MA Islamic Studies

Students take 180 credits, 60 credits from a dissertation and 120 credits from taught modules. From the taught modules 60 credits are selected as a major from list A. A further 60 credits are selected as the minor from List A or List B, 30 credits from List A or List B and 30 credits of an approved open option.

The programme structure shows which modules are compulsory and which are optional.

Compulsory

• Dissertation in the Languages and Cultures of the Near and Middle East
• Qur'an and Hadith Studies Part A
• Qur'an and Hadith Studies Part B
• The Qur'an: Language, Style and Translation in English Part A
• The Qur'an: Language, Style and Translation in English Part B

Guided options List A

• Islamic Texts: Language and the Synthesis of Classical Scholarship Part A
• Islamic Texts: Language and the Synthesis of Classical Scholarship Part B
• Modern Trends in Islam (i): Foundations
• Modern Trends in Islam (ii): Manifestations
• Translation of Islamic Texts (a project)

Teaching and Learning

One-year Masters programmes consist of 180 credits. 120 credits are taught in modules of 30 credits (taught over 20 weeks) or 15 credits (taught over 10 weeks); the dissertation makes up the remaining 60 units.

Why study MA Islamic Studies at SOAS?

• SOAS is ranked 1st in London and 9th in the UK in the Complete University Guide 2023 for Middle Eastern and African Studies.
• We are ranked Top 10 in the UK in the Complete University Guide 2023 for African and Middle Eastern Studies
• We are ranked 6th in the UK for employability (QS World University Rankings 2023).
• Modern Languages and Linguistics at SOAS has been ranked 10th in the UK in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021.
• 4th for research environment - with 100% of our research ranked as 'internationally excellent' and 85% as 'world-leading' - and 8th for research outputs in the REF 2021.

Knowledge

• How to assess data and evidence critically from manuscripts and digital sources, solve problems of conflicting sources and conflicting interpretations, locate materials, use research sources (particularly research library catalogues) and other relevant traditional sources.
• Systematic understanding of Arabic material from the Qur'an and Hadith as well as representative texts in theology, Islamic philosophy, law, and mysticism.
• Ability to identify and explain stylistic features of the Qur'an and Hadith and understand the methodologies used for their authentication, interpretation, and translation into English.
• Ability to understand technical terms and to place passages in their historical and intellectual context.
• Ability to understand current issues in Islamic thought and movements, relating them to their historical origins and contemporary world situations.

Intellectual (Thinking) Skills

• Students will learn to become precise and cautious in their assessment of evidence and to understand through practice what documents can and cannot tell us.
• Students will learn to question interpretations, however authoritative, and reassess evidence for themselves.
• Students will acquire an ability to represent with intelligence, fairness, and integrity views different from their own, show the basis on which they stand, and discuss them.
• Students will learn to demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of religious issues and intellectual flexibility, using various methods of study, such as the linguistic, historical, hermeneutic, and social sciences.

Subject-Based Practical Skills

• Communicate effectively in writing.
• Retrieve, sift, and select information from a variety of sources.
• Present seminar papers.
• Listen and discuss ideas introduced during seminars.

Transferrable Skills

• Write good essays and dissertations.
• Structure and communicate ideas effectively both orally and in writing.
• Understand unconventional ideas.
• Study a variety of written and digital materials, in libraries and research institutes of a kind they will not have used as undergraduates.
• Present (non-assessed) material orally.
• Be able to manage time.

Graduates of the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics leave SOAS not only with linguistic and cultural expertise but also with skills in written and oral communication, analysis and problem-solving.

Recent graduates have been hired by:

• Africa Matters
• Amnesty International
• Arab British Chamber of Commerce
• BBC World Service
• British High Commission
• Council for British Research in the Levant
• Department for International Development
• Edelman
• Embassy of Jordan
• Ernst & Young
• Foreign & Commonwealth Office
• Google
• Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies
• Middle East Eye
• Saïd Foundation
• TalkAbout Speech Therapy
• The Black Curriculum
• The Telegraph
• United Nations Development Programme
• UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency
• Wall Street Journal

As a rough guide, 1 credit equals approximately 10 hours of work. Most of this will be independent study, including reading and research, preparing coursework and revising for examinations. It will also include class time, which may include lectures, seminars and other classes.

Some subjects, such as learning a language, have more class time than others. At SOAS, most postgraduate modules have a one-hour lecture and a one-hour seminar every week, but this does vary.