Course Syllabus

Mission of the Department of Religious Studies

The faculty is committed to an open, plural, and interdisciplinary study of religion. The purpose
is to analyze religion from personal, social, economic, cultural, and historical perspectives. The
Department offers a variety of courses available to fulfill the requirement of students seeking
elective options, Bachelors of Arts program, or minor in Religious Studies.

Course Title
Different Perspectives in Islam

Required Texts

Fadl, K. (2005). The Great Theft: Wresting Islam from the Extremists. New York, NY:
HaperSanFrancisco.

Ibrahim, R. (2007). The Al Qaeda Reader. New York, NY: Broadway Books.

Jasser, M. (2012). A Battle for the Soul of Islam. An American Muslim Patriots Fight to Save
His Faith. New York, NY: Simon & Shuster.

me Hasan al-Banna. Oxford, England: Oneworld.


Learning Outcomes
The learning outcome for the student will be understanding the complexity of different Muslim
perspectives. Students will gain valuable insight about Islam and Muslims in their communities
and around the world. After finishing the course, students will be equipped to engage in civil
discourse comparing and contrasting different perspectives. They will attain the ability to
identify and classify the ideological perspectives of Islamic religious material they encounter
after this course.

Students with Disabilities
Students needing special accommodations must submit to the University an application and
supporting documentation. Proper accommodations will be provided when the instructor receives
written notification from the University.

Course Requirements and Expectations

Late Work: Work is to be submitted by midnight in the time zone the student resides in on the day that it
is due. Three points will be deducted for assignments that are submitted late.

Plagiarism: Students are expected to express an analytical view of these perspectives in their own words.
They must acknowledge the source of the ideas they are analyzing and uses proper writing techniques
when referencing academic material. Turnitin.com is a tool used to determine plagiarism. It is provided
as a service to students to check their work before submission.

(From SDSU Policy File IV-D-3 Plagiaism shall be defined as
the act of incorporating ideas, words, or specific substance of
another, whether purchased, borrowed, or otherwise obtained, and
submitting same to the Univesity as ones own wok to fulfill
academic requirements without giving credit to the appropriate
source. Plagiarism shall include but not be limited to (a) submitting
work, either in part or in whole, completed by another; (b) omitting
footnotes for ideas, statements, facts, or conclusions that belong to
another; (c) omitting quotation marks when quoting directly from
another, whether it be a paragraph, sentence, or part thereof; (d)
close and lengthy paaphasing of the witings of anothe; f
submitting as ones own wok papes purchased from research
companies




Grading Rubric

Discussion Rubric
Excellent5 Good4-3 Acceptable2-1 Not Acceptable--0
Students witing is on
topic. Their writing
clearly integrates ideas
from course readings
and discusses them in
an academic tone.
There may be one or
two grammatical
errors but they do not
interfere with the
eades
understanding.
Students witing is on
topic. There is some
evidence that they are
integrating ideas from
course readings, but
the academic analysis
could be improved.
There may be several
grammatical errors,
but they do not
impede the eades
understanding
Students witing does
not correspond to
topic. The tone of
their response is not
academic. There may
be grammatical errors
that make the
response unclear to
the reader.
No response.

Comparative Paper
Unsatisfactory

Marginal

Commendable

Outstanding

Content
Includes little
information for
the reading,
discussions, or
videos.
Includes some
essential
information
with few
citations and
few facts.
Includes
essential
information with
most sources
properly cited.
Includes enough
elaboration to
give readers an
understanding of
Covers topic
completely
and in depth.
Includes
properly cited
sources and
complete
information.
Encourages
5
the topic. readers to
know more.
Length
Paper is less than
4 pages in
length.
Paper is 4
pages in
length.
Paper 5-6 pages
in length.
Paper is 6-8
pages in
length.
5
APA
There are more
than 7 format
errors,
grammatical
mistakes,
misspellings,
punctuation
errors, etc..
There are 5-6
format errors,
grammatical
mistakes,
misspellings,
punctuation
errors, etc.
There are 3-4
format errors,
grammatical
mistakes,
misspellings,
punctuation
errors, etc..
There are 0-2
format errors,
grammatical
mistakes,
misspellings,
punctuation
errors, etc..
5



Letter Grade Number Grade Grade Points Per
Credit
A 96-100 4.0
A- 90-95 3.7
B+ 87-89 3.3
B 84-86 3.0
B- 80-83 2.7
C+ 77-79 2.3
C 74-76 2.0
C- 70-73 1.7
D+ 67-69 1.3
D 64-66 1.0
D- 60-63
F 0-59