World History APTAKE HOME QUIZ Chapters #6-8 Quiz
Multiple-Choice Questions
1) Which of the following cultures found in the Arabian peninsula was most significant in shaping the development of Islam?
A) Bedouin
B) Urban
C) Sedentary agricultural villages
D) Hunting and gathering
E) Medieval
(Page Ref: 128, Topic: Desert and Town: The Arabian World and the Birth of Islam, Skill: Conceptual)
2) Which of the following regions was NOT affected by Islam during its early history (prior to 750 C.E.)?
A) North Africa
B) Europe
C) Asia
D) South America
E) Sub-Saharan Africa
(Page Ref: 129, Topic: Introduction, Skill: Factual)
3) Leaders of bedouin clans were called
A) shaykhs
B) wazirs
C) mawali
D) dhows
E) imams
(Page Ref: 129, Topic: Desert and Town: The Arabian World and the Birth of Islam, Skill: Factual)
4) What was the Kaʹba?
A) The tribe that dominated Mecca
B) The name given to Muhammad’s flight from Mecca
C) The port of Mecca
D) The religious shrine that was the focus of an annual truce
E) The belief in the goodness of holy war
(Page Ref: 131, Topic: Desert and Town: The Arabian World and the Birth of Islam, Skill: Factual)
5) Which of the following statements most accurately describes the status of women in Bedouin society prior to Islam?
A) Women were regarded as little more than property with neither rights nor status.
B) Descent in bedouin tribes was strictly patrilineal.
C) Women were the equals of males in the rugged society of the desert bedouin.
D) They enjoyed greater freedom and higher status then Byzantine and Persian women.
E) Women were permitted to take more than one husband (with approval of their mother).
(Page Ref: 131, Topic: Desert and Town: The Arabian World and the Birth of Islam, Skill: Conceptual)
6) What was the initial response of the Umayyads to Muhammad’s new faith?
A) They regarded him as a threat to their wealth and power as he questioned the traditional gods of the Ka’ba.
B) They sought to protect him from a plot on his life by the Banu Hashim.
C) The Umayyads immediately accepted Muhammad as their religious and political leader and the chief power in Mecca.
D) The Umayyads simply ignored Muhammad as an insignificant member of a weak clan.
E) They sought him as an ally against the Sassinians and the Byzantines.
(Page Ref: 133, Topic: The Life of Muhammad and the Genesis of Islam, Skill: Conceptual)
7) What was the principle advantage of the Islamic concept of the ummah?
A) It provided a clear principle of political succession that would provide the basis for an
Islamic state.
B) It provided for an annual treaty that would restore the trade routes of Arabia.
C) It provided dietary restrictions that allowed for more equitable distribution of food in Arabia.
D) It transcended old tribal boundaries and made possible political unity among Arab clans.
E) It emphasized the value of individualism and fostered self-reliance among the Bedouin tribes.
(Page Ref: 134, Topic: The Life of Muhammad and the Genesis of Islam, Skill: Conceptual)
8) Which of the following statements concerning the ethical system of early Islam is NOT correct?
A) Islam stressed the dignity of all believers and their equality in the eyes of Allah.
B) Islam stressed the responsibility of the wealthy and strong to care for the poor and weak.
C) A tax for charity was obligatory in the new faith.
D) The teachings of the Prophet and the Quran were not formally incorporated into a body of law.
E) It recognized the truth of similar ethical ideas in Judaism and Christianity.
(Page Ref: 135-136, Topic: The Life of Muhammad and the Genesis of Islam, Skill: Conceptual)
9) What was Muhammad’s teaching with respect to the revelations of other monotheistic religions?
A) Muhammad accepted the earlier Christian revelations, but rejected completely any influence from Judaism.
B) Muhammad accepted the earlier Judaic revelations, but rejected completely any influence from Christianity.
C) Muhammad accepted the validity of earlier Christian and Judaic revelations and taught that his own revelations were a final refinement and reformulation of earlier ones.
D) Muhammad stressed that only his own revelations had merit and that others were works of the devil.
E) Muhammad taught that monotheistic religion was compatible with polytheism.
(Page Ref: 135, Topic: The Life of Muhammad and the Genesis of Islam, Skill: Conceptual)
10) Which of the following is NOT among the five pillars of Islam?
A) A confession of faith
B) Hajj
C) Charity
D) Pilgrimage to Medina
E) Fasting during Ramadan
(Page Ref: 136, Topic: The Life of Muhammad and the Genesis of Islam, Skill: Conceptual)
11) What happened after Muhammad’s death in 632?
A) Many of the bedouin tribes renounced Islam.
B) Islam ceased to exist until it was reestablished under the Umayyad dynasty at Damascus.
C) After a lengthy period of grief, the tribes selected a new leader based on the established principle of succession in the Quran.
D) A military commander, Khalid ibn al-Walid, was chosen as leader of Islam.
E) Islam remained unified under the leadership of Ali.
(Page Ref: 136, Topic: The Arab Empire of the Umayyads, Skill: Conceptual)
12) The office of the political and religious successor of Muhammad was called
A) wazir
B) dhow
C) Karbala
D) Caliph
E) Ayan.
(Page Ref: 136, Topic: The Arab Empire of the Umayyads, Skill: Factual)
13) Why did the Arab warriors not want to convert large numbers of people to Islam?
A) Muhammad specifically stated that Islam could only be spread among the Arabs.
B) They would have had to share their booty and would have lost tax revenues.
C) They lacked the political organization to govern them and feared insurrection by non-Arabs.
D) Conversion would have slowed down the process of conquest.
E) They wanted to keep high religious offices among themselves.
(Page Ref: 137, Topic: The Arab Empire of the Umayyads, Skill: Conceptual)
14) Which of the following areas of the Byzantine Empire was NOT conquered by the Muslims by 650 C.E.?
A) Palestine
B) Egypt
C) Syria
D) Asia Minor
E) Iraq
(Page Ref: 137, Topic: The Arab Empire of the Umayyads, Skill: Factual)
15) The political and theological faction within Islam that recognized only Ali and the descendants of the family of Muhammad as rightful rulers was called
A) Shi'is
B) Sunnis
C) Kharij
D) Fiqhs
E) Sufis.
(Page Ref: 138, Topic: The Arab Empire of the Umayyads, Skill: Conceptual)
16) What was the most significant of the transformations brought about by the Abbasid’s rise to power?
A) The final defeat of the Byzantine Empire with the capture of Constantinople
B) The mawali were admitted as full members of the Islamic community
C) The destruction of absolutism within Islamic government
D) The destruction of Sunni influences within Islam
E) Victory in the Crusades and the conquest of Spain
(Page Ref: 143, Topic: From Arab to Islamic Empire, Skill: Conceptual)
17) What was the nature of the Abbasid government?
A) The Abbasids abandoned the formality and absolutism of the Umayyads and established an open and representative government.
B) The Abbasids outdid the Umayyads in establishing an absolutist government symbolized by the growing powers of the wazirs and the sinister presence of the executioner.
C) The Abbasid government represented a return to the principles of government in the first days of the Orthodox caliphate.
D) The Abbasids continued the policies of the Umayyads virtually without change, including the maintenance of an exclusively Arabic elite.
E) The Abbasid government was extremely efficient due to the influence of Byzantine advisors.
(Page Ref: 143, Topic: From Arab to Islamic Empire, Skill: Conceptual)
18) What was the primary cultural contribution of the Muslims during the Abbasid period?
A) The Muslims were able to recover and preserve the works of the ancient philosophers as well as transmit ideas and culture from one civilization to another.
B) The Muslims became extraordinarily adept at portraiture, focusing on depictions of Muhammad and the early caliphs.
C) Although the material culture of the Abbasid period remained poor, Muslims were able to make some advances in music.
D) Islamic learning was necessarily unique, as they had no access to the ancient traditions of philosophy and science.
E) Islamic culture combined the achievements of earlier civilizations such as the Harappan and the Aryans.
(Page Ref: 148, Topic: From Arab to Islamic Empire, Skill: Conceptual)
19) What was the fictional account of life at the court of the Caliph al-Rashid?
A) Shah-nama
B) The Treasure of Ali Baba
C) Analects
D) The Thousand and One Nights
E) Rubaiiyat
(Page Ref: 153; Topic: The Islamic Heartlands in the Middle and Late Abbasid Era; Skill: Factual)
20) What changes occurred during the Abbasid period with respect to women?
A) The establishment of the harem
B) The legislation of multiple marriages for women
C) The creation of Islamic nunneries
D) Legislation against concubinage and prostitution
E) Women were allowed to take more than one husband.
(Page Ref: 154-155; Topic: The Islamic Heartlands in the Middle and Late Abbasid Era; Skill: Conceptual)
21) Which of the following statements concerning women during the Abbasid era is most accurate?
A) No Islamic women engaged in labor.
B) Women often married at puberty, set at age nine.
C) Rich women had many career outlets in Islamic cities.
D) Abbasid women had vastly greater freedom than did women in the first century of Islam.
E) Women often practiced polygamy.
(Page Ref: 154-155; Topic: The Islamic Heartlands in the Middle and Late Abbasid Era; Skill: Conceptual)
22) Who was the Muslim leader responsible for the reconquest of most of the territories belonging to the Christian crusaders?
A) Firdawsi
B) Muhammad ibn Qasim
C) al-Ghazali
D) Saladin
E) Umar
(Page Ref: 155; Topic: The Islamic Heartlands in the Middle and Late Abbasid Era; Skill: Factual)
23) What accounts for the success of the First Crusade?
A) The overwhelming military superiority of Western military technology
B) The contemporary emergence of the Christian Seljuk Turks in Baghdad
C) Muslim political fragmentation and the element of surprise
D) The support and cooperation of the Jewish community of the Holy Land
E) The Byzantine Empire provided naval support and the use of “Greek fire”
(Page Ref: 155; Topic: The Islamic Heartlands in the Middle and Late Abbasid Era; Skill: Conceptual)
24) What was the impact of the Crusades on the Christian West?
A) Christians adopted military techniques, words, scientific learning, and Arabic numerals among other things.
B) Christians rejected most Muslim influence, although they did gain a taste for Muslim wines and liquors.
C) There was no Muslim influence on the Christian West.
D) The Crusades interrupted the trade of the Mediterranean and cut off the West from Islam until 1293.
E) The Crusades led to an extension of feudalism through the use of Islamic silver.
(Page Ref: 156-157; Topic: The Islamic Heartlands in the Middle and Late Abbasid Era; Skill: Conceptual)
25) What was the impact of the Crusades on Islam?
A) The Muslims adopted military technology, words, and scientific knowledge among other things from the West.
B) Although they resisted most influence, the Muslims did acquire a taste for Western cuisine.
C) In the long run, there was little impact on Islamic culture and society.
D) The Crusades temporarily cut off all exchange between the West and Islam.
E) Islam fell into decline and was eclipsed by the Mongols.
(Page Ref: 156; Topic: The Islamic Heartlands in the Middle and Late Abbasid Era; Skill: Conceptual)
26) How did the political center of Islam change after the Mongol invasions?
A) Baghdad remained the capital of Islam, but under the control of successive Mongol dynasties.
B) The center of Islam passed with the withdrawal of the invaders into the steppes of central Asia.
C) Baghdad was supplanted by Cairo to the east and soon thereafter Istanbul to the north.
D) The political center of Islam was removed to sub-Saharan Africa.
E) Mongolian became the language of politics and commerce.
(Page Ref: 160; Topic: An Age of Learning and Artistic Achievement; Skill: Conceptual)
27) How did Islam and Hinduism differ?
A) Hinduism stressed the egalitarianism of all believers, while Islam was more rigid in terms of orthodox belief.
B) Islam stressed the egalitarianism of all believers, while Hinduism was more rigid in terms of orthodox belief.
C) Islam stressed the egalitarianism of all believers, while Hinduism embraced a caste-based social system.
D) Hinduism stressed the egalitarianism of all believers, while Islam embraced a caste-based social system.
E) Hinduism was monotheistic, while Islam was polytheistic but both had a supreme God.
(Page Ref: 162; Topic: The Coming of Islam to South Asia; Skill: Conceptual)
28) What was the most critical cultural advance as a result of the increased contact between Muslims and Indian civilization?
A) Muslims adopted the Hindu pantheon of gods.
B) Muslim commerce was increasingly dominated by the merchant caste of India.
C) Muslims adopted the Indian system of mathematical notation.
D) Muslims adopted the highly stratified social system common in Indian civilization.
E) India adopted Islamic science and Sufi literary techniques.
(Page Ref: 163; Topic: The Coming of Islam to South Asia; Skill: Conceptual)
29) What groups in India were most likely to convert to Islam?
A) Brahmins and merchants
B) Raja and warriors
C) Members of the administrative machinery of the Islamic kingdoms
D) Buddhists and low caste Hindus
E) Sikhs and sultans
(Page Ref: 164-165; Topic: The Coming of Islam to South Asia; Skill: Factual)
30) In general, how did Islam spread in southeast Asia?
A) Port cities were points of dissemination to other links in trading networks.
B) Most of southeast Asia was converted to Islam after the military victories of Qutb-ud-din Aibak.
C) Islam was carried to southeast Asia from China.
D) Trade to southeast Asia from Africa and Persia established Islamic centers on the mainland from which conversion took place.
E) Isolated regimes were visited by dervishes and other Sufi sects.
(Page Ref: 167; Topic: The Spread of Islam to Southeast Asia; Skill: Conceptual)
31) Which of the following statements concerning political and religious universality in Africa is most accurate?
A) Although a universal empire did not develop in Africa, Islam provided a principle of universality in the continent.
B) During the postclassical period, Africa was politically united under a single government but remained religiously diverse.
C) Universal religions found no adherents in Africa, a fact that helps to account for the failure of a universal political system to develop.
D) Neither universal states nor universal religion characterized Africa, but both Christianity and Islam did find adherents in Africa.
E) There were no similarities in the various African religious beliefs that led to an easy acceptance of universal religions.
(Page Ref: 174; Topic: African Societies: Diversity and Similarities; Skill: Conceptual)
32) African societies organized around kinship or other forms of obligation and lacking the concentration of political power and authority were referred to as
A) stateless.
B) pastoral groupings.
C) Bantu conical clans.
D) Islamic tribes.
E) proto-empires.
(Page Ref: 175; Topic: African Societies: Diversity and Similarities; Skill: Conceptual)
33) What region of Africa was first converted to Islam by 700 C.E.?
A) East Africa
B) Central Africa
C) West Africa
D) North Africa
E) South Africa
(Page Ref: 176; Topic: African Societies: Diversity and Similarities; Skill: Factual)
34) What was the most important Christian kingdom in Africa?
A) Mali
B) Songhay
C) Kongo
D) Ethiopia
E) Egypt
(Page Ref: 177; Topic: African Societies: Diversity and Similarities; Skill: Factual)
35) Why was Islam so readily adopted by rulers within the Sudan?
A) They were all conquered by overwhelming Muslim armies and forcibly converted to Islam.
B) The Muslim concept of a ruler who united civil and religious authority reinforced traditional ideas of kingship.
C) The Muslim concept of religious equality allowed rulers to dispose of the traditional clans and lineages of Africa.
D) As a monotheistic religion, Islam was much like the traditional religions of Africa.
E) Their conversion had been prophesied for many years by the griots who were considered the most important advisors for the monarchy.
(Page Ref: 182; Topic: Kingdoms of the Grasslands; Skill: Conceptual)
36) What was the relationship between Islam and the indigenous religions of Africa?
A) Islamic teachers attempted to eradicate the animist indigenous religions of Africa.
B) Because both indigenous African religion and Islam were monotheistic, the two became inextricably intertwined.
C) Islam was able to accommodate pagan practices and beliefs in the early stages of conversion
D) Islam successfully overcame indigenous religious beliefs, and almost all Africans converted to Islam.
E) Islam was less flexible than Christianity in accepting the styles and forms of native worship.
(Page Ref: 182; Topic: Kingdoms of the Grasslands; Skill: Conceptual)
37) How was the institution of slavery viewed in Muslim society?
A) In theory, slavery was seen as a stage in the process of conversion of pagans to Islam.
B) Slavery was believed to be a permanent condition that rendered the enslaved incapable of entering heaven.
C) Slavery was viewed as so demeaning that those who were enslaved were good for nothing beyond labor in the fields or the mines.
D) Slavery was eradicated in Islamic society because of the emphasis on the equality of all believers.
E) Slaves could never be used as eunuchs or concubines but instead, had to convert to Islam before they could be sold again.
(Page Ref: 182; Topic: Kingdoms of the Grasslands; Skill: Conceptual)
38) How did the expansion of Islam aid in the creation of international trade on the east African coastline?