RG 140 (Winter 2026)

Final Exam Names (excluding Quiz 1 & 2, map, reading abstract, and essay)

sahwa

• in Saudi Arab. & Sunni Iraqi contexts

• Muslim revivalist “awakening” in the modern times

majlis (majles)

• idolatry, paganism

salaf

salafism

jihadi-salafi movements

jihad: struggle; fighting on behalf of Islam

Arab Spring

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Guardian Council

Revolutionary Guard

Basij

Green Movement

Hassan Rouhani

Women, Life, Freedom Movement

Gamal Abd al-Nasir (Egypt)

Anwasr Sadat (Egypt)

Muslim Brotherhood

Sayyid Qutb

• Egyptian MB revivalist thinker who advocated fighting unbelievers to create a society based on the shari’a

Jama ‘at al-Jihad (Jihad Group of Egypt)

Taliban (Afghanistan)

Deoband

Al-Qa’ida

Ayman al-Zawahiri

Usama bin Ladin

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

ISIS

• Islamic

1. How would you characterize Iran’s religious, ethnic, and linguistic profile?

V. Gulf Modernities: From Iranian Monarchy to Islamic Theocracy

2. What does the table of Vital Statistics on page 6 of Abrahamian tell us the course of

modernization in Iran?

V. Gulf Modernities: From Iranian Monarchy to Islamic Theocracy

3. Why does modern Iran no longer refer to itself as Persia?

V. Gulf Modernities: From Iranian Monarchy to Islamic Theocracy

4. Why is the Constitutional Revolution such an important event in the history of modern Iran?

V. Gulf Modernities: From Iranian Monarchy to Islamic Theocracy

5. What does Abrahamian mean by entitling a chapter in his book, “The Iron Fist of Reza Shah”? When did the developments described in the chapter occur?

V. Gulf Modernities: From Iranian Monarchy to Islamic Theocracy

6. What were the positive and negative effects of Reza’s Shah’s policies?

V. Gulf Modernities: From Iranian Monarchy to Islamic Theocracy

7. What was Reza Shah’s attitude to Shi`ite religious authorities? How does it compare to Saudi attitudes toward Shi`ite religious authorities? Saddam Husayn’s?

V. Gulf Modernities: From Iranian Monarchy to Islamic Theocracy

8. What two major events happened in Iran during the “Nationalist Interregnum,” according to Abrahamian? Did any of these events eventually contribute to the Islamic Revolution of 1978-79? Explain.

V. Gulf Modernities: From Iranian Monarchy to Islamic Theocracy

9. According to Abrahamian, what was the White Revolution and how did it contribute to the Islamic Revolution of 1978-79?

V. Gulf Modernities: From Iranian Monarchy to Islamic Theocracy

10. How did Ayatollah Khomeini and Ali Shariati contribute to transforming Shi`ism into a

revolutionary movement in Iran?

V. Gulf Modernities: From Iranian Monarchy to Islamic Theocracy

11. Abrahamian writes that the Iranian Revolution of 1978-79 “erupted like a volcano.” What events led him to make this claim?

V. Gulf Modernities: From Iranian Monarchy to Islamic Theocracy

12. What factors helped Ayatollah Khomeini and his supporters consolidate power and successfully sustain the Islamic Republic of Iran until now?

V. Gulf Modernities: From Iranian Monarchy to Islamic Theocracy

1. What was the Mecca Uprising? How did it contribute to the rise of jihadi salafism in the Gulf Region?

VI. Gulf Modernities: Jihadi-Salafis at Home and Abroad

2. How significant were the roles of the Muslim Brotherhood and Wahhabism in the creation of al-Qaʿida and ISIS? What else contributed to the rise of these jihadi-salafist groups?

VI. Gulf Modernities: Jihadi-Salafis at Home and Abroad

3. How did the oil industry and U.S. involvement in the Middle East help create al-Qaʿida and ISIS?

VI. Gulf Modernities: Jihadi-Salafis at Home and Abroad

4. How have the relations between religion and politics in Iran and Saudi Arabia affected sectarian conflict in the Middle East?

VI. Gulf Modernities: Jihadi-Salafis at Home and Abroad

5. How did the U.S. invasion of Iraq affect the relation between religion and politics in that country?

VI. Gulf Modernities: Jihadi-Salafis at Home and Abroad

6. How effective were Al-Qaʿida in Iraq (AQI) and ISIS in winning the support of Sunni

Arabs in Iraq? Did Al-Qaʿida Central (under Bin Ladin and al-Zawahiri) support their

efforts and tactics?

VI. Gulf Modernities: Jihadi-Salafis at Home and Abroad

7. In his article about jihadi-salafism, Thomas Hegghammer criticizes classifying different kinds of Islamic activist movements according to “theological” beliefs. What are these beliefs? What kind of classification does he propose as an alternative? (Hint: See Table I, p. 259.)

VI. Gulf Modernities: Jihadi-Salafis at Home and Abroad

1. What are the causes of the war now occurring in the Gulf region?

VII. Looking Forward: War, Popular Uprisings, and the Winds of Change

2. What are popular protests, reform movements, and uprisings have occurred in the Gulf Region since 2009? Have they contributed to greater democratization and respect for human rights? Civil war? Increased sectarianism? Explain.

VII. Looking Forward: War, Popular Uprisings, and the Winds of Change

3. What are recent developments in the relations between religion and politics in the 3 Gulf countries we have studied in this course.

VII. Looking Forward: War, Popular Uprisings, and the Winds of Change

4. What are some of the key goals this course has endeavored to meet?

VII. Looking Forward: War, Popular Uprisings, and the Winds of Change