Deck 10: The Islamic World

Question 1

Explain the contributions of Islam to global culture between ca.700 and 1400.

Answer 1

As Islam expanded,it absorbed many different styles from the arts of non-Arab peoples,eventually contributing to a new,global culture.It was enthusiastically receptive to the intellectual achievements of other cultures and aggressive in its will to understand the workings of the natural world.Between the ninth and twelfth centuries,Muslims absorbed and preserved much of the medical,botanical,and astrological lore of the Hellenized Mediterranean.This fund of scientific and technological knowledge,along with Arabic translations of Aristotle's works in logic and natural philosophy,and Muslim commentaries on Aristotle,filtered into the urban centers of Europe.There,in the twelfth century,they stimulated a rebirth of learning and contributed to the rise of Western universities and the Renaissance.
Islamic scholars also made original contributions in mathematics,medicine,optics,chemistry,geography,philosophy,and astronomy.In the field of medicine,Islamic physicians wrote treatises on smallpox,measles,and diseases transmitted by animals (such as rabies),on the cauterization of wounds,and on the preparation of medicinal drugs.Further,at a time when most Europeans knew little of the earth's physical size or shape,geographers in Baghdad estimated with some accuracy the earth's circumference,as well as its shape and curvature.Muslim astronomers made advances in spherical geometry and trigonometry that aided religious observance,which required an accurate lunar calendar and the means of determining the direction of Mecca from any given location.
In music too,Islamic artistic contributions have filtered down.At the end of the sixth century,the Arabs developed the lute,a half- pear-shaped wooden string instrument that was used to accompany vocal performance.The forerunner of the guitar,the lute has a right-angled neck and is played with a small quill.Muslim musicians in Spain began to compose larger orchestral pieces divided into five or more distinct movements,to be performed by string and wind instruments,percussion,and voices.It is possible that the Western tradition of orchestral music,along with the development of such instruments as oboes,trumpets,viols,and kettledrums,originated among Arab musicians during the centuries of Muslim rule in Spain.Further,music composition and theory reached a peak between the ninth and eleventh centuries,when noted Islamic scholars wrote almost two hundred treatises on musical performance and theory.The Great Book of Songs,a twenty-one-volume encyclopedia of songs and poems,feature a wide range of love songs,many with motifs of complaint and yearning,and would have a distinct influence on both the secular and the religious music of the Western Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

Question 2

The text suggests that a large advantage of Islam in spreading throughout the world has been its

A)fanaticism.
B)complexity.
C)simplicity.
D)promise of wealth or rewarD.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following is NOT one of the Five Pillars of Islam?

A)confession of faith
B)recitation of prayers five times a day
C)fasting every Friday
D)pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Discuss Muhammad's role in the rise and spread of Islam.
C.E. ,the Arabs remained polytheistic and disunited,but the birth of the prophet Muhammad in 570 in Mecca changed these circumstances dramatically.After spending years amongst Jews,Christians,and pagans,Muhammad underwent a transformation: according to Muslim teachings,the archangel Gabriel appeared to Muhammad and commanded him to receive the revelation of the one and only Allah (the Arabic word for "God").At forty-one years old,Muhammad declared himself the final messenger in a history of religious revelation that had begun with Abraham and continued through Moses and Jesus.
At the outset,Muhammad's message attracted few followers.Since his attack on idolatry threatened Mecca's prominence as a prosperous pilgrimage site,the polytheistic Meccan elite actively resisted the new faith.Eventually,Muhammad conquered Mecca and destroyed the idols in the Kaaba,with the exception of the Black Stone,the revered ancient cornerstone of the Sacred House.Thereafter,Muhammad assumed spiritual and political authority-establishing a theocracy that bound religious and secular realms in a manner not unlike that of the early Hebrew kings.By the time Muhammad died in 632,the entire Arabian peninsula was united in its commitment to Islam.

Question 5

The early attempts of Islam to penetrate the European continent

A)were successful.
B)were repelled,by Charles Martel and by fortifications at Constantinople.
C)were unsuccessful and led to little Islamic influence in Europe for over six centuries.
D)None of the answers is correct.

Question 6

The holy scripture of Islam is called which of the following?

A)the New Testament
B)the Qur'an
C)the Torah
D)the Pentateuch

Question 7

Which of the following describes Muhammad's lifelong career?

A)clergyman
B)low-level bureaucrat
C)fisherman
D)caravan driver

Question 8

Which of the following is a content of the Kaaba?

A)the birthplace of Abraham
B)the sacred Black Stone
C)the Ten Commandments
D)No one knows what the contents are.

Question 9

Poetry produced by which Islamic movement is famous for its mysticism and visionary representations?

A)Jainism
B)Sufism
C)Zen
D)Shiite

Question 10

Which of the following cities served as the Islamic capital during the religion's "golden era" of the eighth and ninth centuries?

A)Alexandria
B)Baghdad
C)Constantinople
D)Damascus

Question 11

The maximum number of wives allowed to Islamic men is which of the following?

A)two
B)four
C)eight
D)There is no limit on the number of wives alloweD.

Question 12

Ancient Islamic scholars are famous for having preserved which of the following throughout the Middle Ages?

A)Roman numerals
B)Hundreds of Greek manuscripts
C)The Torah
D)The Holy Grail

Question 13

The religion known as Islam originated with which of the following peoples?

A)Turks
B)Greeks
C)Bedouin Arabs
D)Southern Indians

Question 14

Islamic spiritual supervision lies partly in the hands of prayer leaders called

A)sharias.
B)hadiths.
C)Five Pillars.
D)mullahs.

Question 15

Discuss some of the faith-based obligations particular to the Islamic religion.

Question 16

Muhammad's designated successor was which of the following?

A)Ali
B)Sunni
C)Abraham
D)Muhammad left no designated successor.

Question 17

List the characteristics of Islamic art,architecture,music,and poetry.

Question 18

What event marks year one of the Islamic calendar?

A)the birth of Christ
B)the hijra to Medina
C)the fall of the Roman Empire
D)the creation of the earth

Question 19

Explain the effects of Islamic expansion on medieval world culture.

Question 20

The all-embracing code of ethical conduct is called the

A)shariA.
B)Hadith.
C)Five Pillars.
D)mullahs.