CHAPTER 7
FERMENT IN THE MIDDLE EAST: THE RISE OF ISLAM AND ITS IMPACT IN THE REGION
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MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
2. The Ka’aba
a. was a group of sacred stones revered by the Bedouin tribes, each of which possessed
one.
b. was a large black rock that was housed in a central shrine in Mecca, and worshiped by
all pre-Islamic Arabs.
c. represented the monotheism of the Bedouins.
d. was Allah’s representative Arab priesthood.
3. Muhammad began the solitary meditations during which he received the revelations underlying
Islam because of
a. a dispute with his wife.
b. his desire to expand his knowledge of the earlier messages of Allah.
c. the difficulties created in his mind by the conflict between Bedouin morality and the
acquisitiveness created by the commercialism of Mecca.
d. the call of the angel Gabriel.
5. The official calendar of Islam begins
a. in 222 C.E.
b. when Muhammad and his closest supporters left Yathrib and went to Mecca.
c. with the occurrence of the Hejira.
d. with Muhammad’s death in 632 C.E.
10. The Hadith and Shari’a
a. were adopted, respectively, from Jewish and Christian writings.
b. were the “Pillars of Islam.”
c. were, respectively, a collection of Muhammad’s sayings and a law code.
d. were, respectively, a law code and a marriage manual for Muslims.
11. The son-in-law and cousin of Muhammad who was murdered after he became caliph was
a. Hashemuti.
b. Ali.
c. Khadija.
d. Al Sadaam.
14. The theoretical purpose of the jihad was to
a. maintain peak military readiness.
b. wage holy war against all other Muslims on the Arabian peninsula.
c. broaden Muslim hegemony throughout Africa and Europe.
d. strive in the way of the Lord.
17. The term and position of caliph (khalifa)
a. is equivalent to that of a shaman in New Kingdom Egypt.
b. had no political aspect, as it was a priestly office.
c. was adopted from Byzantine Christianity.
d. referred to the individual who was the temporal successor of Muhammad and who also
was generally considered to be an imam.
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22. The caliphate that is often described as the Abbasid “Golden Age” was the reign of
a. Muhammad Ali.
b. Harun al-Rashid.
c. Abu Bakr.
d. Kabia al-Kahn.
23. The Shi’ite capital at Cairo was established under the dynasty of the
a. Umayyads.
b. Abbasids.
c. Fatimids.
d. Seljuk Turks.
24. The Seljuk Turks
a. provoked the Byzantine request for European aid that led to the Crusades.
b. brought a permanent halt to the conflict between the Sunnites and the Shi’ites.
c. temporarily abandoned the guidelines of the Koran as a means to reconcile the
Byzantines to Turkish rule.
d. conquered Constantinople in 1453.
25. The Crusades
a. were due, in part, to power shifts stemming from the weakening of the Byzantine Empire
after the rise of the Seljuk Turks.
b. finally determined that Muslim forces would permanently dominate the Mediterranean
Sea.
c. forced Saladin to reduce his territorial claims and, finally, to accept Christianity, in order
to stay in power.
d. were a period when the behavior of Christian armies was much less brutal than that of
Muslim forces.
26. Which of the following is not a true statement about the Mongols?
a. They caused great havoc and destruction throughout the Middle East.
b. Their westward advance continued on to absorb the Cordova caliphate in Spain.
c. Over time, their upper class population became Muslim.
d. They often engaged in acts of mass brutality.
28. During the Abbasid Dynasty
a. the Umayyad leaders were slaughtered to the last individual, during the “Ocean of
Blood” era between 1100 and 1150.
b. a “Persian influence,” reflected in the custom of having the caliph hidden from diwan
members by a screen, developed.
c. Ottoman Turks were brought in and used either as peasant slaves or Sunnite priests.
d. caliphs became much more democratic.
30. Which of the following is an accurate statement about the Arab Empire?
a. It was strongly united under the tight control of the caliph in Baghdad.
b. It created an era of great economic prosperity in the Middle East region.
c. It contained fewer urban centers than any other regime of its era.
d. Under Islamic principles trade was limited and every Muslim received the same income.
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31. Manifestations of the Islamic principle of equality were seen in
a. governmental hostility to all merchants.
b. the Muslim policy regarding reincarnation.
c. the treatment of women in the Muslim society.
d. none of the above
32. A primary contribution of Arab scholarship was the
a. creation of original contributions in the areas of astrophysics and geology.
b. preservation and dissemination of the science and philosophies of ancient civilizations.
c. establishment of the university system of study.
d. discovery of the rings of Saturn.
33. A ninth-century Iranian mathematician created
a. chaos theory.
b. algebra.
c. calculus.
d. geometry.
38. Which of the following is not a true statement about Islamic art?
a. The arabesque patterns found on woven Islamic carpets are quite sparse, and leave
many areas without any decoration at all.
b. The likeness of Muhammad is never seen in any Islamic art forms.
c. Non-religious Islamic art did contain many figures of both people and animals.
d. The Islamic prohibition of deity re-incarnation through art is found in the Hadith.
39. The temporary restoration of the imperial Mediterranean world in the sixth century was
accomplished by
a. Constantine.
b. Charlemagne.
c. Justinian.
d. Theodoric.
42. The greatest missionary success of Orthodox Christianity was among the
a. Greeks.
b. Albanians.
c. Palestinians.
d. Russians.
43. The Eastern Roman Empire lost territory in the century after Justinian’s death because
a. Charlemagne seized all the lands west of the Aegean Sea.
b. the armies of Islam seized the provinces of Syria and Palestine.
c. the Vikings occupied the lower Danube valley.
d. Heraclius was defeated by the Goths and Lombards.
44. The Byzantine Empire
a. was captured by Islam in the eighth century.
b. had no definite division between church and state.
c. reduced the position of emperor to that of mere symbolic figurehead.
d. lost vigor under the Macedonian dynasty.
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46. The Christian schism in 1054 resulted from
a. Charlemagne’s claim to head both the church and the state.
b. the Orthodox church’s denial of the divinity of Christ.
c. the Pope’s claim that he was the head of all branches of Christianity, including the
Orthodox church.
d. the Patriarch of Constantinople’s authorization of the burning of religious icons.
47. The eastern emperor appealed for western support against Islam after the
a. defeat of the eastern imperial armies by the Seljuk Turks at Manzikert.
b. defeat of the Byzantine armies by the Ottoman Turks at the battle of Manzikert.
c. victory of the Persians at the battle of Agincourt.
d. victory of the Mongols at the battle of Jerusalem.
48. The zenith of Byzantine civilization was reached in the
a. seventh and eighth centuries under the Romans.
b. fourth and fifth centuries under the Carolingians.
c. thirteenth century under papal rule.
d. fifteenth century under the Seljuk Turks.
e. ninth and tenth century under the Macedonians.
49. Constantinople was captured and sacked by
a. Arabs in 717.
b. Bulgars in 932.
c. Seljuk Turks in 1071.
d. Western Christians in 1204
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