moses Maimonides, Guide of the Perplexed, Introduction,
I:1-2)
5
Recommended: Joel Kraemer, Maimonides: the Life and World of One of
Civilizations Greatest Minds; Sarah Stroumsa, Maimonides in His World: Portrait
of a Mediterranean Thinker
3/22
Judaism and Sufism
Paul Fenton, “Judaism and Sufism”
SOURCES Session 17 (Bahya Ibn Paquda, Book of Direction to the Duties of the
Heart, introduction and chapter 9; Abraham Maimonides, Highways to Perfection
(selections); “A Wife’s Petition”)
Recommended, Obadiah Maimonides, The Treatise of the Pool; Anything written
by Paul Fenton; Gerson Cohen, “The Soteriology of R. Abraham Maimuni”
3/29 Jewish Poetry in Hebrew and Arabic
Jonathan Decter, “Literatures of Medieval Sepharad”
SOURCES Session 18 (Select Poems)
Recommended: Jonathan Decter, Iberian Jewish Literature; Raymond Scheindlin,
Wine, Women and Death; Raymond Scheindlin, The Gazelle; Ross Brann, The
Compunctious Poet; Peter Cole, The Dream of the Poem.
4/1
Hebrew Fiction
Jonathan Decter, “Judah al-Harizi”
SOURCES Session 19 (Al-Hamadhani, Maqamat (selections); al-Harizi, Book of
Tahkemoni, (selections))
Recommended: Jonathan Decter, Iberian Jewish Literature
Early Modern and Modern Periods
4/5
Ottoman Jewry
Bernard Lewis, The Jews of Islam, ch. 3 (on-line resource)
SOURCES Session 20
Recommmended: Yaron Ben-Naeh, Jews in the Realm of the Sultans: Ottoman
Jewish Society in the Seventeenth Century; Minna Rozen, A History of the Jewish
Community in Istanbul; Ruth Lambdan, A Separate People: Jewish Women in
Palestine, Syria and Egypt in the Sixteenth Century.
4/8
Ottoman Jewry in Modernity
Julia Philips Cohen, Becoming Ottomans: Sephardi Jewry and Imperial
Citizenship in the Modern Era, selections (Latte)
6
4/12
North African Jewry
Joann Sfar, The Rabbi’s Cat (all)
Recommended, Emily Gotteich, The Mellah of Marrakesh
Susan Miller, The Architecture and Memory of the Minority Quarter in the
Muslim Mediterranean City
The Rabbi’s Cat 2
4/15
Modernity SECOND SHORT PAPER DUE TODAY
Behar and Ben-Dor, Modern Middle Eastern Jewish Thought (selections, TBA)
Recommended:
Levy, Lital. “Partitioned Pasts: Arab Jewish Intellectuals and the Case of Esther
Azharī Moyal (1873–1948),” in The Making of the Arab Intellectual (1880–
1960): Empire, Public Sphere, and the Colonial Coordinates of Selfhood, ed.
Dyala Hamzah (Routledge, 2010).
Beinin, Joel. “Layla Murad: Popular Culture and the Politics of Ethnoreligious
Identity,” in The Dispersion of Egyptian Jewry: Culture, Politics, and the
Formation of a Modern Diaspora (Berkeley: University of California Press,
1998), http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft2290045n.
4/19
Modernity
More of Behar and Ben-Dor, Modern Middle Eastern Jewish Thought (selections,
TBA)
Snir, “My Adherence to the Law of Moses….”
THURSDAY 4/21 Conclusion
Source Session 21 (Sasson Somekh, Baghdad Yesterday)
RESEARCH PAPER DUE MONDAY 5/9
7