AssignmentsReadBefore Islam, Middle-Eastern folktales“Aladdin” adapted the Blue Fairy Book (http://www.storynory.com/2006/11/19/aladdins-lamp/)Text and audio available at this site“The Princess Farmer” –a Hindu story ()“The Iraqi Cinderella” (http://www.365cinderellas.com/search/label/Iraq)The basic, authentic stories of Islam: The Muhammad story The Muhammad story - Alternative Formats , located in Course Materials, left column.The Quran: someone said that reading sacred text is like learning a new language, so please be open-minded.There is an audio version and a text version on this site (http://clearquran.com/) The Qu’ran is not arranged in chronological order. The opening chapter captures the tone of the book. Remember, this is an introduction, not a thorough education, to the Islamic faith. Read:Chapter 1, IntroductionChapter 4, WomenChapter 12, JosephChapter 14, AbrahamChapter 19, MaryChapter 71, NoahWhen a young person wants to be expert in the knowledge of this holy book, he (usually a boy) memorizes it and recites in a way that sounds like singing:()Two informational books; authors and/or books recognized by the Middle East Book Awards Rukhsana Khan, The Big Red Lollipop ()David Macaulay, Mosque. Kindle version available.Finally, a less serious Islamic story, “Dad’s Brownies” (https://wisdomshare.com/stories/dads-special-brownies/)QuestionsWhat have you learned about Muhammad, peace be unto him, and his life? What surprises you about his personal story?Are there parallels to other stories we’ve read?What did you learn from the Quran readings about the beliefs and practices of Islam?Khan’s book is written for an audience of outsiders, conveying both literature and information. She is also talking about the immigration experience, from her own experience and from other points of view as well, especially her mother’s. What should college-age readers learn from this book?Mosque has a lot of information in it, both about Islam and about architecture.What is Macaulay’s point about architecture? What is he trying to convey about Islam?What are the cultural markers that make the Iraqi Cinderella story a middle-eastern one? If Cinderella became a Muslim, what changes would you expect the author to make in order to accommodate the faith practices?How do we show the cultural values of Islam to our readers? What should we emphasize? What should be the Muslim values we emphasize for children.Remember, this is a world-wide religion with many different approaches to its practice.ResearchEvaluate these websites for inclusion in our textbook:Boom in Arabic Literature for Children (http://www.middleeasteye.net/in-depth/features/renaissance-childrens-literature-2112890178)Bilal’s Bed-time Stories (http://www.al-islam.org/bilal-s-bedtime-stories-a-h-sheriff-a-s-alloo)How Muslims, Often Misunderstood, Are Thriving in America (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/05/being-muslim-in-america/) (This article is posted for you in announcements) Hansen, Liane. “Macaulay Returns to Sacred Space with 'Mosque'.” NPR, NPR, 9 Nov. 2003, https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1497354.Middle East Book Awards http://guides.library.unlv.edu/c.php?g=403811&p=45...Extra for ExpertsAnother Nobel Prize winner, this time a Muslim teen, this time the Peace Prize.Malala’s UN speech ()There are several books about her, written for children, written/ghost-written by herself. There is even a movie. Choose one and review it for the class. To get you started:I Am Malala. With Christine Lamb. Boston: Little, Brown and Hachette, 2013Karen Leggett Abouraya, Malala Yousafzai: Warrior with Words. Illus. L.C. Wheatley Great Neck, NY: StarWalk Kids Media, 2014Dinah Brown, Who Is Malala Yousafzai? (Who Was...? series). Illus. Andrew Thomson. New York: Grosset and Dunlap, 2014Rebecca Langston-George. For the Right to Learn (Encounter: Narrative Nonfiction Picture Books). Illus Janna Bock. Mankato, MN: Capstone Young Readers, 2015Davis Guggenheim. He Named Me Malala [movie]. Twentieth Century Fox, 2015—available on youtube.Lesson 11 LectureFor some students, this lesson is distasteful even before you get started. Please try to be open-minded; few Muslims are terrorists, just as Christians and Jews have varying practices and beliefs among their various denominations. Muslims are not required to hate Americans, Jews, or Christians. The more you know, the more you can decide for yourself. And as Joe Hayes said, “Enemies are people whose stories we don’t know.”Arab influence on the worldYou probably write in Arabic all the time—our numbering system comes from Arabic, not Greek or Roman—adding and subtracting in Roman Numerals is pretty difficult, right? All those XLCMIII letters. Here’s an interesting presentation about the everyday items we use that originated in the Middle East:8 Great Modern Innovations we Can Thank Muslims For (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/06/8-inventions-we-can-thank_n_6424836.html)No one book can convey the total experience of a region or a faith, and fiction about Islamic topics has been sparse and unavailable for this course. This is a lesson of shorter sources, concentrated in the Middle East, so that you have the flavor and experience of a dominant part of the world from authentic points of view.Remember, we started the course with literature from the Middle East with the Bible. There are other traditions besides the Judeo-Christian cultures and for this course, knowing about Islam, some parts of its culture, and the highlights of the faith and practice are important, especially since Islam is the third largest religion in the world.Informational BooksBy now, you have probably figured out that you can learn a lot by reading a book for children. The purpose of informational books is to teach—to impart information, rather than to entertain or to teach a lesson. Unlike a textbook, an informational book usually goes into depth on a single topic.Macaulay’s Mosque will teach you about the architecture of the building in a way that incorporates fiction about the Middle East as well as a sense of place in the Middle Ages. The book is part of a series on architecture that he has written for children, starting with Cathedral (1973) . He is a professor at the Rhode Island School of Design with a flair for writing about complex topics for children. He encouraged a couple of other professors, Chris van Allsburg and David Weisner, to write for children as well—you might recognize the precision with which each of these Caldecott winners draws a building. Before you beginSurah 112:In the name of God, the Gracious, the Merciful.1. Say, "He is God, the One.2. God, the Absolute.3. He begets not, nor was He begotten.4. And there is nothing comparable to Him." This is the first verse that most children and most converts learn from the Quran. So now you can say you’ve at least begun the reading.Timeline 1445 BCE The Exodus from the Bible is said to have occurred 600-400 BCE The Book of Exodus is written down, edited, and finalized 35 ACE Life of Jesus 150 ACE The books to be included in the Christian Bible are agreed upon 570 The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is born 609 Beginning of the recording of the Quran As you can see, there is a whole lot of history going on in the Middle East before the events of this lesson. And not everyone in the region was a pagan, a Christian, or a Jew before 609—so there are some folk stories set in the period before Islam in the assignment. You’ll be able to see the kind of ornate, tricky world that the Prophet found himself in—many faith traditions, many practices and gods and goddesses, and lots of different beliefs about the relations of men and women.

Consider two types of consequentialist moral reasoning: utilitarianism and moral egoism. Consider also two types of non-consequentialist moral reasoning: virtue ethics and deontology.Which of these systems, if any, do you find most reasonable?Why?In addition to your main response, you must also post substantive responses to at least two of your classmates’ posts in this thread.So, let's consider a hypothetical situation...You've got an acquaintance at West Coast. Not a close friend, but someone you've taken classes with before. And in those classes, this person has generally done as well or better than you. They're a responsible, capable student. But one term, this student disappears for a few weeks at the end of the term. You see them right before you go into take your final exam, and the student says they had to leave the country to care for a sick relative. They asked the professor for an extension, but the professor refused, and now they're totally unprepared for the final and about to fail the class. Except there's a quirk in the testing room. From this student's seat, they can look up at the light fixtures and see a reflection of your desk a few rows away. So, they can copy off your exam with no chance of you getting caught (just accept this as part of the hypothetical). Why the student told you this before cheating, I'm not sure, but now you know their plan. So...what's the right thing to do? Let them copy? Report to the professor? Just move seats (if you do, someone else will sit in your seat and they'll probably copy off of them)? Now, here's the important part. It's not your answer that we're after this week. It's your reasons. The big values that you used to arrive at the specific judgment about this case. For example, you might make the following argument:P: It will help them a lot if they passP: Nobody will get in any troubleC: It's good to let them copyThat's an example of a Consequentialist argument. Your focused on the outcomes of the decision. Specifically, it's a Utilitarian argument, because the big principle required to make that argument work is the premise: the right action is the one that creates that maximized happiness for all involved. But you could arrive at the same conclusion for entirely different reasons. You might say something like this:P: To report the person is to snitchP: You have a duty never to snitchC: You should let them copy or switch seatsThis argument isn't really about outcomes anymore. It invokes a duty - a moral rule that must be followed no matter what. That's a Deontological approach. Obviously, I think there are logical problems with both of those arguments! In the first case, I think there may well be people harmed by cheating, especially if we consider what would happen if everyone did it. In the second, is the duty not to snitch really one you can apply consistently? Would you not report a car theft or a murder? And if your "no snitch" duty only applies some of the time, how do you decide when?So, read up on the different moral perspectives in the book. The prompt mentions four, but there are more! Then, talk about which ones make the most (or event the least) sense to you and try to apply them to some hypotheticals. I look forward to hearing your ideas ;)comment 1Utilitarianism is a perspective of moral reasoning that it is a right decision if it produces more happiness or benefit than alternatives. Moral egoism is another perspective that it is a right decision if it produces more happiness or benefit for oneself than the alternatives. People commonly use both of moral reasoning in daily decisions. However, these are not perfect perspectives because not everyone can be happy with a decision. If I lie to someone to steal money for my happiness, the other person will be upset or mad. Also, if I steal food from grocery market to feed my family, it will disadvantage the grocery market owner. Deontology is a perspective of moral reasoning that it is a right decision if it is our moral duty. There are two types of duties: hypothetical imperative and categorical imperative. Hypothetical imperative is duties that should be done to accomplish specific goals. For example, you ought to study hard to get an A in class. This is not a moral imperative because the action is performed for the sake of some objective. Categorical imperative is duties according to a universal law or rule. Virtue ethics is a perspective of moral reasoning that a decision is right based on virtues such as courage, patient, friendliness, truthfulness, justice, etc. I think virtue ethics make the most sense to me because it leads to moral value judgement. Here is a hypothetical situation. On the day of a job interview, you woke up late. You can still make on time if you run straight to the interview location. However, a hit and run car accident happened right in front of you. The victim would like to talk with you for few minutes to get your information and ask for being a witness. The following is the virtue ethics perspective.P: Hit and run is not a virtuous action. P: Helping the victim is important to develop good character.P: You should help the victim. Source:Moore, B. N., & Parker, R. (2020). Critical thinking. New York, NY, United States of America: McGraw-Hill Education\comment 2Normative Theories are divided into two categories: consequentialist and non-consequentialist. Consequentialist focuses on evaluating behaviors by 'emphasizing its consequences' (WCU presentation video). They also believe that 'morally right behavior' produces the best consequences (WCU presentation video) Utilitarianism refers to the idea of the greater good and focuses on maximizing good for the majority of people. According to Utilitratisim, Even though some individuals may suffer from the actions, it is still considered ethical if it does more good for a higher number of people than harm. For example, you are walking down the street and notice people looting a sandwich shop. What would be the right thing to do? What's moral? According to utilitarianism, you will be judged based on the results that come from your action. Therefore, you will need to find an action that will produce the most significant benefit. Options: P: Ignore what's going on, and keep walking P: Risk your life, and try to stop looters and protect the businessP: Call 911, and report the crime non- consequentialist focuses on 'evaluating behaviors without emphasizing' its consequences, and they believe that having a virtuous character is more important than the consequences they may face (WCU presentation video) Deontology refers to the ethics of duty, where the morality of an action depends on the nature of the action, which means that harm is unacceptable irrespective of its consequences. It focuses on using rules to distinguish between right and wrong, emphasizing the relationship between duty and morality. Therefore, to always treat people with dignity and respect (WCU presentation video). According to Kent, "For our act to be morally praiseworthy, it must be done, not for the sake of some objective, but simply because it is right' (Moore & Parker, 2020) For example, let's say, making a pinky promise to your two-year-old niece, that you would buy her a buy on Sunday. If you made a promise, you must keep it. In this case, making a false promise is considered wrong. In nursing, we can say that deontology is patient-centered care, whereas utilitarianism is society-centered. Reference:Moore, B. N., & Parker, R. (2020). Critical thinking. New York, NY, United States of America: McGraw-Hill Education