Deck 7: The Response of Islamic Society

Question 1

Abdul Hamid II favored the doctrine of Pan-Islam over Ottomanism. How did the Hijaz railway-from Damascus to Medina-emerge as a material symbol for Pan-Islam?

A) It was constructed to facilitate the annual pilgrimage
B) It was financed by private subscriptions from Muslims around the world
C) It was not borne of European investment capital
D) All of these answers are correct

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Under Sultan Abdul Hamid II, the Ottoman state adopted a Western-style system of education and underpinned it with the principles of Islamic morality and core Ottoman values. What does this project say of the sultan's goals during his reign?

A) Abdul Hamid wanted to restore the pre-Tanzimat system
B) Abdul Hamid wanted to Ottomanize modern secondary education
C) Abdul Hamid wanted to twin education with religious conservatism
D) Abdul Hamid wanted to embrace the European model

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Three of the most influential and enduring Islamic purification movements are: the Sanusi, Mahdiyyah, and _____________.

A) Sufi
B) Wahhabi
C) al-nahdah
D) None of these answers is correct

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which order was associated with Sufism?

A) Wahhabi
B) Mahdiyyah
C) Shi'a
D) Sanusi

Question 5

At the turn of the twentieth century, what force(s) rendered the Ottoman-Islamic Middle Eastern order unstable?

A) the rediscovery of Islamic traditions within the Muslim community
B) feelings of national distinctiveness
C) feelings of cultural solidarity among Arabs
D) All of these answers are correct

Question 6

Which of the following is not true of the Sanusi order of Islam?

A) The order took part in the struggle against European imperialism
B) The order became the basis for the contemporary Libyan state
C) The order fought alongside the Italians during the Italian invasion of Tripoli
D) The order valued a more austere desert life

Question 7

In the 1880s, Mahdiyyah founder, "the Mahdi," conquered most of Sudan. His established Islamic state ________________.

A) gave hope to all Muslims that Islamic revival could be exactly the weapon needed to defeat European imperialism
B) grew to include all of North Africa
C) was a long-lasting one
D) was quickly dismantled and forgotten

Question 8

Why, in the opinion of al-Afghani, was the Christian West dominant in the political, social, and economic realms?

A) The Christian West was inherently superior to predominantly Muslim territories
B) Islam had fallen into a state of decadence and stagnation
C) Islam was not in accord with the demands of modern life
D) All of these answers are correct

Question 9

Part of the Christian missionary educational effort in Syria in the second part of the nineteenth century centered on the printing of classical texts. It revived an interest in classical literary tradition and helped contribute to a cultural renaissance in the region. What language was predominantly used in these texts?

A) French
B) Greek
C) Arabic
D) English

Question 10

Awareness of the shared heritage among Arabs, the notion that greater communal loyalty could be found through the shared Arabic language rather than religious ties, and the idea of territorial patriotism are all hallmarks of __________________.

A) an increased distrust between Muslim and Christian Arabs
B) the decline of high Islam
C) the Arab cultural awakening
D) a tribal resurgence

Question 11

Which of the following is NOT true of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab?

A) He believed in the uncompromising affirmation of tawhid, the oneness of God
B) He believed that Muslims must adhere to the interpretations of Islamic scholars and he therefore discouraged individual inquiry
C) He believed that Sufism, with its veneration of saints, represented a form of polytheism
D) He insisted that the Quran and the hadith were the only reliable sources through which the divine will could be comprehended

Question 12

The Mahdist revolt was ________________.

A) a rebellion against the Egyptian occupation of the Sudan
B) a movement to establish a new, independent state
C) a movement for the purification of Islam
D) both a rebellion against the Egyptian occupation of the Sudan and a movement for the purification of Islam

Question 13

Which of the following does NOT accurately describe the views of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani?

A) He believed that it was the unity of the ummah that had brought greatness to Islamic civilizations in the past
B) He believed that Muslim rulers who had allowed European armies to invade their territories should be overthrown
C) He believed that the revival of the Islamic community would be delivered as a gift from God
D) He believed that the Christian West was currently dominant not because it was superior, but because Islam had fallen into a state of decadence and stagnation

Question 14

Which of the following most accurately describes al-nahdah (the awakening)

A) An economic and literary renaissance experienced primarily by Arab Christians of Syria and Lebanon
B) A reassertion of Islamic values which occurred among the rural tribes of the Arabian peninsula in the mid-nineteenth century
C) A rebirth of classical knowledge in the late nineteenth century that followed the discovery of Greek texts that had been previously lost in the Western world
D) An attempt by the inhabitants of the holy cities of the Hijaz to reassert the values present during the first Islamic community

Question 15

During the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II the Ottoman Empire witnessed a transportation boom that led to closer relations with which European state?

A) Russia
B) Germany
C) Britain
D) France

Question 16

Which two leaders fought to take the holy city of Mecca from the Ottomans in 1803?

A) ibn Abd al-Wahhab and ibn Sa'ud
B) the Mahdi and ibn Abd al-Wahhab
C) ibn Abd al-Wahhab and Muhammad Ahmad
D) the Mahdi and Muhammad Abduh

Question 17

Which of the following statements describe Muhammad Abduh?

A) He is the most famous disciple of Islamic reformist al-Afghani
B) He pursued Islamic revival through intellectual inquiry and institutional reform
C) His far-reaching proposals for the reformulation of Islamic doctrine generated a debate among the Muslim clergy and laity that has lasted from his time to ours
D) All of these statements describe Muhammad Abduh

Question 18

In what way did Muhammad Abduh differ from his mentor Jamal al-Din al-Afghani?

A) Al-Afghani spent time in Paris, while Abduh did not
B) Abduh believed in pursuing his goals through institutional reform while al-Afghani believed in achieving his goals through political agitation
C) Abduh believed that older superstitions and administrative practices were destroying the ummah's social dynamism but al-Afghani did not
D) Abduh did not differ from his mentor, al-Afghani, in any way

Question 19

Which of the following accurately defines salaf?

A) Arabic word for ancestor, around which Muhammad Abduh's political-religious movement was based
B) A Sufi order
C) The idea that Muslims ought to return to their Arab tribal roots
D) One who rejects modernity and reason as European derived ideas

Question 20

Muhammad Abduh's purpose, as laid out in his major scholarly work Risalah al-Tawhid and in his decrees as mufti, was to _______________________.

A) analyze the causes of the degeneration of Islam
B) prove that unquestioning obedience to Islam was the only way forward
C) reconcile the unquestioning obedience required by divine revelation with the freedom of independent human reasoning
D) None of these answers is correct

Question 21

Founder of the Wahhabi movement, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, believed that the Quran and the hadith were the only reliable sources through which Islam could be comprehended.

Question 22

The Mahdiyyah movement, concerned with the revival of Islamic political activity, emerged in Yemen.

Question 23

The three Islamic movements-Wahhabi, Sanusi, and Mahdiyyah-primarily found expression through tribal groups.

Question 24

Al-Afghani's influence on Islamic opinion was due to the appeal of his call for direct action in the name of Islamic solidarity.

Question 25

The study of Arab military conquest was at the heart of al-nahdah.

Question 26

The rapid development of the Ottoman Empire's _________ and _________ systems tightened the central government's control over the more remote hinterlands.

Question 27

Al-nahdah, the __________________, was the economic and literary renaissance experienced by Arab Christians of Syria and Lebanon in the second half of the nineteenth century.

Question 28

Concerned with the survival of the Islamic ummah in a world dominated by Europe, Islamic reformists believed that Muslims' response should be to acquire an understanding of the __________________ principles of Islam.

Question 29

The doctrine of __________________ was promoted by Jamal al-Din al-Afghani, who saw it as a means to bring unity to various Muslim communities.

Question 30

Because of their religion, members of the __________________ Arab community did not regard the ideas and institutions coming from Europe as a threat to their civilization.

Question 31

Explain three or more components to the movement lead by Muhammad Ahmad, the self-proclaimed Mahdi (the expected one) in Sudan.

Question 32

What was the primary concern of reformists among tribal groups as well as among the urban milieu of high Islam?

Question 33

What was Jamal al-Din al-Afghani's prescription for the perceived weaknesses in Muslim culture and societies?

Question 34

How did Butrus al-Bustani impact the Arab cultural awakening?

Question 35

How did the Arab cultural awakening challenge the Ottoman system?

Question 36

Briefly explain Muhammed Abduh's views regarding Islam and modernity.

Question 37

In what ways did Sultan Abdul Hamid II attempt to exploit the concept of Pan-Islam for his own political and diplomatic objectives?

Question 38

According to Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi, did the Ottoman Empire play a positive or negative role in the development of Islam? Explain.

Question 39

How did Sultan Abdul Hamid II attempt to control information in the Ottoman Empire?

Question 40

How did Muhammed Ahmad demonstrate to the Islamic world that Islamic revival could serve as a weapon to defeat European imperialism?

Question 41

How did the large Christian minority communities in Syria and Lebanon respond to the new currents of Islamic reform during the second half of the nineteenth century? What role did they see for themselves in a state that increasingly emphasized its Islamic heritage?

Question 42

Did the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II represent a departure from or a continuation of the Tanzimat reforms? Explain.