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9/11 catapulted figures such as Osama bin Laden as the face of Political Islam. But there is a longer, complex history behind the relationship between Islam, modern politics, and violence. Through an examination of thinkers such as Sayyid Qutb, Hassan Al-Bana, Zaynab Al-Ghazali, Ayatollah Khomeini, and Abul Ala Maududi, the course will explore their engagement with conceptions of state, nationalism, secularism, democracy, law, gender, and minority rights as they articulated multiple futures for Muslim communities and influenced a variety of political struggles and armed movements. As such, it will think through their intellectual, political, and hermeneutical departures from more traditionalist understandings of Islam and examine the strengths and limitations of their ideas and receptions.