Course Syllabus

Introduction to Islam

RELS 2303 section 001 (CRN 47005)
University of Oklahoma, Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences
Spring 2026

Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays 11:00 - 11:50 in Kaufman 330 (100% in-person)

Syllabus and up-to-date schedule at https://canvas.ou.edu/courses/471193

Instructor

David Vishanoff
vishanoff at ou dot edu
vishanoff.com
Office: Robertson 119 (at the south end of Farzaneh hall on Elm Ave.)
Office hours: I am usually free right after class, and available by appointment at other times on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

Overview

This course is an exercise in learning to listen to Muslims. Rather than present information and expect you to remember all the details, hoping that some of them will someday prove useful for understanding Muslims, we will read and discuss books by Muslim authors, and I will provide background as needed to help us understand what each author is saying and why it matters. We will read and discuss three books together, and you will each choose a fourth book (from a list of three) to read on your own, trying to make sense of it in light of the background learned in class. (We will occasionally talk about those extra books in class, so you will get to raise questions about your chosen book and hear about the books your classmates are reading.) You will write three in-class essays (including the final exam) in which you progressively develop your own thinking, in interaction with the books and our class discussions, about this thing called "Islam."

That's it! This is just an exercise in reading four books, with some guidance and lots of discussion, and learning how to get past the obvious things each author says in order to discover the puzzles, the surprises, and the fascinating controversies that make each author's interpretation of Islam anything but obvious. You will pick up plenty of basic facts and concepts along the way, but the ultimate goal isn't to memorize them; the point is to practice reading things you don't have all the right background for, and then fill in your knowledge gaps with just the tidbits you need for understanding what each particular author is saying and why it matters. This is a course in which you learn to find people interesting.

This course counts toward General Education requirement IV-WDC (Humanities, World Culture). It has no prerequisites. It is a fully in-person class.

Textbooks

There are three required books:

• Laury Silvers, The Lover: A Sufi Mystery (ISBN ‎ 9781999122843) -- Please order this book before the semester begins, since we will begin reading it for the second week of class.
• Rafia Zakaria, The Upstairs Wife: An Intimate History of Pakistan (ISBN 9780807080467)
• Ayesha S. Chaudhry, The Colour of God (ISBN 9780861542208)

You will also choose one of these three books (I suggest you wait to choose until I describe them in class):

• The Faith and Practice of al-Ghazali, translated by William Montgomery Watt (ISBN 9781851680627)
• Sherman A. Jackson, Islam and the Blackamerican: Looking Toward the Third Resurrection (ISBN 9780199782383)
• Michael Muhammad Knight, Why I Am a Salafi (ISBN 9781593766061)
• We are spontaneously adding a fourth option (which I have ordered but might not have time to read myself this term): Medina Tenour Whiteman, The Invisible Muslim: Journeys Through Whiteness and Islam (ISBN 978-1787383029)

I encourage you to buy hard copies, rather than ebooks, so that you can flag things, write notes in the margins, and flip through them in class; but the choice is yours.

Requirements

Preparation, Attendance, and Contribution (PAC) (40%)

There are two ways to demonstrate your preparation and contribute to this class: speaking up in class, and writing your ideas on the 3x5 cards that I will hand out at key moments in class. Through some combination of these two methods, I need to be able to see clearly, at least once a week on average, that you are reading the books and thinking about them for yourself. Oral contributions in class are often the most helpful for the rest of us, but only if what you say is clear, concise, relevant to where we are or where we need to go in our conversation, and well grounded in the assigned readings. Don’t talk just to fill silence! If you tend to speak up often, make a special effort to defer to those who speak less often, and please help me to notice students who have their hands up if I don’t see them. I hope that all of you will speak up at least occasionally, because we will all benefit from hearing the intriguing mix of ideas and perspectives that will emerge, but you can get up to a B just by submitting good ideas, well-grounded in the readings, on 3x5 cards. If you are shy, or have trouble formulating ideas quickly enough to speak up, I suggest you start out relying mainly on the 3x5 cards; then, once you have found your voice in writing, start looking for opportunities to bring up your ideas in class. Our class will be small, so there will be plenty of opportunity for you to practice speaking up, and I can help and encourage you in this area if you find it difficult (as I did when I was in college).

How much should you contribute? You should aim to make a substantial contribution about once a week, whether orally in class discussion or in writing on a 3x5 card. Your grade for “preparation attendance and contribution” (PAC) will be based not only on whether you have contributed regularly but also on the depth, insightfulness, clarity, and conciseness of your contributions, and especially on how well they reflect careful reading of the assigned texts. Your grade will also be affected by little indications of preparation and engagement such as bringing the assigned book to class, and by how well you help us to maintain a focused intellectual atmosphere in the classroom by doing things like staying alert and engaged, respecting others, refraining from using electronic devices for purposes other than class, and avoiding anything else that might disrupt, distract, or discourage others from staying focused.

Obviously, you can't contribute well without attending class regularly. The work of this course consists in thinking and reaching conclusions together in class, not learning information on your own. This is only possible with your consistent preparation, attendance, and participation. There is therefore a severe grade penalty for excessive absences. If you are not sure you will be able to attend regularly, then you should drop the course right away.

The absence penalty works as follows. Once the deadline for adding classes passes at the end of the first week, you will be allowed to miss up to four six classes without penalty. Every absence beyond your first four six will result in a reduction of your PAC grade by one half third of a letter grade. For example, if your PAC grade would have been a B, but you missed six nine classes (two three more than allowed), you would be down to a C. Please note that there is no limit to this penalty, so if you miss enough classes your PAC grade will quickly drop down to an F, which would be devastating for your course grade because PAC is 40% of your course grade.

I fully expect that you will occasionally (i.e., up to four six times) be unable to attend class for one reason or another, so it is not necessary to apologize or provide any excuse for your absences. On the other hand, if it begins to look like a serious ongoing personal or health situation may result in more than four six absences during the term, please talk to me about it as soon as possible, and I will be as supportive as I can. Absences that result from religious observances will be not be counted, and exams or work falling on religious holidays may be rescheduled without penalty; please let me know in advance, as soon as you are able to determine that a holiday may conflict with class.

I will record attendance silently just before the start of class, so if you arrive after class has begun you will be irrevocably recorded as absent unless you check in with me after class, in which case I will record you as merely late. Please don’t be embarrassed about doing this: I will not be offended if you arrive late; on the contrary, I will be glad to see you! Nevertheless, since arriving late can undermine your learning and distract other students, I may decide to count each lateness as a fraction of an absence if lateness becomes a recurring problem.

Two in-class essays (15% each)

These essays will be written by hand in class, without the use of any notes, books, devices, or other forms of assistance, relying only on your own thinking and your own memory of our readings and class discussions. We will discuss and pin down the essay question prompts together in class, and they will be posted in the class schedule on the Canvas home page as the date of each essay draws near. TENTATIVELY, the questions will all be something like this:

At this point in the term, based on our class discussions, the books you have read so far, and the thinking you have done this term, what would you say "Islam" is, and how does that compare to what the authors you have read and others in the class would say about it? In other words, what kind of thing are you referring to when you say "Islam?" What are a few of its key driving ideas, values, or inspirations? How does your idea of Islam differ from the views of Islam held by the authors you have read so far and by one or more others in the class (the instructor and/or other students)? Please explain and illustrate your answer with ideas, stories, images, etc., from the books you have read and our class discussions (no need for references or exact quotes).

Final essay exam (30%)

A single handwritten essay similar to the first and second essays but longer and incorporating reflection on all four of the books you have read as well as our class discussions. The final question will be discussed, refined, and posted in the class schedule on the Canvas home page the week before the exam.

Academic honesty (all or nothing)

In my estimation, any form of deceit, however “mild,” warrants a final course grade of F (zero). Individual instances of suspected academic dishonesty will be referred to the appropriate University authorities, who will investigate and determine appropriate penalties (which may include grade penalties, extra classes, suspension, expulsion, and/or other penalties). In my estimation, academic dishonesty includes (but is not limited to):

• turning in writing not created solely by yourself solely for this class on the basis of your own understanding of the subject
• plagiarism (reproducing or paraphrasing someone else’s words or ideas without citing them)
• failing to document sources as required in an assignment
• making in-class oral contributions or submitting written assignments that stem in whole or in part (even in modified form) from AI-driven text generators such as ChatGPT
• helping other students to avoid doing their own reading or thinking or writing
• selling a paper or exam essay or sharing it with someone who might use it instead of doing his or her own work
• using unauthorized materials, sources, or devices for tests
• false excuses for absences or late or missed assignments

If you have questions about academic integrity or plagiarism, please ask; my aim is to foster an environment of trust in which you can learn, grow, and try out ideas while being transparent about your thinking and learning. See https://www.ou.edu/integrity/students for information on student rights and responsibilities with regards to academic misconduct.

General course policies

• In-class essays and the final exam must be written when scheduled unless prevented by religious observance or a documented health issue.
• Exams or work falling on religious holidays may be rescheduled without penalty; please let me know in advance, as soon as you are able to determine that a holiday may conflict with class or an assignment.
• Assignments may or may not be accepted late, at the instructor’s discretion. Unless arranged in advance, any such lateness will be penalized one letter grade for each interval between class periods (or any fraction thereof) that elapses after the scheduled date.
• No extra-credit work will be assigned or accepted; please do not ask. To benefit from this class, you need to do the regular work of the class as it is assigned, not do other work later.
• On all writing assignments the instructor reserves the right, before assigning a grade, to request an individual meeting with any student to ask for explanation of any aspect(s) of their writing, and then assign a grade based on the total evidence of the written paper and the student's explanations. This could improve the grade somewhat if the instructor feels the student had excellent ideas that were not fully communicated in writing despite a good effort, or it could dramatically reduce the grade, and possibly lead to sanctions for breach of academic integrity, if the student's explanations cast doubt on whether the student actually wrote the assignment themselves from scratch. This policy is needed in order to safeguard against students using artificial intelligence tools to produce essays that they did not write themselves but whose actual provenance might be difficult to establish. If academic dishonesty is suspected, the case will be referred to the Integrity Council (see Academic Honesty above), but even if the Council is not able to establish that academic misconduct has occurred this policy will enable the instructor to assign a low or failing grade (including a zero) on the assignment if the student is unable to explain to the instructor's satisfaction how the paper resulted from their own thinking. In other words, being ready and able to explain your writing orally if asked is part of what is expected in all writing assignments in this class. If you cannot explain how each aspect of your writing resulted from your own thinking, you have missed the point of the assignment, and if the instructor discovers this you will be graded accordingly.

University resources and policies

• Support is available for any student experiencing mental health issues that are impacting their academic success. Students can either been seen at the University Counseling Center (UCC) located on the second floor of Goddard Health Center or receive 24/7/365 crisis support from a licensed mental health provider through TELUS Health. To schedule an appointment or receive more information about mental health resources at OU please call the UCC at 405-325-2911 or visit University Counseling Center. The UCC is located at 620 Elm Ave., Room 201, Norman, OK 73019.
• The University of Oklahoma faculty are committed to creating a safe learning environment for all members of our community, free from gender and sex-based discrimination, including sexual harassment, domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, in accordance with Title IX. There are resources available to those impacted, including: speaking with someone confidentially about your options, medical attention, counseling, reporting, academic support, and safety plans. If you have (or someone you know has) experienced any form of sex or gender-based discrimination or violence and wish to speak with someone confidentially, please contact OU Advocates (available 24/7 at 405-615-0013) or University Counseling Center (M-F 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 405-325-2911). Because the University of Oklahoma is committed to the safety of you and other students, and because of our Title IX obligations, I, as well as other faculty, Graduate Assistants, and Teaching Assistants, are mandatory reporters. This means that we are obligated to report gender-based violence that has been disclosed to us to the Institutional Equity Office. This means that we are obligated to report gender-based violence that has been disclosed to us to the Institutional Equity Office. This includes disclosures that occur in: class discussion, writing assignments, discussion boards, emails and during Student/Office Hours. You may also choose to report directly to the Institutional Equity Office. After a report is filed, the Title IX Coordinator will reach out to provide resources, support, and information and the reported information will remain private. For more information regarding the University’s Title IX Grievance procedures, reporting, or support measures, please visit Institutional Equity Office at 405-325-3546.
• The University of Oklahoma (OU) is committed to the goal of achieving equal educational opportunity and full educational participation for students with disabilities. Please contact the Accessibility and Disability Resource Center (ADRC) at (405)325-3852 or adrc@ou.edu, or visit www.ou.edu/adrc for more information. Note: disabilities may include, but are not limited to, mental health, chronic health, physical, vision, hearing, learning and attention disabilities, pregnancy-related. ADRC can also support students experiencing temporary medical conditions.
• It is the policy of the University to excuse the absences of students that result from religious observances and to reschedule examinations and additional required classwork that may fall on religious holidays, without penalty. [See Faculty Handbook 3.15.2]
• Should you need modifications or adjustments to your course requirements because of documented pregnancy-related or childbirth-related issues, please contact the Accessibility and Disability Resource Center at 405/325-3852 and/or the Institutional Equity Office at 405/325-3546 as soon as possible. Also, see the Institutional Equity Office FAQ on Pregnant and Parenting Students’ Rights for answers to commonly asked questions.
• Pre-finals week will be defined as the seven calendar days before the first day of finals. Faculty may cover new course material throughout this week. For specific provisions of the policy please refer to OU’s Final Exam Preparation Period policy.
• During an emergency, there are official university procedures that will maximize your safety.
  • Severe Weather: If you receive an OU Alert to seek refuge or hear a tornado siren that signals severe weather.
    • Look for severe weather refuge location maps located inside most OU buildings near the entrances.
    • Seek refuge inside a building. Do not leave one building to seek shelter in another building that you deem safer. If outside, get into the nearest building.
    • Go to the building’s severe weather refuge location. If you do not know where that is, go to the lowest level possible and seek refuge in an innermost room. Avoid outside doors and windows.
    • Get in, Get Down, Cover Up
    • Wait for official notice to resume normal activities.
    • Additional Weather Safety Information is available through the Department of Campus Safety.
  • The University of Oklahoma Active Threat Guidance
    • The University of Oklahoma embraces a Run, Hide, Fight strategy for active threats on campus. This strategy is well known, widely accepted, and proven to save lives. To receive emergency campus alerts, be sure to update your contact information and preferences in the account settings section at one.ou.edu.
    • RUN: Running away from the threat is usually the best option. If it is safe to run, run as far away from the threat as possible. Call 911 when you are in a safe location and let them know from which OU campus you’re calling from and location of active threat.
    • HIDE: If running is not practical, the next best option is to hide. Lock and barricade all doors; turn of all lights; turn down your phone’s volume; search for improvised weapons; hide behind solid objects and walls; and hide yourself completely and stay quiet. Remain in place until law enforcement arrives. Be patient and remain hidden.
    • FIGHT: If you are unable to run or hide, the last best option is to fight. Have one or more improvised weapons with you and be prepared to attack. Attack them when they are least expecting it and hit them where it hurts most: the face (specifically eyes, nose, and ears), the throat, the diaphragm (solar plexus), and the groin.
    • Please save OUPD’s contact information in your phone. For non-emergencies call (405) 325-1717. For emergencies call (405) 325-1911 or dial 911.
  • Fire Alarm/General Emergency
    • LEAVE the building. Do not use the elevators.
    • KNOW at least two building exits
    • ASSIST those that may need help
    • PROCEED to the emergency assembly area
    • ONCE safely outside, NOTIFY first responders of anyone that may still be inside building due to mobility issues.
    • WAIT for official notice before attempting to re-enter the building.
    • OU Fire Safety on Campus