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chapotraphouse @hexbear.net FALGSConaut [comrade/them] @hexbear.net

All I wanted to do is take a course on the history of the golden age of Islam

I open up my textbook to read chapter one and what do I find? Is this the great replacement theory within the first 10 pages? Sure looks like it!

Also bonus advocating for countering "radical islamist groups" by "military and ideological means"

I haven't gotten a good feel for this prof but we are not off to a good start

Edit: Looks like I pirated the wrong text or something, I found the one my prof wants us to use and it's very different. Not sure why the two editions are so dramatically different but I'm still keeping an eye out for any fash shit

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  • If you decide to flip your desk and demand your professor explain right now why he is presenting nazi propaganda to the class without warning or explanation know that you have my full support. A student has a right to challenge an academic to justify such materials before they accept that the academic should be trusted to instruct them. One need not be an expert to recognize the stench of fascism. Perhaps the professor has good reasons. I had professors assign us many sordid readings because some part of it was valuable. But in this time of genocide and imperial terror you have the right to demand an explanation if you wish to.

    Some reading you could check out

    • the book of contemplation, an old muslim knights memoirs composed for the benefit of Saladin after the first crusade. Author is ibn munqidh

    • ibn Fadlan's journey to Russia, recounting a diplomats journey as part of an embassy to the bulgars

    • the muqqadimah, which i've certainly spelled wrong, which is one of the very important early works of history and which originated many important techniques for the writing of history. Author is ibn khaldun

    I still have some of my text books but i don't remember much about them and i don't know if they're relevant anymore

    • the majesty that was islam by watt

    • islam the straight path by esposito

    • the classical heritage in islam by rosenthal

    • Yo, I have a sociology prof that prompted us to analyze "social media narratives surrounding the Israel-Hamas war, often called the Israel-Palestine war (called that despite the fact that Israel is not fighting the Palestinian authority)"

      This is ridiculous too, right? I didn't know how to react so I just chose a different discussion topic for my assignment (I still cited Mark Fisher and talked about things from a Marxist perspective) but I was glad to see a classmate called him out and pointed out that the genocide has been conducted indiscriminately. I think I should probably take the next opportunity to speak up about the genocide apologia and the bias he's showing.

      • Yeah, that's a ridiculous bad-faith framing of the conflict. If you search through the old news megas there are lots of posts laying out the whole history of zionism going back to the 1880s.

        Claiming that israel isn't at war with palestine bc they haven't declared war with PA is either terminal nerd pedantry or the most Westphalia brained person in history. The PA hasn't had legitimacy or much relevance in a long, long time. Hamas is the duly elected government of Gaza.

        • Yeah the immediate counterargument I thought of was just stating that Hamas is an elected government and has the right to defend itself against occupation as laid out by the UN charter, but I don't want to get myself expelled or get on the prof's bad side to a huge extent so wasn't sure how to approach.

          • No, no, spanking someone with the un charter of human rights like they're a naughty puppy who piddled on the rug and needs a gentle correction is always the correct answer. You might get in trouble, but other people who know this shit is wrong are often emboldened by one firebrand who stands up and starts screaming the truth.

            University is expensive as hell, don't risk you diploma over it, but at the same time; fuck that guy. If you've got back-channels you can use to communicate with your classmates under his nose try subverting his lessons by showing with citations how he's endorsing crimes against humanity and gross violations of international law.

            • I'll see about back channels.

              I think in general I have a problem where I have only 2 modes: talking to well meaning libs mode, where I hide my power level but use the Socratic method to get people to ask the right questions and radicalize themselves, and talking to NATO apologists mode where I just treat them like they're actively flying the AC 130 that struck Kunduz Hospital (which, considering how many future MIC engineers I talk with, is not even a disproportionate characterization). I don't think either is really appropriate if I'm calling him out by myself, but maybe if I have a little support it can be a little better.

      • If you get the chance, let that other student know you support and appreciate what they said.

    • I'll hold off on table-flipping for now, it looks like I pirated the wrong book or some weird knock-off text, I found the right one and I haven't encountered any Nazi shit so far. I'm still going to be on my toes but it looks like I just made a mistake in downloading the wrong book

      • University is a good time for mistakes. : )

      • May it be possible that you have found an older version of your prof's text, that they had to change later because of this?

        • Weirdly enough it looks like it's the more recent version from 2021 when the recommended one is from 2015

          • 2021 one made after 2018 march of return? Or what other event could've prompted the revisionism?

          • I can't find any evidence of a 2021 edition of "In God's Path" being published. The book was originally published in 2015, and there doesn't appear to be any subsequent editions. Which means that what you found is almost certainly a hijacked textbook. Some fascist piece of shit is passing off their own fascist rhetoric as academic text. Since it looks like your prof is in the clear for not actually teaching a course on Islamic history with disgustingly Islamophobic text, I would encourage you to tell them about this. It's fairly likely that you're not the only student who downloaded this load of chauvinist lies thinking it is the real text they're meant to study, but other students might not be so aware of how blatantly false (and fascist) it is. If your instructor is actually cool, then this could end up being a good opportunity for a teaching moment even.

            • You might also want to report this to wherever you downloaded it from. Even if found on the high seas, there's usually a mechanism for reporting a download that isn't what it's claimed to be.

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