Full Instructions are listed in the attachment listed “final exam” Please read and follow instructions carefully. NO OUTSIDE SOURCES as listed in the instructions. The lectures are listed in attachments with a titled description. Additional sources are available from the readings if needed please let me know and I will also include them.
Part I Post-Midterm: Answer two [2] out of the following four [4] questions (30 points each, 60 points in total). Your grade will be determined based on your understanding of the material covered in the course and the quality of your essays. Your essays must be at least 750 words for each (total 1500 words). But there is no page limitation and if you get excited about the topics, you can write as many pages as you want. Once again, avoid direct quotation from the assigned readings or the lectures.
1. What were the origins, objectives and outcomes of the jihads that occurred across 19th-century Islamic Africa?
2. Which European powers seized colonies in Muslim Africa in the 19th century? Which European countries had the biggest effect on Muslim Africa through their colonizing activities in the twentieth century? What effects did they have? Consider cultural, economic, and administrative or political aspects.
3. How did Muslim African people and their leaders respond to the European imperialism which
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engulfed Africa at the end of the nineteenth century? Do you see any pattern to the response? Do you think any of those responses can be considered as successful? Please explain your reasons for thinking as you do. Consider intellectual, economic, military and reformist responses to imperialism.
4. What pattern or patterns do you see in the development of political Islam or Islamism in Egypt, West Africa and the Horn of Africa? How are Islamists in each region both similar and dissimilar to the others in terms of their origins, objectives and effectiveness? Did the Islamists in the 20th and 21st centuries represent an essentially new departure or a continuity in Muslim African history?
Part II: Comprehensive Essay (40 points)
Choose only ONE [1] of the following two [2] questions and write a comprehensive essay that synthesizes ideas and information gleaned from lectures, discussion, and your reading for this entire course. You must provide ample evidence and examples to support your argument. Your essay must be at least 750 words. But there is no page limitation and if you get excited about the topics, you can write as many pages as you want. Avoid direct quotation from the assigned readings or the lectures. Note that your examples and evidence for used for writing your cumulative essay must come from both halves of the semester equally. If you exclusively draw on material covered either before the midterm or after the midterm for your answer, then your essay is not cumulative essay.
1. Islam has been on the African continent since its beginning or infancy. How did Islam shape the history of African states and societies after its introduction in the 7th century CE? Do you think the coming of Islam changed the course of the continent’s history?
2. What are the major developments in the history of Islam in Africa? Is religion primarily a unifying force, or a destructive one? To what extent are major religious upheavals the result of long-term trends? Could such upheavals have been avoided? How?
Your evidence and examples for writing your essays must be drawn exclusively from the assigned readings, discussions, textbook, the lectures and power point slides. Everything must be written in your own words. Direct quotation from the assigned readings, texts or the lectures is not permitted. (Note that the exam is not a research paper and you do not need to cite the assigned readings and the lectures.)
