Deck 14: Mature Islamic Society and Institutions

Question 1

Above all, the Abbasid caliphate promised to provide

A) an enlarged empire.
B) religious equality.
C) improved educational opportunities.
D) realigned governmental bodies.
E) more religious leadership.

Answer 1

more religious leadership.

Question 2

Describe the organization of the Islamic Empire under Abbasid rule, 750-1258. To what extent would you consider it cosmopolitan?

Answer 2

Answer not provided.

Question 3

Among the Abbasid Muslims, civil law was based primarily on

A) decisions of the diwan.
B) the Qur'an.
C) the decisions of the caliph.
D) rulings from the emirs.
E) judgments from the kadis.

Answer 3

the Qur'an.

Question 4

Describe the factors that contributed to the downfall of the Abbasid Caliphate. How does this "fall" compare to the decline of Rome, or of other ancient cultures?

Question 5

The oldest functioning university is located in

A) Baghdad.
B) Cairo.
C) Cordóba.
D) Delhi.
E) Bologna.

Question 6

Between 800 and 1200, the Muslims were especially further advanced than the West in the field of

A) medicine.
B) physics.
C) botany.
D) astronomy.
E) mathematics.

Question 7

In what specific fields did Muslim cultural and scientific achievements exceed those of Christian Europe? How did they gain ascendancy?

Question 8

In what ways would you consider the Abbasid civilization "lavish" or "innovative"?

Question 9

Abbasid bureaucracy was directed by a sort of prime minister, or

A) emir.
B) kadi.
C) caliph.
D) Muezzin.
E) vizier.

Question 10

Whirling Dervishes are associated with

A) Shi'ite Islam.
B) The Arabian Nights .
C) calligraphy.
D) Sufism.
E) Muslim astrology.

Question 11

The Muslim army under the Abbasids was

A) mainly Arab mercenaries.
B) international and well-respected.
C) mainly Persian slaves.
D) no match for Byzantine soldiers.
E) composed mainly of very young Arab men.

Question 12

Though Muslim scientists gained much knowledge from the early classical civilizations, a major difference was that

A) they showed great interest in medicine but not astronomy.
B) they never quite caught up with the scientists in the West.
C) Muslim scientists sought to put their knowledge to practical use.
D) no individual Muslim scientists became well-known during their lifetimes.
E) rationalization was much less important to the Muslim scientists.

Question 13

The most famous example of Muslim architecture in the world is the

A) Ka'ba.
B) Taj Mahal.
C) House of Wisdom.
D) Azhar Mosque.
E) University of Cairo Planetarium.

Question 14

The greatest purpose of Harun al-Rashid's "House of Wisdom" was to

A) train young men in the Muslim faith.
B) prepare mathematicians.
C) translate Greek classics into Arabic.
D) promote the study of astrology.
E) expand the Sunni sciences.

Question 15

What justification can be given for characterizing the Abbasid Caliphate as a "male dominated" society? Cite specific laws and customs to support your ideas.

Question 16

As a master teacher, Muslim scholars held in particularly high regard

A) Plato.
B) Aristotle.
C) Aeschylus.
D) Socrates.
E) Seneca.

Question 17

Sharia may be defined as

A) rules giving women inferior status.
B) examples set by Muhammad.
C) a private donation to charity.
D) sacred law.
E) pilgrimage.

Question 18

Because of certain restrictions about the Qur'an, this became a major source of unification for Muslims:

A) jihad
B) sharia
C) education
D) the Arabic language
E) the university

Question 19

Through the "Closing of the Gates," the Muslim ulama (religious scholars)

A) sought to close Islam to Christians and Jews.
B) convinced the majority of Muslims that God's laws had been made complete, so there was to be no further questioning.
C) rewrote religious laws to conform to their beliefs about God's will for his people.
D) brought the examples set by Muhammad to the center of Muslim religious belief.
E) seized power from the vizier, or prime minister.

Question 20

All of the following are considered original inventions of the Muslims except

A) papermaking.
B) fictional literature.
C) the university.
D) the decimal system.
E) algebra.

Question 21

The concept of purdah appears to have come from

A) the Qur'an.
B) Muhammad.
C) Afghanistan.
D) Avicenna.
E) India.

Question 22

The capture of Baghdad by the ____________________ finally ended the Abbasid Caliphate.

Question 23

The harem and the male-dominated household are features of the principle of

A) vakf.
B) purdah.
C) sati.
D) ulema.
E) sharia.

Question 24

In the Middle East, the Mongols invaded an empire already broken apart by the

A) Iranians.
B) Seljuk Turks.
C) Arabs.
D) Romans.
E) Venetians.

Question 25

The Qur'an allows a man to have how many wives?

A) three
B) five
C) two
D) four
E) an indefinite number

Question 26

Sufism is the Islamic version of the intellectual phenomenon known in the West as

A) communism.
B) mysticism.
C) individualism.
D) feminism.
E) agnosticism.

Question 27

In the Muslim household, the foremost duty of a man was to

A) provide for his family.
B) maintain family honor.
C) restrict his wives to the harem.
D) teach his children the Islamic faith.
E) treat his slaves well.

Question 28

Harun al-Rashid is noted as one of history's greatest ____________________.

Question 29

Which of the following statements best describes the network of trade that flourished from Muhammad's time up to about 1500?

A) Hindus and Muslims fought several major battles over control of the Indian Ocean trade.
B) Africa was less important than India but more important than Asia.
C) Europe and Asia were the largest consumers in the world.
D) Trade was responsible for a tremendous exchange of ideas as well as goods.
E) As a part of this vast trade network, Africa supplied pepper and spices to Asia

Question 30

As many African and Arabian possessions broke away from Abbasid rule, those Muslims were left mainly in control of

A) Arabia.
B) Turkey.
C) the Arabian peninsula.
D) Egypt.
E) the Middle East.

Question 31

Baghdad was seized from the Abbasids in 1200 by

A) raiders from Afghanistan.
B) the Seljuk Turks.
C) the army of Harun al-Rashid.
D) the Mongol Khanate.
E) a coalition of anti-Abbasid Islamists.

Question 32

The Qur'an prohibited the lifelike representation of

A) the human figure.
B) the horse.
C) any animal.
D) Allah.
E) birds.

Question 33

The Arabs are credited with inventing

A) paper.
B) poetry.
C) fiction.
D) the novel.
E) the mystery short story.

Question 34

Because of economic realities, the practice of purdah in much of Africa and Asia was

A) eliminated.
B) seldom enforced.
C) enacted.
D) socially unacceptable.
E) actively practiced.

Question 35

In Abbasid Muslim society, slavery was

A) unknown.
B) usually reserved for work in mines.
C) exceedingly harsh.
D) hereditary.
E) not uncommon but not usually a difficult life.

Question 36

The most famous example of Muslim-inspired architecture is the ____________________ ____________________.

Question 37

The world's various trading cities during the Abbasid caliphate, such as Córdoba, Madrid, and Baghdad, would best be described as

A) crime-ridden.
B) cosmopolitan.
C) culturally lacking.
D) religiously divided.
E) restrictive.

Question 38

Muslim visual art can best be described as

A) explicitly representational.
B) primitive in technique.
C) geometrically or floral based.
D) similar to Christian art.
E) architecturally oriented.

Question 39

The most famous book originating in the Abbasid world was the ____________________ ____________________.

Question 40

The cultural, economic and political center of Muslim Spain was the city of ____________________.

Question 41

The tax-collecting responsibilities under the Abbasid Caliphate was assumed by the ____________________.

Question 42

The ____________________ was an isolated area of a Muslim house or palace reserved for women and children.

Question 43

The ____________________ is the sacred law based on the Qur'an.

Question 44

At its height, Muslim civilization was rivaled only by that of ____________________.

Question 45

The ____________________ Turks captured Baghdad in 1055 and reduced the Caliph to a figurehead.