Deck 16: Mature Islamic Society and the First Global Civilization

Question 1

Which of the following is NOT considered to be an original invention attributed to the Muslims?

A)Papermaking.
B)Fictional literature.
C)The university.
D)The decimal system.
E)Algebra.

Answer 1

Papermaking.

Question 2

The Qur'an prohibited the lifelike representation of

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

Answer 2

the human figure.

Question 3

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.

Answer 3

international and well-respected.

Question 4

What was the foremost promise from the Abbasid caliphate?

A)An enlarged empire.
B)Religious equality.
C)Improved educational opportunities.
D)Realigned governmental bodies.
E)More religious leadership.

Question 5

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 6

Because of certain restrictions regarding 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 7

What is the meaning of the phrase "the Closing of the Gates" to the Muslim ulama (religious scholars)?

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

Question 8

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 9

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 10

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 11

The whirling Dervishes are associated with which of the following?

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

Question 12

What is thought to be the original location of the group of Turks known as the Seljuks?

A)Iran.
B)Iraq.
C)Afghanistan.
D)Syria.
E)Lebanon.

Question 13

Where is the oldest still-functioning university located?

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

Question 14

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 15

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 16

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 17

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

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

Question 18

What is the the most famous example of Muslim architecture in the world?

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

Question 19

What was the primary basis for civil law among the Abbasid Muslims?

A)Decisions of the diwan.
B)The Qur'an and Sharia.
C)The decisions of the caliph.
D)Rulings from the emirs.
E)Judgments from the qadis.

Question 20

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

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

Question 21

What invading group surged out of Afghanistan and conquered Baghdad in the mid-1000s but kept the Abbasid ruler as a figurehead ruler?

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 22

What is considered the foremost duty of a man in the Muslim household?

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 23

Genghis Khan encountered which of the following in the Middle East?

A)A single strong Islamic state.
B)A revived Persian empire.
C)A small series of regional kingdoms, some Islamic, some Christian.
D)All Shi'ite Muslim nations.
E)A series of large and small Muslim principalities.

Question 24

When the Mongols invaded the Middle East in the 1200s, they found a former empire that was already broken apart into a series of large and small Muslim principalities. Who was responsible for the breakup of the disintegrated Abbasid Empire?

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

Question 25

The Mongols originated in

A)Far East Asia.
B)Central Asian steppes.
C)Himalayan mountains.
D)Eastern Europe.
E)None of the options are correct.

Question 26

The Islamic world reached as far as ____________________ to the east by 1500.

Question 27

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 28

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

Question 29

The ____________________ is the sacred law based on the words of the Qur'an and the Sunna, or the example set by the Prophet Muhammad, for how Muslims should live.

Question 30

The most significant Sufi philosopher was ___________________________________.

Question 31

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 32

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

Question 33

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

Question 34

The Qur'an allows but does not encourage a man to have how many wives?

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

Question 35

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

Question 36

The Taj Mahal in India is the most famous example of ____________________.

Question 37

The most well known Muslim traveler was ____________________.

Question 38

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 39

How do historians characterize the fall of Baghdad to the Mongols, which led to the end of the Abbasid caliphate?

A)It was violent.
B)The fall was bloody.
C)It resulted in perhaps 80,000 deaths.
D)The invading Mongols were ruthless.
E)All of the options are correct.

Question 40

The ____________________ were judges who presided over cases involving Muslims.

Question 41

Term for identification: Ibn Battuta

Question 42

What were some of the specific governmental developments under the Abbasid rulers?

Question 43

How was Islam the "First World Civilization"?

Question 44

Term for identification: qadis

Question 45

Elaborate on Islamic art, science and literature highlighting the distinctive features of each.

Question 46

Term for identification: amir

Question 47

Term for identification: Harun al-Rashid

Question 48

Describe the organization of the Islamic Empire under Abbasid rule, 750-1258. What were the major religious issues?

Question 49

Term for identification: al-Ghazzali

Question 50

Describe the end of the Abbasid and the impact of that on the rest of the Muslim Arabic world.

Question 51

Term for identification: Chinghis Khan

Question 52

Term for identification: Avicenna

Question 53

Term for identification: Firdawsi

Question 54

Term for identification: Averroes

Question 55

Describe life in the Islamic world for women.

Question 56

Term for identification: Seljuk Turks