History 3450

Prompt: In the scope of our class we have seen the Muslims develop from a tiny, disaffected group in the Arabian Peninsula into the major religious and political force in the Eastern Hemisphere. In a coherent essay that draws from our primary and secondary reading materials, the modules, and the videos, explain how and why it was that Islam—as a religious force and a political force—spread so far and wide. How did the varieties of Islamic expression—political, religious, social, scientific, cultural—develop and spread throughout the Dar al-Islam, from the era of the Prophet Muhammad through to the journeys of Ibn Battuta? Can we generalize about what constitutes “Islamic civilization”? If so, how? If not, why not? A word to the wise: You are required to cite any quotations you take from any source, as well as any ideas that are not your original thoughts. I don’t care which citation format you use–MLA, parenthetical, Turabian, Chicago, etc.–but you must use one and be consistent. Please come to me if you would like further help with this concept.  Things to double-check when proofreading your paper: Have you cited all sources? Have you written full sentences? Have you purged your language of internet jargon, contractions, and other informalities? Have you fully answered the assignment? Have you proofread and not merely relied upon the spellchecker of your word processing program? Do you have a thesis statement, and have you supported that thesis with historical evidence? Are your block quotes single-spaced, and is the body of your paper double-spaced? Things I do not want to see in your academic term paper: Please do not use dictionary definitions, and do not use Wikipedia or other unreliable sources from the internet. Do not write in mega-paragraphs that go on for pages and pages and incorporate millions of topics. One paragraph=one topic. Remember – Anecdotes are not historical evidence without context, and your opinion should only be expressed with historical evidence to support it. It is important to take a stand and build an argument, but you need to use evidence to do so.