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THEO-3930: Jesus in the Qur’an Spring 2018

Class Days and Time: TR, 16:00-17:15 Classroom: PRH-4 Prerequisite(s): Theo-100 Credit(s): 333 Instructor: Dr. Carlos A. Segovia Instructor’s Email: carlos.segovia@slu.edu Instructor’s Campus Phone: 91 554 58 58, ext. 229 / 235 Office: SIH-315 Office Hours: TR, 15:00-16:00

Course Description: While clearly affirming that God has no partner, and moreover that he is childless, the quranic authors repeatedly encourage their audience to behave like Jesus’s disciples, defend Jesus against the Jews, declare him to be the Messiah and the Word of God as well as a spirit from him (a series of titles they never apply to other prophets), make systematic use of a number of crucial Christian rhetorical moves, and quote more or less verbatim the New Testament Apocrypha and the writings of several late-antique Christian authors. Furthermore, they seem to be engaged in intra-Christian controversies just as much as they seem to partake in anti-Christian polemics. Conversely, the apparently pro-Jewish passages that one finds in the Qur’ān often prove tricky, as they are usually placed within, or next to, more or less violent anti-Jewish pericopes that bear the marks of Christian rhetoric despite a few occasional anti-Christian interpolations. And to further complicate these matters, the earliest quranic layers seems to contain a non-Jesus-centred angelomorphic Christology which lacks any reference to any human prophet. What, then, can we make out of this puzzle? Is it possible, moreover, to reinterpret the Christology of the Qur’ān as a reaction against the imposition of imperial (Chalcedonian) Christianity in the region? Reflecting on these issues is as essential for a correct understanding of emergent Islam as it is valuable to help foster, and simultaneously delimit, interfaith dialogue in our time.

The course will combine lectures and workshops. Most of the work will be carried out through the collective reading, multi-layered examination, and thorough discussion of different quranic texts.

Course Goals and Student Learning Outcomes: Students who successfully complete the course will have achieved the following learning outcomes:

• to understand the style, purpose, and content of the quranic narratives about Jesus • to understand the complex textual and contextual problems that they present • to critically asses the merits and demerits of their traditional interpretation • to canvass the main results achieved in the study of such narratives over the past decades • to ponder their relevance for rethinking the emergence Islam and early Muslim-Christian

relations • to critically asses their implications for modern interfaith dialogue • to determine, by one’s own lights, how to better deal with all the aforementioned issues

Saint Louis University - Madrid Campus is committed to excellent and innovative educational practices. In order to maintain quality academic offerings and to conform to relevant accreditation requirements, the Campus regularly assesses its teaching, services, and programs for evidence of student learning outcomes achievement. For this purpose anonymised representative examples of student work from all courses and programs is kept on file, such as assignments, papers, exams, portfolios, and results from student surveys, focus groups, and reflective exercises. Thus, copies of student work for this course, including written assignments, in-class exercises, and exams may be kept on file for institutional research, assessment and accreditation purposes. If students prefer that Saint Louis University - Madrid Campus does not keep their work on file, they need to communicate their decision in writing to the professor.

Required Texts and Materials:

The text for the course is Muhammad A. S. Abdel Haleem. The Qur’an: A New Translation. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.

It is required and available at SLU Madrid bookshop.

Supplementary bibliography:

Khalidi, Tarif: The Muslim Jesus: Sayings and Stories in Islamic Literature. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001.

Lawson, Todd. The Crucifixion and the Qur’an: A Study in the History of Muslim Thought. Oxford: Oneworld, 2009.

Leirvik, Oddbjørn. Images of Jesus Christ in Islam. London and New York: Continuum, 2010. 2nd ed.

Parrinder, Geoffrey. Jesus in the Qur’an. London: Faber and Faber, 1965. Reprinted in Oxford: Oneworld, 1996.

Peters, Francis E. Jesus and Muhammad: Parallel Tracks, Parallel Lives. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.

Räisänen, Heikki. “The Portrait of Jesus in the Qur’ān: Reflections from a Biblical Scholar.” The Muslim World 70 (1980): 122-33.

Robinson, Neal. Christ in Islam and Christianity. New York: State University of New York Press; and London: Macmillan, 1991.

––––. “Jesus.” In Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān, ed. Jane Dammen McAuliffe, 3:7-21. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2003.

Segovia, Carlos A. “Abraha’s Christological Formula RḤMNN w-MṢ1Ḥ-HW and Its Relevance for the Study of Islam’s Origins.” Oriens Christianum 98 (2015): 52-63.

Attendance Policy: Seven or more absences FOR ANY REASON constitute an unrecoverable loss of course content and will result in an F for the course. Mobile phones are to be switched OFF in class. Computers and tablets are to be used SOLELY for taking class notes. Students are expected not to interrupt class by leaving the room and returning during the class period.

Course Requirements and Grading Rationale/System: In this course final grades are calculated as a weighted average of four scores: three exams and participation. The scores are weighted as follows:

Midterm exam 33.33% Final exam: 33.33% Participation: 33.33%

Exams: The exams must be taken on the dates assigned. Violations of this policy will result in the loss of a grade point (from B to C, for example) in all but the most exceptional cases. The midterm exam will consist of a multiple-choice quiz and a textual analysis. In turn, in your final exam you will be asked to formulate a question relative to the contents of the course and to write a brief essay on it with the help of two concepts of your choice. You will be allowed to bring your class and home notes to the final exam; no materials will be admitted in the midterm exam, though. Participation: This component of your final grade will be based on several written exercises and commitment to the class workshops and discussions. Participation in the course workshops is mandatory – that is to say, all students will be asked to take part in, and actively contribute to, these.

Please note that, as a student in this course, you are required to adhere to the university’s Academic Honesty Policy. Cheating, falsification, and plagiarism are strictly forbidden. Plagiarism is the intentional representation of someone else’s thoughts or words as if they were one’s own. Any violation of this policy will result in an F for the pertinent academic exercise. A detailed statement of the policy may be found at http://www.slu.edu/madrid/academics.

E-mail: Campus and course announcements will often be handled by e-mail. Students should check their “@slu.edu” e-mail regularly.

University Statement on Academic Integrity: Academic integrity is honest, truthful and responsible conduct in all academic endeavours. The mission of Saint Louis University is “the pursuit of truth for the greater glory of God and for the service of humanity.” Accordingly, all acts of falsehood demean and compromise the corporate endeavours of teaching, research, health care and community service via which SLU embodies its mission. The University strives to prepare students for lives of personal and professional integrity, and therefore regards all breaches of academic integrity as matters of serious concern.

The governing University-level Academic Integrity Policy can be accessed on the Provost's Office website. Additionally, SLU-Madrid has posted its academic integrity policy online: http://www.slu.edu/madrid/academics. As a member of the University community, you are expected to know and abide by these policies, which detail definitions of violations, processes for reporting violations, sanctions and appeals. The professor will review these matters during the first weeks of the term. Please direct questions about any facet of academic integrity to your faculty, the chair of the department of your academic program, or the Academic Dean of the Madrid Campus.

University Title IX Statement: Saint Louis University and its faculty are committed to supporting our students and seeking an environment that is free of bias, discrimination, and harassment. If you have encountered any form of sexual misconduct (e.g. sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking, domestic or dating violence), we encourage you to report this to the University. If you speak with a faculty member about an incident of misconduct, that faculty member must notify SLU's Title IX deputy coordinator, Marta Maruri, whose office is located on the ground floor of Padre Rubio Hall, Avenida del Valle, 28 (mmaruri@slu.edu; 915-54-5858, ext. 213) and share the basic fact of your experience with her. The Title IX deputy coordinator will then be available to assist you in understanding all of your options and in connecting you with all possible resources on and off campus. If you wish to speak with a confidential source, you may contact the counselors at the SLU-Madrid's Counseling Services on the third floor of San Ignacio Hall (counselingcenter-madrid@slu.edu; 915-54-5858, ext. 230) or Sinews Multipletherapy Institute, the off-campus provider of counseling services for SLU-Madrid (www.sinews.es; 917-00-1979). To view SLU-Madrid's sexual misconduct policy and for resources, please visit the following web address: http://www.slu.edu/Documents/Madrid/campus-life/SLUMadridSexualMisconductPolicy.pdf.

Students with Special Needs: In recognition that people learn in a variety of ways and that learning is influenced by multiple factors (e.g., prior experience, study skills, learning disability), resources to support student success are available on campus. Students who think they might benefit from these resources can find out more about:

• Course-level support (e.g., faculty member, departmental resources, etc.) by asking your course instructor.

• University-level support (e.g., tutoring/writing services, Disability Services) by visiting the Academic Dean's Office (San Ignacio Hall) or by going to https://www.slu.edu/madrid/academics/student-resources.

Students with a documented disability who wish to request academic accommodations must contact Disability Services to discuss accommodation requests and eligibility requirements. Once successfully registered, the student also must notify the course instructor that they wish to access accommodations in the course. Please contact Disability Services at disabilityservices-madrid@slu.edu or +915 54 58 58, ext. 230 for an appointment. Confidentiality will be observed in all inquiries. Once approved, information about the student's eligibility for academic accommodations will be shared with course instructors via email from Disability Services. For more information about academic accommodations, see "Student Resources" on the SLU-Madrid webpage.

Note: Students who do not have a documented disability but who think they may have one are encouraged to contact Disability Services.

Spring 2018 Course Schedule: JANUARY

Wednesday 10 First Day of Classes

Thursday 11 1 / Introduction 1.1 What are religions and how do they emerge? – Some theoretical and methodological remarks to start with 1.2 Towards a historical-critical approach to the Qur'an

Tuesday 16 1.3 Old ideas and new insights on the quranic Jesus

Thursday 18 2 / The buried Christology of the early Qur’an 2.1 How should one interpret the Qur’an’s denial of Jesus’s divine sonship? (Q 112, 4:171)

Sunday 21 Last Day to Drop a Class without a Grade W and/or Add a Class; Last Day to Choose Audit (AU) or Pass/No Pass (P/NP) Options

Tuesday 23 2.2 “I” and “We” speeches in the earliest quranic layers – an angelomorphic Christology? (Q 75:1-15, 20-25 + 81:19-21)

Thursday 25 2.3 The gradual elaboration of a new prophetic kerygma (Q 73:1-8; 17:79-80 + 74:1-26; 88:21-26; 68:2-16 + 69:40-41 + 53:2-5; 55:1)

Tuesday 30 2.4 On the social-religious setting of the early Christology of the Qur’an (Q 43:2-40)

FEBRUARY

Thursday 1 3 / The Jesus’s narratives in Q 3 and 19 3.1 Jesus’s birth, teachings, and miracles in Q 3:33-58 (I) Q 3:33-47 → Workshop no. 1

Tuesday 6 (II) Q 3:48-58 → Workshop no. 2

Thursday 8 3.2 The story of Mary in Q 19:2-36 – and its anti-Jewish polemical background → Workshop no. 3

Tuesday 13 3.3 Comparing 3:59-68 and 19:37-40 → Workshop no. 4

Wednesday 14 Ash Wednesday Registration for Summer 2018 Begins

Thursday 15 Midterm exam

Tuesday 20 Jesus in the Qur’an: Video and discussion

Thursday 22 No Classes (Winter Break)

Tuesday 27 Professors’ Deadline to Submit Midterm Grades

MARCH

Thursday 1 4 / The enigma of Jesus’s death in Q 4 4.1 Interpretative problems in Q 4:150-59 → Workshop no. 5

Tuesday 6 4.2 Video and discussion: Jesus crucifixion in the Qur’an

Thursday 8 5 / More on Jesus in quranic anti-Jewish polemics Jesus among other prophets (Q 2:136; 3:84)

Friday 9 Last Day to Drop a Class and Receive a Grade of W

Tuesday 13 6 / Anti-Christan quranic fragments mentioning Jesus 6.1 Q 4:172-72 and the Dome of the Rock inscriptions

Thursday 15 6.1 Q 4:172-72 and the Dome of the Rock inscriptions (cont.) Last Day to Submit Transfer Application for Fall Semester

Tuesday 20 6.2 The complex redactional process in Q 9:30-31

Thursday 22 7 / Conceptual excursus

Monday 26 Semana Santa Holiday (Campus Closed)

Tuesday 27

Wednesday 28

Thursday 29 Jueves Santo (Campus Closed)

Friday 30 Viernes Santo (Campus Closed)

APRIL

Tuesday 3 8 / An encrypted Christology behind the Adam narratives in Q 2, 15 and 38? 8.1 The Adamic narrative in Q 2:30-39 → Workshop no. 6

Wednesday 4 Registration for Fall 2018 Semester Begins

Thursday 5 8.2 The Adamic narrative(s) in Q 15:28-48 and 38:67-85 → Workshop no. 7

Final Exam Schedules Spring 2018:

Tuesday 10 8.3 Parallels in Q 21:91 and 66:12?

Thursday 12 9 / On Jesus foretelling the coming of the quranic prophet in Q 61 – and its Johannine echoes The two versions of Jesus’s logion in Q 61:1

Tuesday 17 10 / Invited talk no. 1

Thursday 19 11 / Invited talk no. 2

Tuesday 24 12 / Conclusions

Thursday 26 13 / Warm-up session

MAY

Tuesday 1 Día del Trabajador (Campus Closed)

Wednesday 2 Día de la Comunidad (Campus Closed)

Thursday 3Spring 2018 Final Day of Classes

Friday 4

Spring 2018 Final ExamsMonday 7

Tuesday 8

Wednesday 9

Thursday 10

Friday 11 University Housing Move-out Date

Saturday 12 Commencement

Sunday 13 Professors' deadline to submit spring 2018 final grades

4 May (Fr) 7 May (Mn) 8 May (Tu) 9 May (Wd) 10 May (Th)

08:30-11:30Mn classes that

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12:00-15:00Tu classes that

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15:30-18:30Mn classes that

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