Deck 8: Islam

Question 1

What was distinctive about the way Rumi recited his poetry?

A) He recited in a whisper.
B) He danced while reciting.
C) He played an oud while reciting.
D) He recited only while lying down.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Who is considered the founder of Islam?

A) Abraham
B) Ishmael
C) Muhammad
D) Allah

Answer 2

C

Question 3

What is the name of the Islamic Legal code?

A) the Law of Muhammad
B) Al- Khwarizmi
C) Sharia
D) S u ra

Answer 3

C

Question 4

What building in Jerusalem is one of the earliest and most spectacular achievements of Islamic architecture?

A) the Great Mosque
B) the Shrine of Muhammad
C) the Dome of the Rock
D) the Ka'bah

Question 5

What was the goal of the Reconquista ?

A) to drive Muslims out of Spain
B) to conquer the remnants of the Roman Empire
C) to eliminate Christianity in Spain
D) to promote Islam in all reaches of the known world

Question 6

What is a primary reason the textbook gives for the rapid spread of Islam?

A) the simplicity of its original teachings
B) the grandeur of Islamic architecture
C) the Ummayad Caliphate's campaign to convert Africa and Asia
D) the glorious afterlife promised in the Qur'an

Question 7

What is the significance of the Ka'bah?

A) Muhammad lived there as a young man.
B) It was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate.
C) It is the site of the largest mosque in Islam.
D) Muhammad established it as the spiritual center of Islam

Question 8

What was the name of the palace complex in Granada that escaped destruction during the Reconquista ?

A) Al-Uqlidisi
B) Nasrid
C) Alhambra
D) Isfahan

Question 9

What is the role of the muezzin?

A) to ward off temptation
B) to call the faithful to prayer
C) to guide the faithful to Mecca
D) to provide a private space for meditation

Question 10

How is the Qur'an organized?

A) It is divided into seven large-scale subsections.
B) It is divided into 114 s u ras.
C) It is divided into four separate volumes.
D) It consists of a single very long, undivided chapter.

Question 11

What city became the Muslim capital in Spain?

A) Madrid
B) Seville
C) Valencia
D) C ó rdoba

Question 12

In what language did the Sufi mystic Rumi primarily write?

A) Persian
B) Arabic
C) Turkish
D) Urdu

Question 13

What is the language of the Qur'an ?

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

Question 14

What is the term for a mosque's pulpit, or platform on which the worship leader stands?

A) minbar
B) rebab
C) ummah
D) caliph

Question 15

What event in 622 marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar?

A) the Hejira
B) the mihrab
C) the hajj
D) Ramadan

Question 16

What is the name of the body of literature which consists of authoritative commentaries on the Qur'an and explanations of oral traditions?

A) Sharia
B) Muezzin
C) Alhambra
D) Hadith

Question 17

Which of the Islamic denominations discussed in the text has the largest following?

A) Shia
B) Sunni
C) Sufi
D) Ummah

Question 18

What is the meaning of the word "Islam"?

A) teaching
B) submission (to Allah)
C) right path
D) charitable act

Question 19

What is interesting about the site of The Great Mosque of Damascus?

A) The site was once a pagan burial ground.
B) The site was once a Byzantine church.
C) The site once housed a Platonic academy.
D) The site is in the capital of the Abbasid Dynasty.

Question 20

Where was the founder of Islam born?

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

Question 21

How did scholars working in the "House of Wisdom" contribute to the dissemination of Aristotle's writings in the West?

A) They published Latin translations of Aristotle's works.
B) Their Arabic translations of Aristotle preserved the works.
C) Their Arabic translations of Aristotle preserved the works.
D) They discovered previously unknown writings by Aristotle.

Question 22

What happened to the Mosque of Córdoba after the Reconquista of 1492?

Question 23

Which of the following is NOT a musical instrument from the Islamic world?

A) dadabwaan
B) oud
C) rebab
D) damask

Question 24

What short-necked string instrument is played like the guitar, by plucking its strings?

A) dadabwaan
B) oud
C) ney
D) rebab

Question 25

The literal translation of the Arabic word _______ is "recitation."

A) Qur'an
B) Sufi
C) sura
D) ummah

Question 26

Why are mosques decorated with abstract art and calligraphy rather than pictorial representations?

Question 27

Who among the following would NOT be considered an important prophet in Islam?

A) Muhammad
B) Peter
C) Jesus
D) Moses

Question 28

Who was a Persian polymath, and a well-known poet who authored The Rubáiyát ?

A) Rumi
B) Rabia
C) Omar Khayyam
D) Shahryar

Question 29

Which Arabic word identifies a niche found in a mosque, intended to indicate the direction of Mecca?

A) ummah
B) sharia
C) sura
D) mihrab

Question 30

What is a hajj?

A) a sacred text attributed to Muhammad
B) an architectural feature of a mosque
C) a pilgrimage to Mecca
D) an Islamic devotional poem

Question 31

A common feature in Islamic art, ______ refers to patterns of geometric shapes that fit together without overlaps.

A) calligraphy
B) fiber art
C) arabesque
D) tessellation

Question 32

What Islamic denomination believes all caliphs must be descended from Ali (Muhammad's son-in-law)?

A) Shia
B) Sunni
C) Ahmadiyya
D) Nation of Islam

Question 33

Which physician-philosopher stressed personal hygiene as an important health measure?

A) Al-Uqlidisi
B) Rumi
C) Averr öe s
D) Moses Maimonides

Question 34

Which Muslim scholar invented algebra and created a modern numerical system?

A) Moses Maimonides
B) Al-Khwarizmi
C) Al-Hazen
D) Rhazes

Question 35

What are the five pillars of Islam?

Question 36

What city was the political and cultural capital of the Abbasid Dynasty?

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

Question 37

During the holy month of Ramadan, Muslims are to do which of the following?

A) fast from sunrise to sunset
B) pray 15 times per day
C) give one article of clothing to charity each week
D) write in a prayer journal

Question 38

Who is Rabia? What did she do? What did she believe?

Question 39

Since the original language of the Qur'an is Arabic, explain how Muslims view translations of the text into other languages.

Question 40

"Kufic" refers to a type of ________.

A) garment
B) calligraphy
C) sculpture
D) Islamic scholarship