Comparative Politics of Muslim World

Course Instructor: Sidra Khan 

Contact:            sidrakhan824@gmail.com

Aims and intended learning outcomes: 

A series of lectures provide a broad context and examine alternative perspectives on – and
explanations for – the rise of Islam in world politics at the end of the 20th century. The
impact of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Saudi Arabia’s support for salafi Islam, and Sunni-
Shi’a conflict and tensions are considered, as are the consequences of the end of the Cold
War, globalization, and democratization. The remainder of the course focuses on the diverse
intersections of Islam and politics in different parts of the world, ranging from Afghanistan
and Pakistan to the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, the Caucasus, and Western Europe.
Successive classes will treat the trajectories of Al Qa’ida, the US-led ‘Global War on
Terrorism’, the Taliban, and the ‘Islamic State’ and examine the role of Islam in the context
of failed state and in struggles for new Muslim nation-states. The final classes will treat
Islamist parties and local experiments with Islamic law in democratic contexts, as well as
developments and trends among Muslim immigrant communities in Europe.
Overall, the course is designed to give students a solid and sophisticated understanding of
major developments and trends in the role of Islam in world politics today, grounded in
historical and sociological context, comparative analysis, and specialist scholarly literature.
Requirements
The course grade overall will be determined against three factors;

⎫ Participation and attentiveness during along with 75% attendance mandatory 

⎫ Amount of effort invested in course work

⎫ Analytical skills and application of concepts studied during lectures

Mark distribution is further subdivided as follows;
Mid Term
40 marks mid (20 marks written, 10 mark assignment, 10 marks quiz- including class
participation and attendance.)
60  marks final term
 75 percent is mandatory. Deadline for assignment submission will also be set. 
Final Term: It is mandatory for all students to appear for the final written examination. 

Course outline:
Week 1
● Democracy and Islam In the Arab World
● The Influence of Islamic Orientations on Democratic Support and Tolerance in Five
Arab Countries

Week 2

 Issues and Debates on Religion and International Relation in Middle East

 Terminological Chaos: Political Islam and Islamism
Week 3
● Politics Of Sectarianism: Rethinking Religion And Politics In The Middle East
● Dynamics of Muslim World Politics and Organization of Islamic Cooperation

Week 4
● Beyond the logic of Political Islamic Threat in World Politics
● Democratic Values and Support for Militant Politics: Evidence from A National
Survey of Pakistan

Week 5
● Islamization of Muslim World
● Why some localities in Turkey remain resistant to Islaimist Political Mobilization
Week 6-7 Mid Term Exams

Week 8
 Ritual and Revolution in Iran

Week 9

 Political Islam: Challenge to Islam in Muslim World

Week 10

 Free Speech and Muslim World

Week 11

 Muslim world in encountering global extremism and terrorism

Week 12
● Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Its Understanding of Jihad
Week 13
 The Paths of Islamism in Contemporary Islam: A Theoretical Re-Analysis

Week 14
 Global War on Terrorism, American Foreign policy and its impact upon Islam and
Muslim Society

Week 15
● Islamophobia as a form of Governmentality

Week 16 Article Presentation

Readings
● Jillian Schwedler, Faith in Moderation: Islamist Parties in Jordan and Yemen
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006).

● Cihan Tuğal, Passive Revolution: Absorbing the Islamic Challenge to Capitalism

(Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2009).

● Jenny B. White, Islamist Mobilization in Turkey: A Study in Vernacular Politics

(Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2002)

● Carrie Rosefsky Wickham, Mobilizing Islam: Religion, Activism, and Political

Change in Egypt (New York: Columbia University Press, 2002).

● Patrick Cockburn, The Rise of Islamic State: ISIS and the Sunni Revolution (London:
Verso, 2015)

● Monica Duffy Toft, “Getting Religion? The Puzzling Case of Islam and Civil War,”
International Security, Volume 31, Number 4 (Spring 2007), pp. 97-131.

● Isa Blumi, Destroying Yemen: What Chaos in Arabia Tells Us About the World
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 2018).
● Vali Nasr, “International Politics, Domestic Imperatives, and Identity Mobilization:
Sectarianism in Pakistan, 1979-1998,” Comparative Politics, Volume 32, Number 2
(January 2000), pp. 171-190.

● Peter Bergen (ed.), Talibanistan: Negotiating the Borders Between Terror, Politics,
and Religion (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013).

● Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Its Understanding of Jihad
https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2015/04/155782/islamic-state-iraq-syria-isis-
understanding-jihad/

● Immanuel Wallerstein, “Islam, the West, and the World,” Journal of Islamic Studies,
Volume 10, Number 2 (1999), pp. 109-125.
● John R. Bowen, A New Anthropology of Islam (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 2012)

● Asef Bayat (ed.), Post-Islamism: The Changing Faces of Political Islam (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2013)

● Frazer Egerton, Jihad in the West: The Rise of Militant Salafism (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2011).