Research Methodology

Course Overview

This course aims to provide an introduction to conducting research in the field of Islamic Studies, which, simply put, is the study of Islam and Muslims. Learning research methodology in any field generally entails three things: acquiring the tools necessary to conduct research, conducting research, and communicating the said research to one’s chosen audience. With respect to Islamic Studies, a fourth dimension is extremely important viz., mapping the various fields of knowledge that either fall under the broad rubric of Islamic Studies or are adjacent to it. Besides ‘ulūm ʿāliyah and ʿulūm āliyah of the Islamic civilization, this also entails mapping the fields of modern Western knowledge which have come to affect Islamic Studies in significant ways, especially historical methods and social research. The two will be discussed at some length in this course. However, applied social research is beyond the scope of this course. Rather, students will receive practical training in textual research through a series of written assignments.