Monday afternoon

Living The Questions discussion class course--Great World Religions--Islam 

Our Desert Palms’ Monday afternoon “Living the Questions” weekly discussion class has completed its 12 session First Light: Jesus and the Kingdom of God series, and will be beginning a new series on January 25, again led by Fred Berkenkamp.

Our first six 1 1/2 hour sessions will be an intensive study of one of the Great World Religions--Islam, the second largest and fastest growing world religion with majority populations in 56 countries and more than 1.5 billion adherents. Most  in the West know little about the faith, and are familiar only with the actions of a minority of radical extremists. Although Muslims share certain core beliefs, the practices, interpretations, images and realities of Islam vary across time and space.

The focus of this course will be to better understand Islam’s role as a religion and as a way of life. Across 6 weeks, we will be moving from Muhammad to the present, from the 7th to the 21st centuries. We will explore Muslim beliefs, practices, and history in the context of its significance and impact on Muslim life and society through the ages, as well as on world events today.

For a sound and provocative base, we will be utilizing the Teaching Companies’ Great Course material on Great Religions--Islam, developed by Dr. John Esposlto, professor of Islam at Georgetown University, and a widely-recognized world expert on Islam.

In Session One, we will discuss Islam, Yesterday, and Tomorrow by exploring similarities and differences in the 3 great monotheistic, Abrahamic faiths--Judaism, Christianity and Islam, their core beliefs, the Five Pillars of Islam including the controversial concept of jihad.

In Session Two, we will focus on Muhammad--Prophet and Statesman, and on the Quaran, the Muslim scripture revealed to Muhammad over a 22 year period, and what it says about God, relationship between men and women, about dealings with other religions and communities, as well as conduct of war and peace.

In Session Three, in The Muslim Community--Faith and Politics we will focus on the straining growth to become vast, dynamic empires and civilizations which made original contributions to art, architecture, mathematics, science, philosophy, law and mysticism. We will also explore interior and exterior Paths to God--Islamic Law and Mysticism to understand the sources of religious extremism, and the conflict between Islam and Christianity, the development of Islamic Law, the Shari'ah, and Islamic mysticism, Sufism.

In Session Four, in Contemporary Resurgence of Islam, we will focus on the historical tradition of Islamic renewal and reform developed to fight internal disintegration and upheaval in the Muslim world caused by outside forces from the 17th to 21st centuries

In Session Five, in Islam at the Crossroads, we will look at the worldwide struggle for the soul of Islam, on such contentious issues as the role of religion in state and society, treatment of minorities, compatibility of Islam and democracy, the complex relationships between Islam and the West, the changing roles of women in the modern world.

In Session Six, in Islam in the West, we will expand on the ever increasing reality of Muslims as our neighbors and colleagues in Europe and America, including the issues of faith and identity, integration and assimilation that face them in their new homelands. We will conclude with examining the Future of Islam, including prospects for Islam and the West, and Islam in the West in the 21st century.

Note: Cost of Course Guidebook will be $5.

For those interested and not already in the prior Living The Questions class, kindly let Rachel Randall or the Church Office know.