Deck 9: The Islamic World, 600-1400

Question 1

Which caliph issued the definitive text of the Qur'an?

A) Umar
B) Uthman
C) Mu'awiya
D) Abu Bakr

Answer 1

Uthman

Question 2

Which of the following gave rise to a fundamental division in the umma and in Muslim theology?

A) The failure of Abu Bakr to clearly designate his successor
B) The civil war that arose between the followers of Uthman and Mu'awiya
C) The assassination of Ali and the assumption of the caliphate by Mu'awiya
D) Mu'awiya's decision to emphasize tribalism over Muslim political and religious unity

Answer 2

The assassination of Ali and the assumption of the caliphate by Mu'awiya

Question 3

What group was the most important political and military force in pre-Islamic Arabia?

A) Jewish merchants
B) Meccan artisans
C) Byzantine emissaries
D) Bedouin tribes

Answer 3

Bedouin tribes

Question 4

According to the Qur'an and Muslim law, what kinds of punishments were required for licentious behavior?

A) Harsh punishments were given to women, but no punishments were given to men.
B) Both men and women were to receive the same punishments.
C) No punishments were given, because sexual behavior is not controlled.
D) Only light punishments were given to women; none were given to men.

Question 5

One division between Sunni and Shi'a Muslims is the question of who interprets the Qur'an and the Sunna. Who has that authority for the Shi'a?

A) An imam
B) The caliph
C) The ulama
D) The umma

Question 6

The hijra of 622 occurred when Muhammad and his followers fled to what city?

A) Jerusalem
B) Baghdad
C) Medina
D) Mecca

Question 7

The divine revelations of Muhammad are recorded in what Islamic holy book?

A) Shari'a
B) Ulema
C) Sunna
D) Qur'an

Question 8

How did the Qur'an influence the selection of Muhammad's successor?

A) It instructed that his eldest son or son-in-law would follow him.
B) It suggested that the successor should be an individual he personally chose.
C) It stated that the successor should be elected by a group of followers.
D) The Qur'an did not provide guidance for the succession.

Question 9

In what year did Muhammad die?

A) 632
B) 751
C) 569
D) 815

Question 10

According to Muhammad, what was the umma?

A) A tribal community united by family ties
B) The path by which a Muslim achieved salvation
C) A community of people who shared a religious faith and commitment
D) The most important ritual a Muslim could practice

Question 11

The Sunna, or normative example, for a follower of Islam is based on the life of whom?

A) Muhammad, the prophet
B) Abu Bakr, the first caliph
C) Uthman, a martyr to the faith
D) Mu'awiya, the creator of the caliphate

Question 12

Under the Abbasids and Harun al-Rashid, what role did the city of Baghdad play in the caliphate?

A) Like Mecca, Baghdad was a primary pilgrimage site for Muslims.
B) As a secondary capital, Baghdad was an important regional administrative center.
C) Baghdad's primary importance was that it was on the Silk Road.
D) The relatively new capital became a commercial, artistic, and scientific center.

Question 13

Who dominated political affairs in northern and central Arabia before Muhammad?

A) Kings and queens
B) Commercial elite
C) Warrior elite
D) Religious authorities

Question 14

Who founded the Umayyad Dynasty?

A) Mu'awiya
B) Ali
C) Uthman
D) Umar

Question 15

What empire was defeated by the Muslim army at the battle of Nihawand and ended in 642?

A) Visigothic
B) Byzantine
C) Afghanistan
D) Sassanid

Question 16

Why was Abu Bakr elected first caliph?

A) There were no other contenders who wanted to be caliph.
B) Abu Bakr was the only Bedouin candidate.
C) Khadija, Muhammad's wife, supported Abu Bakr.
D) He was Muhammad's father-in-law and a close supporter.

Question 17

How did the Muslim military elite ensure the recruitment of troops and their loyalty?

A) They scattered soldiers as landlords across conquered lands.
B) They promised military recruits eternal salvation.
C) They provided soldiers with a monthly ration of food and an annual cash stipend.
D) They created new cities that offered special amenities for retired soldiers.

Question 18

The presence of the Ka'ba attracted pilgrims to what city?

A) Baghdad
B) Damascus
C) Mecca
D) Medina

Question 19

According to Muhammad, who visited him and commanded him to preach God's revelations?

A) God
B) Abraham
C) An angelic being
D) His father

Question 20

What are the collections of sayings or anecdotes about Muhammad called?

A) Hadith
B) Ulema
C) Shari'a
D) Madrasa

Question 21

What was life like for Jews living under Islam?

A) They occupied a similar place to that of Jews living in Christian Europe.
B) They had a status that was considerably lower than that of Christians.
C) They participated fully in commercial and professional activities.
D) They frequently found themselves subject to violent oppression.

Question 22

Weakness in the Abbasid Empire was revealed when Tahir did which of the following?

A) Invaded Baghdad and killed the caliph
B) Declared the Umayyads to be the true caliphs
C) Became governor of Khurasan and ruled it independently of Baghdad
D) Founded the city of Cairo as a new trade center

Question 23

How does the ritual practiced by the Islamic faithful at the Ka'aba in this photograph mimic that practiced by Buddhists paying homage at a stupa?

A) Both shrines draw similarly large crowds.
B) The faithful of both religions are typically seated during the ritual.
C) Circumambulation is a central component of both rituals.
D) Both rituals take place in an urban space.

Question 24

According to Map 9.2, "The Expansion of Islam and Its Trading Networks in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries," the strength of Islamic seaborne trade is especially prominent in which of the following regions?

A) The Mediterranean Sea
B) The Black Sea
C) The Caspian Sea
D) The Arabian Sea

Question 25

How did the introduction of large numbers of Turks affect the Islamic world?

A) The Turks brought badly needed military strength to the Islamic world.
B) The large number of foreigners made the caliph uneasy.
C) The Turks usually embraced Shi'ism, which greatly increased the number of Shi'ites.
D) The new converts rapidly increased a shift toward pastoralism.

Question 26

Why were dhimmis, or protected people, allowed some religious freedom?

A) They controlled major trade routes.
B) They worshiped only one God.
C) They greatly outnumbered the Muslims.
D) They were generally uneducated and weak.

Question 27

In Muslim society, how were merchants viewed?

A) They were regarded as second-class citizens.
B) They were usually drawn from the "protected people."
C) Seen as unsavory, they were forced to live in specified neighborhoods.
D) They were viewed as a respected part of society.

Question 28

What was the early Muslim attitude toward divorce?

A) A man could divorce his wife at will.
B) Both men and women could initiate divorce on equal terms.
C) Divorce was only allowed if the wife failed to have children.
D) Divorce was allowed but not encouraged.

Question 29

Why were eunuchs allowed to serve in a variety of occupations in the Muslim world?

A) They were considered more intelligent.
B) They were favored because of their family ties.
C) They were viewed as more dependable and manageable.
D) They were physically stronger.

Question 30

How did the Muslim tradition of veiling women likely originate?

A) According to the Qur'an, Aisha, the prophet's wife, began the practice.
B) The custom of veiling was probably of Byzantine or Persian origin.
C) The veiling of women had long been mandatory in pre-Islamic Arab traditions.
D) Abraham, an early Islamic prophet, had required it for the women who followed him into exile.

Question 31

How did most Muslim marriages come about?

A) Couples usually met at school.
B) Marriages were arranged by families or guardians.
C) Local religious leaders served as matchmakers for young people.
D) A girl was encouraged to choose her spouse from among her father's employees.

Question 32

What rights did women have under pre-Islamic Arab tribal law?

A) Women were protected from being sold into marriage.
B) Early Arab laws allowed women to obtain divorce.
C) Women had virtually no legal status or property or succession rights.
D) Women had relatively equal political rights to men.

Question 33

What evidence is there in this illustration of the practice of Arab conquerors adopting certain practices of subjugated peoples?

A) The wearing of veils by the women and their seclusion from the men
B) The inclusion of children in the mosque and the wearing of facial hair by some men
C) The colorful and ornate dress of the men and plain dress of the women
D) The artistic patterns on the walls of the mosque and covering the heads of everyone inside the mosque

Question 34

According to Map 9.1, "The Expansion of Islam, 622-900," during which of the following periods did Islam experience the largest territorial growth?

A) 622-632
B) 632-656
C) 656-750
D) 750-900

Question 35

According to the Qur'an, honor in the Muslim world was based on what?

A) Wealth
B) Intelligence
C) Lineage
D) Piety

Question 36

How many wives does the Qur'an allow a man to have?

A) Four, as long as all are treated justly
B) Only one
C) Four, if the first one is treated best
D) As many as he can afford to keep

Question 37

Which of the following was true of the harem system?

A) Only women on the Arabian peninsula were required to remain in this type of seclusion.
B) Harems, or the seclusion of women, occurred only in areas where the Byzantines had previously ruled.
C) Harems were most often founded in cities as a means to protect unmarried women from predatory males.
D) By 800, women in more prosperous households stayed out of sight.

Question 38

According to the text, the Qur'an's injunctions regarding the treatment of women

A) restricted their freedom substantially compared to earlier Arab tradition.
B) implied that women were spiritually superior to men.
C) were determined strictly by the sexual needs of men.
D) were a substantial improvement on earlier treatment of women in Arab societies.

Question 39

Muslim and Jewish merchants in the Indian Ocean trade used what language for commerce?

A) Arabic
B) Hebrew
C) Persian
D) Greek

Question 40

How was slavery in the Islamic world different from the slavery practiced later in the Americas?

A) In the Islamic world, slavery was seldom hereditary.
B) In the Islamic world, it was forbidden to enslave "protected peoples."
C) In the Islamic world, slaves did not become soldiers.
D) In the Islamic world, slaves were used exclusively for agricultural labor.

Question 41

According to Map 9.2, "The Expansion of Islam and Its Trading Networks in the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries," which of the following was the northernmost river reached by Islamic traders by the year 1500?

A) Volga
B) Dnieper
C) Danube
D) Rhine

Question 42

In the Christian West, where did Christians and Muslims have the greatest interaction?

A) Andalusia
B) France
C) Syria
D) Egypt

Question 43

Discuss how the Qur'an defined honor and how the Islamic class system evolved during the caliphates.

Question 44

Under what circumstance could a woman in the Muslim world become educated?

A) If she was born into a family of scholars
B) If she owned enough slaves to do the housework
C) If her husband or male guardian encouraged it
D) If she first married and had children

Question 45

What are the Five Pillars of Islam, and how do they provide a code of morality?

Question 46

What were the objectives in Muslim education for men, and how were they reached?

Question 47

After the eleventh century, a Muslim who converted to Christianity was

A) allowed to move to a Christian state.
B) immediately enslaved and sold.
C) forced to hand over all his/her money to the state.
D) immediately sentenced to death.

Question 48

How did Muslim trade routes affect the development of agriculture?

A) Muslim traders often forced innovative farmers to return home with them.
B) Extensive trade through Muslim lands led to the spread of many useful plants like cotton, sugarcane, and rice.
C) Muslim merchants accidently spread plant and animal diseases wherever they travelled.
D) Muslim society focused exclusively on trade and avoided working with agricultural products or commodities.

Question 49

Describe some of the intellectual innovations of the Abbasids and Harun al-Rashid.

Question 50

Which of the following describes the similarities between Islamic, European, and Chinese education systems?

A) All three discouraged debate among teachers.
B) All three required students to master a sacred language.
C) All three encouraged unmarried women to go to schools.
D) All three separated education from religious texts.

Question 51

How was higher education in the Muslim world similar to that in China?

A) Both systems viewed the personal relationship between teacher and student as key to education.
B) In the Muslim world, as in China, graduates were guaranteed employment as civil servants.
C) Both systems were run by religious authorities, and students were expected to become religious leaders after graduation.
D) In both the Muslim world and China, a few women were allowed to pursue their education alongside men.

Question 52

How did Muhammad and Islam unite the Bedouin tribes and other Arabs into an umma?

Question 53

What were the function and status of slaves within the Islamic world?

Question 54

What were Uthman's claims to authority, and what factors undermined them, favoring Ali?

Question 55

Which of the following was a focus of the religious movement known as Sufism?

A) Divine love and knowledge through intuition rather than rational deduction and study
B) The interests of women
C) The overthrow of the caliphate
D) Knowledge through rational deduction and the rejection of the mysticism of other major religions of the time

Question 56

Why were madrasas important to the Muslim world?

A) They attempted to prepare men for religious and legal responsibilities.
B) They encouraged the understanding of Aristotelian thought.
C) They prepared young men for business careers.
D) They encouraged young men to develop military talents.

Question 57

Which of the following was an important financial innovation developed by Muslim merchants?

A) They developed the idea of a savings account.
B) They were the first to make loans.
C) They were responsible for beginning Indian Ocean trade routes.
D) They developed the joint stock company.

Question 58

Describe the extent of Islamic trade. What prompted changes in practices and routes? Where were the major centers of this trade?

Question 59

Describe Muslim-Christian interactions in the Christian West.

Question 60

How was the expansion of Islam aided by the divisions within, and disorder between, the Byzantine and Sassanid Empires?

Question 61

How did Muslim rulers view their Jewish and Christian subjects? Did these attitudes change over time, and if so, why?

Question 62

How did the Abbasids create a culture in which Islam and Persian cultures mixed, and what did they borrow from the Byzantines to create a culture that ultimately encouraged conversion to Islam?

Question 63

What is shari'a within the religion and empire of Islam? How do individual members of the Islamic world interact with the law, from common believers to the holders of high office (ulama, caliph, and qadi)?

Question 64

Islam was unable to maintain its cultural and political unity. What kinds of religious and political issues divided the Islamic world?

Question 65

How did the status of Arab women change with the introduction of Islam, and how did that status change from the Umayyad to the Abbasid caliphates?