ISLAMIC AND JEWISH MYSTICISMS (HRIR-1500)

This course is co-taught by Ahmed Khater and Madeline Wyse in a concurrent hybrid format. We will examine and compare the role of textual sources, transmitted sources, communal consensus, and various modes of interpretation as authoritative sources in Islamic and Jewish law. We will pay special attention to the ways both legal traditions have wrestled with the ambiguity, multiplicity and doubt inherent both in the task of interpreting the sources of law and in the task of determining the facts of a given case. We will also examine the ways Muslims and Jews have historically navigated spaces with multiple religio-legal authorities, whether in cases of “madhhab shopping” or of Jews using Islamic courts as a strategic alternative to Rabbinic courts. Evaluation based on  class discussion, final project and presentation. This course is open to all degree programs at the GTU and has an inter-religious orientation.