019 Major Islamic Writers by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mahmudul Hasan

Major Islamic Writers

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Md Mahmudul Hasan

Major Islamic Writers

Instructor: Md. Mahmudul Hasan

There are debates about Islam’s view of literature. Those who routinely associate Islam with anti-modernity, rigidity, backwardness and other negative phenomena portray the religion as dry, dull and devoid of literary ambition and sensitivity. Many even believe that Islam stifles imaginative thinking and forms of expression. Though unwarranted or specious, misgivings and anxieties about Islam’s stance on literature are widespread. 

Any objective assessment of literary traditions inspired by in Islam over the centuries will dispel such wrong notions about Islam and literature. In this regard, adherents of Islam have a moral and religious responsibility to highlight and promote the wealth of Islamic literature, as it is part of the wider project of Ihya' al-Turath al- Islami (revival of Islamic heritage). It is in this spirit that this course will introduce major Islamic writers from various spatiotemporal locations. 

Lecture Title

1 Introduction: Islam and literature 

2 Poetry of Hassan ibn Thabit 

3 Ibn Hazm’s Essays

4 Works of Jalaluddin Muhammad Rumi 

5 Muhammad Iqbal 

6 Mohd Kamal Hassan

7 Shelina Janmohamed, Love in a Headscarf (2009)