Bachelor of Master

Zaytuna College’s Master of Arts degree in Islamic Texts is intended to provide students a higher-level access to the Islamic tradition through a guided course of study in Islam’s primary sources. The master’s degree is a two-year program that culminates in a summative thesis. The degree is intended for students who have completed a degree in Islamic Studies or ancillary fields (e.g. Theology, Philosophy, Arabic, Islamic Law, History) and have substantial knowledge in the Islamic tradition. In addition, the master’s degree program seeks students who can read, discuss, and engage the primary Arabic texts of the Islamic tradition at an advanced level. The coursework includes studies of Classical Arabic language and literature, Qur'an, Qur’anic commentaries, Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Mysticism, Islamic Law, and the History of Islam. Furthermore, in each of the concentrations, there is a comparative track that will allow the student to study texts in the European tradition that parallel the Islamic texts in their ideas and methods. For example, the study of Islamic Philosophy can be augmented by the study of Latin Scholasticism or the study of Islamic Mysticism by the readings in Greek Neoplatonism.

The goal of our master’s level courses and teaching methods is to sharpen the student’s ability to read and analyze the primary texts, consider the socio-religious contexts and scholarly sources out of which the texts emerged, while continuing to engage in well-reasoned academic and scholarly discussion and research. Students will also be introduced to methods and research tools in both the Western and Islamic tradition.

Applicants to the Zaytuna Master’s program are required to have advanced Arabic. Accordingly, before acceptance into the academic program, all students are required to take an Arabic language admittance exam. Students who fail this exam and yet show significant promise as scholars in the field must bring their Arabic skills to the required level before being admitted to the program.

Goals and Outcomes

The goals of the Zaytuna College Master of Arts degree in Islamic Texts are the following:

1. 1. Acquire advanced skills in reading and interpreting traditional Muslim texts in the stated fields of research.
2. 2. Bring already advanced Arabic reading and speaking skills to the expert, professional level.
3. 3. Through small courses and tutorials, gain fluency in both the dialectical and didactic elements of traditional teaching methods.
4. 4. Write a publishable thesis of 80 - 120 pages integrating scholastic methods of reasoning and the skills of manuscript studies.
5. 5. Acquire a broad understanding of Islamic Intellectual History from its roots in Arabic Language and Literature, Qur’an and Qur’anic commentaries, Hadith tradition and commentaries, Law, Philosophy, Theology, and Mysticism.

Students will successfully achieve these goals by:

1. 1. Demonstrating in class discussions, oral presentations, written work, the thesis and the thesis defense, a scholarly proficiency in logic, dialectics, and usul al-fiqh (principles of Islamic Jurisprudence).
2. 2. Achieving doctoral-level research skills in Arabic texts, as well as in texts in a modern language other than English and/or another ancient language (e.g. Persian or Greek).
3. 3. Directing seminars in the primary texts that demonstrate the student’s readiness to teach professionally in the areas of concentration.
4. 4. Writing publishable papers that make significant contributions to the scholarly literature.
5. 5. Expertly translating from the Arabic when quoting Arabic texts in scholarly papers and in the thesis.

Course Requirements:

The coursework requirements for Zaytuna’s graduate program include studies of Classical Arabic Language and Literature, Qur’an, Qur’anic Commentaries, Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Mysticism, Islamic Law, and the History of Islam. Students will be introduced to methods and research tools in both the Western and Islamic tradition. Along with coursework based on Islamic primary texts, students will be required to write a publishable thesis integrating scholastic methods of reasoning and the skills of manuscript studies. For more information about Zaytuna’s graduate program course requirements, click the link below