Muslim Studies Minor

HIST 364 - The Modern Middle East

Units: 4 ; Breadth Area: GE-UD-C; Social Justice Emergence of states and societies of the modern Middle East.  Disintegration of pre-modern empires and evolution from traditional societies into modern nation-states of the Arab world, Turkey, and Iran; responses to Western colonialism; socio-religious reform; nationalism, pan-Arabism, and Islamism. 

Student Learning Outcomes 

1. use a disciplinary perspective to analyze issues of social justice and equity;
2. describe the challenges to achieving social justice; and
3. identify ways in which individuals and/or groups can contribute to social justice within local communities, nations, or the world.
4. Know basic analytic concepts for interpreting historical evidence relating to the modern Middle East.
5. Achieve digital literacy in accessing and presenting information about major figures, ideas and events in modern Middle Eastern history.
6. Demonstrate significant knowledge of major events and trends in modern Middle Eastern history and society from the rise of Ottoman power in the 16^th century to the present.
7. Write and speak clearly and persuasively about events and trends in modern Middle Eastern history, and work collaboratively with others in solving problems relating to social justice and diversity in the modern Middle East.
8. Provide original interpretation of assigned sources, and accurately reference all sources in coursework.
9. Comprehend how differences and similarities among diverse peoples and cultures over time shaped the history of the modern Middle East.
10. Show familiarity with the impact of western imperialism on the modern Middle East, as well as the intellectual challenge posed by post-Enlightenment colonial European powers.
11. Understand the role the Middle East has come to play in the international trade, financial relationships, and politics of the modern world.
12. Compare and contrast social justice concerns in the modern Middle East and American society, and how religion intersects with the quest for a more just society in both places.

PHIL 341 - Abrahamic Faiths: Christianity, Judaism, Islam

Units: 3 ; Breadth Area: GE-UD-CStudy of Judaism, Christianity, Islam and others; their beliefs and practices; Abrahamic identity through the history and evolution of the traditions; including readings from the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Bible, the Qur'an, and other core Abrahamic texts. 

Student Learning Outcomes 

1. write clear, academically rigorous, argumentative essays.
2. read complex texts, create original arguments, analyze the arguments of others, and express these criticisms orally and in writing
3. demonstrate knowledge of philosophical and/or religious traditions, their relevant concepts, theories, methods, and historical contexts.
4. develop their capacities for ethical decision making, Socratic humility, openness to the ideas of others, reflective self-awareness, and a life-long curiosity about big questions.
5. cultivate an appreciation for a diversity of ideas and values across time and for human difference in areas such as: religion, culture, ethnicity, race, class, sexuality, and gender.

Sliman Mansour, Rituals under Occupation, 1989

Palestine, Arab, and Muslim (PAM) Caucus resolution presented to the California Faculty Asoociation  

RESOLUTION TO SUPPORT PALESTINIANS AND THEIR ALLIES IN THE CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY

WHEREAS, Israel has forced over 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza (mostly refugees) to flee their homes or risk losing their lives due to escalated military bombings by Israel since October 8, 2023;

WHEREAS, in violation of The Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 (Article 3.1), Israel has engaged since early October 2023 in the most severe form of collective punishment and retaliation against the Palestinian people of Gaza, including bombing hospitals, two major universities in Gaza, and United Nations (UN) schools/shelters, with no indications of when or whether the military assault and siege will stop;

WHEREAS, echoing colonial archetypes that seek to rationalize state violence against occupied people, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced on October 9, 2023, Israel’s deadly decision to ban food, water, and electricity to all Gazans because Israel was “fighting human animals”;

WHEREAS, for the last 75 years, Israeli military colonialism, occupation, and apartheid has already caused widespread societal destruction for Palestinians, such that over half the population currently lives in poverty;

WHEREAS, subjected to food rationing, limited mobility in what humanitarian advocates have called an “open air prison”, and widespread denial and limited access to education and employment, Palestinian life is oppressed on all levels;

WHEREAS, according to the United Nations, with no effective amount of humanitarian supplies allowed into Gaza for over a month, more than 2 million Palestinians’ lack of access to clean water will undoubtedly cause pervasive death among this population, violating basic human rights of Palestinian civilians;

WHEREAS, in a further attempt to isolate an already besieged people and prevent news of these atrocities from reaching the international community, the Israeli army has cut off Internet in Gaza;

WHEREAS, to date, the death toll in Gaza stands at over 15,000 people (most of them women and minors), Israeli air strikes on Gaza have killed one child every 10 minutes since October 8, 2023, and these numbers are expected to rise with no end in sight;

WHEREAS, even though it is enshrined in The Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 that international law extends special provisions and protection to non-combatants living under occupation, the United Nations has documented the ongoing systemic Israeli human rights violations of Palestinians living under a colonial and apartheid regime;

WHEREAS, Paragraph 139 of the International Court of Justice's advisory opinion on the legality of Israel's separation wall (2004) makes clear that Israel does not enjoy the right to self defense from its own occupied territories under Article 51 of the United Nations charter, and is thus, currently engaging in war crimes;

WHEREAS, according to USAID Data Services, as of January 2023, in constant 2021 USA dollars (inflation-adjusted), total USA aid to Israel from 1946-2023 is an estimated $260 billion, a large part of this used to fund the ethnic cleansing and genocide of Palestinians;

WHEREAS, despite such overwhelming evidence, the United States government and policy makers refuse to acknowledge the gross violations of Palestinian human rights that are enshrined in United States law, including protocols for military aid;

WHEREAS, the ongoing inherent bias in USA mainstream media consistently spotlights the humanity and suffering of individual Israelis while ignoring investigative coverage and reporting about Israel’s crimes, let alone the suffering and pain of individual Palestinians, reducing them to stereotypes and/or statistics; 

WHEREAS, accusations are rising that social media corporations are purposefully censoring posts (“shadow banning”) that support Palestine, “underscoring longstanding concerns about unfair moderation as war rages in Gaza”;

WHEREAS, attacks on faculty, students, staff, community members, and academic freedoms of those dissenting against Palestinian genocide have alarmingly increased in higher education since the Israeli invasion of Gaza;

WHEREAS, organizations such as the ACLU and activist-scholars such as Angela Davis call for inclusion of Palestinian rights as part of addressing “the need for an internationalist framework within which the ongoing work to dismantle structures of racism, heteropatriarchy, and economic injustice inside the United States can become more enduring and more meaningful;”

BE IT RESOLVED,

The CFA is committed to defending the health, safety, and academic freedom of students, faculty, staff, and community members in the CSU advocating for justice in Palestine. 

The union demands from all administrators in the California State University system:

• to protect student’s right to walkout of classes, rally, protest, hold teach-ins and other activities;
• to offer immediate sanctuary (i.e., spaces free from harassment and detention on campus) to all Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) members in the CSU, as well as to any other students, faculty, staff, and community members who speak or act in solidarity with Palestine, or against the ongoing criminalization of Palestine advocacy;
• to clearly reaffirm CSU’s commitment to enforcing the principles of academic freedom for those teaching on Palestine and Israel and/or for those using the principles of anti-racism and social justice, as laid out in the CFA-CSU Collective Bargaining Agreement and the Academic Senate of the CSU Academic Freedom Policy (2017);
• to proactively counter any intimidation or doxxing campaigns against any CSU student, faculty or staff member, by mobilizing the CSU’s legal resources to protect them;
• to provide the necessary university support and resources to protect faculty, staff, students, and community members who stand up against the genocide of Palestinians, as well as faculty, students, and staff whose families and communities are directly impacted by the siege on Gaza; the university will do this irrespective of donor-driven pressures and the corporatization of public institutions.

The CFA also stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people and refuses to allow a new violent displacement of Palestinians, or, “Nakba”. 

It supports:

• an immediate ceasefire by Israel on Gaza and a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas;
• the opening of the Rafah crossing to allow effective humanitarian aid, such as food, fuel, and medical supplies, into Gaza from Egypt; 
• pressuring the USA government to restore electricity, water, food, and Internet that Israel has cut off to Gaza; 
• an international, reputable, and unbiased commission to investigate war crimes;
• an immediate end to all USA military aid to Israel.

Adopted by the Palestine, Arab, and Muslim (PAM) Caucus on 11/6/23.

Endorsements:

CFA Librarians Committee [11/8/23]

CFA Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Executive Board [11/9/23; endorsement
reaffirmed 12/11/23]
 
CFA East Bay Executive Board [11/13/23]
 
CFA Cal Poly Humboldt Executive Board [11/14/23]
 
CFA Los Angeles Executive Board [11/15/23]
 
CFA Chico State Executive Board [11/16/23]
 
CFA Channel Islands Executive Board [11/17/23]
 
CFA San Francisco State Executive Board [11/17/23]
 
CFA Long Beach Executive Board [11/27/23]
 
CFA Dominguez Hills Executive Board [2/15/24]
 
CFA Sacramento Executive Board [3/1/24] 

Academic Senates:

CSU East Bay [11/28/23]

Stop Gaza Genocide Toolkit

Israel has killed more than 100 scholars in the genocidal war on Gaza:

1. Dr. Sufyan Tayeh - President of the Islamic University of Gaza
2. Dr. Saeed Al-Badda - President of the University College of Applied Sciences
3. Dr. Tayseer Ibrahim - Dean of the Faculty of Sharia and Law at the Islamic University
4. Dr. Ibrahim Al-Astal - Dean of the Faculty of Education at the Islamic University
5. Dr. Muhammad Eid Shabeer - former President of the Islamic University
6. Dr. Mahmoud Abu Duff - Professor of Fundamentals of Education at the Islamic University
7. Dr. Khitam Al-Wasifi - Professor of Physics at the Islamic University
8. Dr. Omar Farwana - Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Human Medicine at the Islamic University
9. Dr. Osama Al-Muzaini - former Palestinian Minister of Education
10. Dr. Ahmed Abu Absa - Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Palestine
11. Dr. Ahmed Al-Dalu - Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Palestine
12. Dr. Adham Hassouna - Lecturer at the Faculty of Mass Communication at Palestinian universities
13. Dr. Ahmed Al-Qara - Information Technology lecturer and university academic
14. Dr. Nesma Abu Shaira - Professor of Fine Arts at Al-Aqsa University
15. Dr. Abdel Nasser Al-Saqqa - Professor of Geography at Al-Aqsa University
16. Dr. Nidal Qaddoura - Professor of Biology at Al-Aqsa University
17. Dr. Wissam Issa - Professor of Geography at Al-Aqsa University
18. Dr. Fadl Abu Hin - Professor of Psychology at Al-Aqsa University
19. Dr. Jihad Al-Masry - Director of Al-Quds Open University in Khan Yunis
20. Dr. Nahed Al-Rafati - Professor of Hebrew Language at Al-Azhar University
21. Dr. Refaat Al-Arair - Professor of English Language at the Islamic University
22. Dr. Amin Al-Bahtiti - Professor of Dentistry at Al-Azhar University
23. Dr. Islam Haboush - Professor of Modern History at Palestinian universities
24. Dr. Medhat Saidam - Professor of Burn Medicine and one of the most prominent surgeons in Gaza
25. Dr. Naeem Baroud - Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the Islamic University
26. Dr. Izzo Afaneh - Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Education at the Islamic University
27. Dr. Salem Abu Makhada - Professor of Comparative Islamic Jurisprudence at the Islamic University
28. Dr. Muhammad Bakhit - Professor of Doctrine and Contemporary Doctrines at the Islamic University
29. Dr. Tariq Thabet - Professor of Information Technology at the University College
30. Dr. Shaher Youssef Yaghi - Professor of Psychology at the Islamic University
31. Dr. Raafat Labad - Professor of Internal Medicine at the universities of the Gaza Strip
32. Dr. Khalil Abu Yahya - Lecturer at the Islamic University of Gaza
33. Dr. Wael Al-Zard - Professor of Hadith and lecturer at several Palestinian universities
34. Dr. Maysarah Al-Rayes - an accomplished doctor who holds a master’s degree in women’s health.
35. Dr. Cyrine Al-Attar - Obstetrics and Gynecology Specialist.
36. Dr. Ismail Abu Saada - lecturer and consultant in business administration and academic development
37. Dr. Khaled Al-Ramlawi - holds a doctorate in engineering from the city of Izmir, Turkey
38. Dr. Saeed Talal Al-Dahshan - Professor and expert in international law at the universities of Gaza
39. Dr. Raed Qaddoura - Professor of English Language and holds a doctorate from Malaysia
40. Dr. Muhammad Abu Zour - Professor of Fundamentals of Religion at the Islamic University of Gaza
41. Dr. Youssef Jumaa Salama - former Minister of Endowments and Religious Affairs
42. Dr. Moamen Shweidah - Lecturer and supervisor of postgraduate studies at the Islamic University
43. Dr. Walid Al-Amoudi - Professor of Fundamentals of Religion at the Islamic University of Gaza
44. Dr. Jamila Al-Shanti - former Minister of Women’s Affairs in the Palestinian government
45. Dr. Ali Tayseer Al-Rantisi - Professor and lecturer at the Islamic University
46. Dr. Hassan Al-Rafid - researcher, writer and lecturer in the economic field
47. Dr. Ayman Al-Rafati - researcher and lecturer in political science
48. Dr. Mahmoud Al-Louh - one of the most prominent electrical engineers at the Electricity Distribution Company.
49. Dr. Majd Al-Hajj - Lecturer at the Islamic University
50. Dr. Somaya Abu Aoun - Demonstrator and lecturer at the University of Palestine
51. Dr. Anas Al-Barsh - Lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the University of Palestine
52. Dr. Ramez Al-Aidi - Professor of Law at Al-Awda University College
53. Dr. Rahaf Abu Saeed - lecturer at the Islamic University
54. Dr. Bassam Shaheen - Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Intermediate Studies, Al-Azhar University
55. Dr. Hossam Hamada - Director of the Pathology Department at Al-Shifa Medical Complex
56. Dr. Rula Fadl Abdel Gawad - Professor of Multimedia at several universities
57. Dr. Abdel Karim Hashash - Palestinian writer and researcher
58. Dr. Marwan Tarazi - Director of the Center for Continuing Education at Birzeit University
59. Dr. Sherif Al-Asali - Lecturer at the Islamic University in the Faculty of Education
60. Dr. M.Mohamed Hassouna - Professor of Technology at the University College
61. Dr. Yasser Radwan - Lecturer at Palestine Technical College
62. Dr. Hazem Al-Jamali - Professor of Public Law at the Faculty of Law at the University of Gaza
63. Dr. Nasser Al-Yafawi - writer, researcher, historian, and university professor at several universities
64. Dr. Muhammad Abdel Ghafour - Professor of Noble Hadith at the Islamic Da’wah College in Gaza
65. Dr. Amin Dabour - Professor of Political Science at the Islamic University of Gaza
66. Dr. Yahya Ghaben - Lecturer at the Faculty of Arts at Al-Aqsa University
67. Dr. Nasser Abu Al-Nour - Dean of the Faculty of Nursing at the Islamic University of Gaza
68. Dr. Rizq Al-Gharabli - Professor of Jurisprudence at UNIVERSITY OF THE PEOPLE
69. Dr. Anisa Qandil - Arabic Language Supervisor at the Palestinian Ministry of Education
70. Dr. Muhammad Hammad - Lecturer at Al-Aqsa University in Gaza
71. Dr. Muhammad Adwan - Professor and expert in endoscopy and medicine
72. Dr. Nidal Qaddoura - Professor and lecturer of laboratory medical sciences at Al-Aqsa University
73. Dr. Nahed Abdel Latif - Professor of Medical Sciences at Al-Aqsa University in Gaza
74. Dr. Wissam Abu Musa - Professor of Sports, and coach of the Palestinian volleyball team.
75. Dr. Saeed Khorshid - Professor and expert in optics
76. Dr. Ismail Al-Ghamri - Professor and lecturer at the Islamic University
77. Dr. Muhammad Abu Amara - Dean of the Faculty of Law at Al-Azhar University
78. Dr. Salah El-Din Zanoun - Professor and lecturer at the Arab College of Applied Sciences
79. Dr. Taha Al-Shanti - Professor and lecturer in laboratory medical sciences at Al-Aqsa University.
80. Dr. M. Mohamed Abdel Hadi Nassar - researcher in the social and economic field
81. Dr. M. Mehmet Fayez Al-Najjar - Professor of Engineering, obtained his doctorate from the University of Izmir.
82. Dr. Medhat Muhaisen - Director of Al-Wafa Hospital for the Elderly in Al-Zahraa City.
83. Dr. Adnan Ahmed Al-Barash - Professor of the Faculty of Medicine at the Islamic University of Gaza.
84. Dr. Khaled Al-Najjar - researcher and academic lecturer.
85. Dr. Jihad Al-Baz - researcher and academic lecturer.
86. Dr. Jihad Al-Masry - researcher and academic lecturer.
87. Dr. Muhammad Nassar - researcher and academic lecturer.
88. Dr. Hossam Abu Anza - researcher and academic lecturer.
89. Dr. Shehada Al-Bahbani - Researcher and academic lecturer.
90. Dr. Ziad Al-Tatri - researcher and academic lecturer.
91. Dr. Ahmed Al-Shaer - researcher and academic lecturer.
92. Dr. Ibrahim Khayal - researcher and academic lecturer.
93. Dr. Khalil Al-Nakhalah - Researcher and academic lecturer.
94. Dr. Doaa Al-Masry - Researcher and Academic Lecturer.
95. Dr. Mohamed Awad - researcher and academic lecturer.
96. Dr. Muhammad Al-Nabahin - researcher and academic lecturer.
97. Dr. Ibrahim Abu Salah - researcher and academic lecturer.
98. Dr. Ali Al-Qarinawi - researcher and academic lecturer.
99. Dr. Ibrahim Saidam - researcher and academic lecturer.
100. Dr. Muhammad Asaad - researcher and academic lecturer.
101. Dr. Nidaa Afaneh - researcher and academic lecturer.
102. Dr. Siddiq Nassar - Researcher and academic lecturer.
103. Dr. Ahmed Abu Saada - researcher and academic lecturer.
104. Dr. Muhammad Al-Zaanin - Researcher and academic lecturer.