For my Online Course Audit, I chose The Qur’an Between Judaism and Christianity on FutureLearn.  The course boasts exploration of the relationships between the Qur’an, Judaism and Christianity.

This online course will illustrate how the Qur’an situates itself as part of, and as a correction to, the religious discourse of the Jewish and Christian communities of Late Antique Arabia.

The course will use the Qur’an, as well as Jewish and Christian historical documents, to reconstruct the religious landscape to which the Muslim scripture reacts in a pointed, precise and nuanced way.

This will give you a historically more informed understanding of nascent Islam, and will allow you to reconsider many of theological and cultural tenets of Late Antique Judaism and Christianity.

Topics Covered

  • Traditional and Western approaches to the Qur’an
  • Arabia in Late Antiquity
  • Judaism and Christianity from the first to the seventh century
  • The Qur’an and the Hebrew Bible
  • The Qur’an and the New Testament
  • Law and ritual purity in the Bible, Judaism, Christianity, and in the Qur’an
  • The Qur’an, Judaism and Christianity

SWBAT

  • Compare aspects of the Qur’an’s message to Jewish and Christian teachings of Late Antiquity
  • Reflect on some of the similarities and on some of the differences between the Qur’an, Judaism, and Christianity
  • Assess some of the historical reasons for the contemporary misconceptions of nascent Islam
  • Collaborate with others on broadening your historical knowledge
  • Debate historical aspects of religion with people from various backgrounds
  • Interpret select Qur’anic passages in dialogue with the Jewish and the Christian tradition
  • Explore the opportunities and the limitations of “traditional” and “Western” approaches to the Qur’an
  • Identify helpful methods of reading the Qur’an historically, comparatively, and respectfully

Structure

The course is self-directed but allows for students to connect with each other throughout.  The course material will be locked at the end of the 4 weeks unless upgraded (paid) which also provides students with a certificate.  The course includes readings, videos, discussion forums and quizzes (not for marks).

Course Development

The course was developed by the University of Nottingham.

Rachel Dryden, Jon Hoover, Shuruq Naguib, and Holger Zellentin are the educators cited on the program page.  They appear within the lecture type videos throughout the course.

Why did I choose this course?

My first love is history, with a niche for pre-colonial and colonial Iberia and Latin/South America.  The coexistence of the three Abrahamic belief systems influenced the history of the Iberian peninsula and its subsequent expansion across the oceans.  I have always been in awe of how the belief systems have worked together during some eras of history to then be at each others throats in others. I have found that it is nigh impossible to understand a society and its actions without understanding their religion.  I am hoping this course will provide me with a better understanding of all three of these influential belief systems.