Islamic Studies Online: An Instructor's Guide to Three Courses

We have developed three courses: Islam and Muslim Civilizations, Shiʿi Islam, and Researching Islam: Entering the World of Scholarly Investigation. I teach these at the introductory, intermediate, and advanced levels at the University of Toronto. However, the modular approach allows any instructor to mix and match topics from any of the three courses. Instructors may rearrange the modules according to the needs of their students and repurpose them for many environments. The modules can prove valuable for museums, undergraduate and graduate school classes, high schools, religious institutions, adult learners ranging from journalists to public servants, and many others.

Every course is structured as an adventure. Each module is called a “Caravan Journey” and units within the modules are “Serais.” In the Muslim world, Serais were bustling stopping-places that supported the flow of information, commerce, and people across trade routes through much of Asia, North Africa, and Southeast Europe. Writing about his experience at one such Caravanserai or funduq in China, the famous Muslim traveler Ibn Battutah observed:

China is the safest and best country for the traveler. A man travels for nine months alone with great wealth and has nothing to fear. What is responsible for this is that in every post station in their country is a funduq which has a director living there with a company of horse and foot…. He sends someone with the travelers to conduct them to the next post station and he brings back a certificate from the director of the funduq confirming that they have all arrived. If he does not do this he is answerable for them. This is the procedure in every post station in their country from Sin al-Sin to Khan Baliq. In them is everything the traveler needs by way of provisions, especially hens and geese.[1]

Similarly, at each of our Serais, we provide our student travelers with all they need by way of provisions, though perhaps no hens and geese. The guides and guidebooks we provide enable them to cross all their Serais to then board the next Caravan, safe and sound, certificates in hand.

Caravan Journeys include readings and multimedia, pedagogical activities, and assessments. They provide rich, engaging, student-centered experiences for learners. To the extent possible, the journey represents the dynamic pluralism of Islam and Muslim Civilizations, showcasing many facets of diversity, including the following:

A.Pluralism

1. Region: The Muslim world is gigantic. The overwhelming majority of Muslims do not live in the Middle East, but the vast majority of Islamic Studies does. Students will be exposed to as many regions of the Muslim world as possible throughout the course, and the Caravan Journeys contribute to this.
2. Time: There are over 1400 years of Muslim history, and the Caravan Journeys, as a whole, try to expose students to many different periods.
3. Schools of Interpretation: The Caravan Journeys represent diverse communities of interpretation. Students will leave the course realizing that 1.7 billion Muslims across the world are not a monolithic bloc.

B.Gender

Primary sources and scholarship frequently make women invisible. We make every attempt to have female voices represented in the Caravan Journeys.

C.Multimedia

The Caravan Journeys include appropriate multimedia, including relevant images, sound, and video. Many living artists and musicians from around the world have contributed to the project. 

D.Primary and Secondary Sources

The Caravan Journeys expose students to appropriately chosen primary sources, both textual and non-textual, as well as a range of secondary sources.

Thus, the Caravan Journeys provide a rich, engaging, student-centered experience for learners.

[1] Ibn Baṭṭūtah, Riḥlah, trans. Hamilton A.R. Gibb and Charles F. Beckingham, The Travels of Ibn Battuta: A.D. 1325-1354, 4 vols. (London: Hakluyt Society, 1994), vol. 4, 893-894.