Muhammad and His Message

I will ask you to read in class a few selections from the Qur'an. That's really not enough to get a good feel for what the book is about.  If you have time, it would be good to pick a few selections to read on your own.

There is an excellent online translations of the Qur'an.  What's nice about this version is that it has a great search function.   You might find it hard to read complete Surahs, though, since this version goes back and forth between English and Arabic.

 You might find it easier to get a feel for the Qur'an by reading one of the Surahs (chapters) in this online translation of the Qur'an.  You might for instance, read through Surah 4 (women).

The Qur'an Surahs are organized according to length from longest to shortest.  If you want something short, you can look at Surah 114.

In addition to the Qur'an, Islam has what's called the Hadith "tradition."  These are teachings of Muhammad gathered after his life.  Browsing through this online version of the Hadith will also help you get a better understanding of Islam.

For extra credit, use the search feature for the online Qur'an and/or the online Hadith. Browse to a topic that interests you and comment on what you learned from reading the passage.  Do you see anything useful in helping you prepare on essay on  Islam as an attractive and compelling religion?

You might search for Noah, Jesus, Abraham, or Mary, noting what the Qur'an says about these figures.  You might also look for extra information on one of the pillars of Islam: faith, prayer, fasting, alms, and pilgrimage--or the almost-sixth pillar, Jihad.

Trojan Women (extra credit)

Please read Euripides' Trojan Women either at the link here or (probably better) in Moses Hadas' Greek Drama (available at the bookstore).

The Greeks regarded the words of their great playwrights as "theopneutos," i.e., God-breathed. Do you agree?  Cite a line or two from the play that might show why the Greeks regarded writers like Euripides as almost equivalent to prophets and explain why you find this line/these lines inspired or inspiring. Do you see here a line worth committing to memory?

Daniel--Extra Credit

Please read Chapter 1-7 and Chapter 12 of Daniel. What do you see in the stories that might have helped Ancient Israel provide ethical guidance or emotional fulfillment?  What do you see here that show something about how Ancient Israel taught the world "new ways to dream"?

Maxims of Ptah Hotep (extra credit)

The Maxims of Ptah Hotep reflect well the values of Old Kingdom Egypt, showing us how that society provided ethical guidance to its members.  Please skim through the maxims and pick out one you find particularly interesting.  Do you think this good advice, or not?  Is it in any way applicable today?

Welcome!

Welcome to Inherently Interesting Spring 2026, the most wonderful, most interesting, and most important blog at this particular URL. Your comments and questions on this blog will help make the class even more wonderful and interesting--and occasionally earn you a bit of extra credit!

To get started, here's a test of the History 121 extra credit system. Click the "comments" link below and give me your honest answer: what's the first thing that comes into your head when you here the word history?