Don't do it. This guy is the worst Prof. that I have had in my four years at UCLA. I know he means well, and he is undoubtedly incredibly brilliant and knowledgeable, but he should not be a professor. If you don't already know what he's talking about, you won't understand what he's saying. He lectures about his own narrow beliefs, and makes no attempt to be objective about anything. If you try to disagree with him in class, he is dismissive and rude. Part of what he is trying to do in the class is to remove the negative stereotypes that people have about Islam, in fact, this might also be the reason some students are taking the class, to understand Islam instead of judging it based on the news. Instead of just teaching you about the religion, the good parts and the bad parts, he purposely plays up the good and down the bad so that what he is saying ends up being just as opinionated as all the stuff you are trying to get away from in the news! In order to build up Islam he puts down other religions, and does not give them the even handed treatment he wants his students to give Islam.

We are all there because we are interested and want to learn about Islam! He is defensive against the wrong people, and it is off putting to students.

All in all, he's a BORING lecturer, he reads off a sheet of paper, his accent is incomprehensible, and he's painfully rude and not objectively informative. Terrible class, terrible professor. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS.

Definitely the most boring professor I've ever had at UCLA. I'm not a guy who has trouble staying awake in class, but this one tested my limits. Other than his awful, boring, hard to understand lecture style, maybe he's not so bad. But don't take his class for a GE, you'll regret it.

i didn't attend lecture b/c i couldn't understand a word he said anyway. but, to make up for not attending class, its important to pay close attention to the readings and you'll be fine. the tests are easy (from 16-30 multiple choice questions and 1 essay, on both the midterm and final). i still wouldn't recommend this class though.

My feelings about the course i took with professor poonawala are perfectly reflected in the ratings he has.

The class was pretty easy.

The lectures, for me, were pointless because I had incredible difficulty understanding him through his thick accent, and unless you've already done the reading before lecture, you'll have a lot of difficulty understanding who and where he's referring to.
On the other hand, handouts were given out in lecture that were essentially the exam questions in statement form. My TA handed them out in discussion though, so I'm not sure if that's a policy for all of the TAs or not.

The course reader was, actually, pretty informative. I learned a number of basic things about Islam, and they were presented in an exoteric way. Unfortunately, the professor himself was not very helpful. The class seemed essentially a medium for Professor Poonawala to convince people that Islam is not full of closed-minded fundamentalists and that they represent only a small sect. While this is certainly true, he kept reiterating this over and over, and there was not very much actual analysis beyond the basics.

If you want to learn the basics of Islam and get an easy A, then this class is great, but if you're looking for more, then you should pass on this one.

Poonawala really knows his stuff and you can tell right away that you're getting an open and informed perspective on the basics of Islam. Much of the time, the lectures do drag on because of the bombardment of new information(as expected); then there's the student with the occasional ignorant question, but other than that it's pretty good. The discussions with the TA(I had amad at the time) we're also quite good in connecting the culture to the religion and showing how religion is not formed in a vacuum and is unique to each location. Overall, good professor, knows his stuff, tells you exatcly what you need to know for the exams, and good class.

Islam 110 was a very easy class that I took. The reading was manageable and the tests were very easy. There was a little memorization of particular names and dates but those details were given on a review sheet. Poonawala was a little difficult to understand but he will become more understandable as the quarter goes on. He is extremely intelligent on the topic of Islam and he is always open to any questions.

Intro to Islam was my most interesting class this quarter. Professor Poonawala was a bit difficult to follow but only if you didn't do the readings. He was always available to me during his office hours and responded promptly to my emails. You're only going to hate the class if you don't expect to do any work.

As a person that knew nothing about Islam before taking the class, Islamic 110 was challenging to understand, especially under the guidance of professor Poonawala. He has a heavy accent, and his lectures were difficult to comprehend especially with all the Arab names and words. Don't expect much current events only the history and religious background of Islam. The readings were also dull, however, oddly the class was my most interesting class (for my first quarter).
Everything comes together in the end though, because his tests aren't that hard, considering he gives us a study sheet before the test. Just fill in the blanks with a group and memorize. Reading isn't that necessary, just research. It's not that hard to get an A.

The worst class you have ever taken? Please, I cant even believe someone would say things about this class. I took it this Fall and came in knowing NOTHING about Islam, but I did the reading, went to office hours sometimes and talked to my TA and it wasnt difficult at all. Actually, it was quite easy. Professor Poonawala always made time to talk to me, every time I emailed him, he quickly responded, and the midterm and final were just as I expected: the broad, general concepts with a study guide to boost. These people who hated the class probably never went or never read. It was NOT a hard class at all, even for people who know nothing about Islam, and though his lectures may be boring at times, its a very interesting subject. I definately recommend taking his classes, it broadens your perspectives on the world, history and religion a lot.