281. Both Muslims and Jews deny the
(A) importance of prayer
(B) prophetic teachings of the Hebrew Bible
(C) importance of circumcision
(D) worship of one God
(E) divinity of Jesus
282. Islam is the Arabic word for
(A) submission
(B) prophet
(C) truth
(D) recitation
(E) faith
283. The Abbasids moved the capital of the Muslim world to
(A) Baghdad
(B) Jerusalem
(C) Cordoba
(D) Damascus
(E) Cairo
284. All of the following were true of the Bedouin tribal society that existed before the rise of Islam EXCEPT that
(A) the Kaaba was an important religious shrine
(B) the clan was the main social institution
(C) men often had more than one wife
(D) commercial trade was not practiced because it was considered unmanly
(E) traditions were transmitted primarily through oral poetry and storytelling
285. The Fatimid Caliphate
(A) was one of a number of Shiite caliphates
(B) reached its apex in the 14th century
(C) crushed the Ottoman Turks at Qatwan
(D) ruled Egypt for more than two centuries
(E) consistently persecuted Jews and Christians
286. All of the following are true of the Seljuk Turks EXCEPT that
(A) their expansion led directly to the First Crusade
(B) their alliance with the Ottomans helped doom the Byzantine Empire
(C) they were the first Turks to settle in Anatolia
(D) they came from the central Asian steppes
(E) they conquered Baghdad in 1055
287. The Mughal Empire was founded by
(A) Badr al-Jamali
(B) Baibars
(C) Babur
(D) Bayezid I
(E) Barkyaruq
288. All of the following are true of Sufism EXCEPT that
(A) dhikr (the perpetual remembrance of God) is a central concept
(B) Sufis have often served as missionaries for Islam
(C) to combat orthodox opposition, Sufi devotional practices have been codified
(D) the Persian poet Rumi was a Sufi mystic
(E) it has frequently emphasized asceticism and mysticism
289. Women in the period of the Abbasid Caliphate
(A) increasingly appeared in public records and events
(B) were all confined to harems
(C) were considered chattels
(D) were thought by men to be sexually passive and restrained
(E) adopted the use of the veil after encounters with Byzantine and Persian culture
290. A madrasa is
(A) a Muslim legal document
(B) a Muslim slave of Christian origin
(C) the military marching band of the Janissaries
(D) a Muslim school
(E) a Christian vassal of an Ottoman overlord
291. After the battle of Badr, Muslims attacked this group because they failed to convert to Islam.
(A) Nestorian Christians
(B) Jews
(C) Meccan merchants
(D) The Quraysh tribe
(E) Polytheists
292. Which statement regarding women in the early days of Islam (before 750) is true?
(A) Women benefited from the fact that Islam was not a patriarchal religion.
(B) The Koran permitted female infanticide.
(C) Women could not engage in business activities.
(D) A woman’s testimony in court was not equal to a man’s testimony.
(E) Women were freed from male dominance by the sharia.
293. All of the following were true of Janissaries EXCEPT that they
(A) were noted for their horsemanship and fearless cavalry attacks
(B) went into battle accompanied by mehter music played by military bands
(C) were originally composed of Christian boys levied through the devshirme system
(D) were the first soldiers of a regular army to wear unique uniforms
(E) were the elite soldiers of the Ottoman Empire
294. Which of the following statements is true regarding the Koran?
(A) The Koran assumes some familiarity with the stories in Jewish and Christian scriptures.
(B) The canon of the Koran was finalized during the Abbasid Caliphate.
(C) Muslims believe the Koran is Muhammad’s explanation of God’s words to him.
(D) The Koran is organized by the length of suras, with shorter suras coming first.
(E) The word Koran means “truth” in Arabic.
295. All of the following are true of the Umayyad Caliphate EXCEPT that
(A) it was overthrown in 750 CE
(B) it established Arabic as the official state language
(C) it was still expanding when it was overthrown by the Abbasids
(D) the Umayyads transformed the caliphate from a religious institution to a dynasty
(E) it was noted for its poetry and architecture
296. All of the following are true of the Ottomans EXCEPT that
(A) victories at the battles of Kosovo and Nicopolis placed much of the Balkans under their rule
(B) Ottoman expansion reached its peak in the 16th century
(C) they were originally a nomadic tribe out of Arabia
(D) they conquered Constantinople in 1453
(E) Bursa and Edirne were early capitals of their empire
297. By the 11th century, the characteristics that united the Islamic world did NOT include
(A) language
(B) trade networks
(C) intellectual life
(D) loyalty to a single ruler
(E) the Koran
298. Which of the following is NOT a correct statement concerning the beliefs of Islam?
(A) All Muslims must acknowledge that there is one God called Allah and that Muhammad is his prophet.
(B) All Muslims must pray five times a day while facing Mecca.
(C) All Muslims must fast during the daylight hours during the month of Ramadan.
(D) All Muslims must contribute to the support of the poor and needy.
(E) All Muslims must make at least one pilgrimage (hajj) to either Mecca or Medina during their lifetime.
299. “A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread—and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness—
Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!”
This quatrain was written by
(A) Omar Khayyam
(B) Averroes
(C) Judah Halevi
(D) Kahlil Gibran
(E) Rumi
300. All of the following are true of Muslim economics EXCEPT that Muslims
(A) participated in the trans-Sahara trade
(B) invented the double-entry bookkeeping system
(C) traded with Russia via the Byzantine Empire
(D) developed the forerunners of present-day checks
(E) traded actively in the Indian Ocean
301. The Mamluk soldiers who emerged in the Islamic world
(A) fought only for a single ruler
(B) were mercenaries who maintained their own mounts and arms
(C) were tied to specific estates by oaths of loyalty
(D) moved about independently rather than in groups
(E) were crushed by the Mongols at Ayn Jalut
302. All of the following are true of Maimonides EXCEPT that
(A) his Mishneh Torah is still used as a standard compilation of Jewish law
(B) he served as court physician to Saladin
(C) his Guide for the Perplexed attacked the relevance of philosophy to Jewish theology
(D) he wrote the Guide for the Perplexed in Arabic
(E) he was the most influential Jewish thinker of the Middle Ages
303. All of the following are true of the Cordoba Caliphate EXCEPT that
(A) it was in al-Andalus
(B) it competed with the Umayyad Caliphate for dominance over the Muslim world
(C) Mozarabs played an important role its culture
(D) religious toleration was widely practiced
(E) it was important in the translation of Greek classics
304. Which Muslim city is associated with a famous medieval school of translators?
(A) Isfahan
(B) Toledo
(C) Marrakech
(D) Acre
(E) Lisbon
305. All of the following are classic works of Islamic architecture EXCEPT the
(A) Taj Mahal (India)
(B) Alhambra (Spain)
(C) Selimiye Mosque (Turkey)
(D) Sankore Madrasa (Mali)
(E) Cairo Geniza (Egypt)
306. The city that served as a crucial place for the establishment of Muhammad’s new religion was
(A) Jerusalem, because of its large Jewish population
(B) Constantinople, because it was the capital of the Byzantine Empire
(C) Medina, because Muhammad’s earliest supporters were located there
(D) Jidda, because the Red Sea port was crucial to controlling the Arabian peninsula
(E) Mecca, because it had a prior reputation as a religious and commercial center
307. Which of the following statements is true regarding the so-called Pirenne thesis, named after medieval historian Henri Pirenne?
(A) The failure of Islam to advance technologically after 1200 was caused by inherent flaws in the religion.
(B) Medieval Islam actually pioneered representative democracy.
(C) The Muslim failure to take Constantinople until 1453 doomed Islamic states to second-class political status after 1500.
(D) The “fall of Rome” was caused not by German invasions but by the movement of Islam into the Mediterranean.
(E) Islamic philosophy, technology, and scientific culture saved western Europe from barbarism.
308. The dispute between Shiite and Sunni began over the
(A) choice of caliphs to succeed Muhammad
(B) definitive form of the Koran
(C) treatment of subjects in the conquered territories
(D) acceptability of secular poetry
(E) role of eschatology in Islam
309. A hadith is a
(A) Seljuk tax on Christian residents of Anatolia
(B) form of land ownership common in al-Andalus
(C) Mamluk cavalry soldier
(D) story about Muhammad that carries the force of law
(E) type of erotic Persian poetry that is still written today
310. All of the following are true regarding slavery in Muslim lands EXCEPT that
(A) Islam discouraged the enslavement of free Muslims
(B) Muslims never enslaved Europeans in large numbers
(C) the Koran did not abolish slavery
(D) Arab slave traders enslaved more than five million Africans between 650 and 1800
(E) Muslim rulers in Africa participated in the slave trade
311. The author of the extremely influential book The Canon of Medicine (1025) was known in Europe as
(A) Averroes
(B) Rhazes
(C) Avicenna
(D) Albertus Magnus
(E) Albucasis
312. Compared to the Macedonian renaissance (c. 870–1025) and Carolingian renaissance (c. 790–900), the Islamic renaissance (c. 790–1050) more strongly emphasized
(A) the study of classical literature
(B) art
(C) mathematics
(D) the exegesis of religious texts
(E) architecture
313. El Cid (Rodrigo Diaz)
(A) defeated the Muslim armies in France and saved western Europe
(B) is despised in present-day Spain because he spent many years fighting for the Muslims
(C) won his reputation fighting against the Fatimid Caliphate
(D) is associated with the Spanish city of Madrid
(E) exemplifies the complexity of politics in medieval Spain
314. All of the following were decisive Muslim victories EXCEPT
(A) the battle of Tours (Poitiers) in 732
(B) the battle of Manzikert in 1071
(C) the battle of Constantinople in 1453
(D) the second battle of Taraori in 1192
(E) the battle of Hattin in 1187
315. The work of Al-Khwarizmi, Ibn al-Haytham, Ibn Sina, and Ibn Rushd demonstrated that
(A) medieval Islamic and Christian societies developed in isolation
(B) Islam is naturally hostile to science and philosophy
(C) Islamic thinkers influenced medieval European thought
(D) Islamic thinkers made their work more accessible by writing in Latin
(E) the concept of jihad was alien to Islamic thought
316. All of the following are true of jihad EXCEPT
(A) it is a religious duty of Muslims
(B) it is not one of the Five Pillars of Islam
(C) in medieval Islam, Muslims were allowed to enslave prisoners taken in jihad
(D) the word never appears in the Koran
(E) the word means “struggle” in Arabic
317. The Muslim counterpart to Marco Polo would be
(A) Ibn Battuta
(B) Hakim
(C) Nur ad-Din
(D) Tariq ibn Ziyad
(E) Hasan ibn Sabah
318. The last major city of the Outremer was captured by Muslims in
(A) 1104
(B) 1187
(C) 1191
(D) 1291
(E) 1365
319. In 630, the prestige of Islam was increased and many tribes converted when
(A) Muhammad removed the idols from the Kaaba
(B) Muhammad took control of Mecca
(C) Muhammad completed the Hijra
(D) Muhammad conquered Jerusalem
(E) the Koran was written
320. Ibn Rushd (Averroes) is best known for his work in
(A) poetry
(B) philosophy
(C) optics
(D) medicine