Islamic History Quiz 1

Here are 50 questions on various aspects of our great Islamic civilisation. They can be downloaded as a printable pdf along with the answers at the links below.

1- Who was the first Muslim leader to give free health care to his citizens?

a. Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq

b. Umar ibn al-Khattab

c. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

d. Umar ibn Abdul-Aziz

2- Which Islamic ruling dynasty was founded by the son of Ertuğrul?

a. Umayyads

b. Ottomans

c. Abbasids

d. Mamluks

3- Which prophet was thrown in a well as a young man, sold as a slave, falsely accused, imprisoned and then became a high official in Egypt?

a. Musa (as)

b. Yusuf (as)

c. Salih (as)

d. Yaqub (as)

4- Who did the Prophet ﷺ say was going to rule after him instead of Prophets?

a. Caliphs

b. Kings

c. Emperors

d. Scholars

5- When Imam Ali (ra) brought a Jew to court accusing him of stealing his armour, who did the Qadi (judge) rule in favour of?

a. Imam Ali

b. The Jew

6- Under which Umayyad Caliph was poverty eradicated in North Africa?

a. Mu’awiya ibn Abi Sufyan

b. Umar ibn Abdul-Aziz

c. Al-Walid ibn Abdul-Malik

d. Marwan II

7- Which Abbasid Caliph sent an army to protect one Muslim woman who was abused by the Romans?

a. Al-Mu’tasim

b. Harun al-Rashid

c. Al-Mansur

d. Al-Amin

8- During the Middle Ages what was the main language of science, medicine and mathematics?

a. Middle English

b. French

c. Arabic

d. Urdu

9- The Prophet ﷺ said, “Verily you shall conquer Constantinople. What a wonderful leader will her leader be, and what a wonderful army will that army be!” Which Ottoman Sultan fulfilled this promise?

a. Ertuğrul

b. Abdul-Hamid II

c. Murad II

d. Mehmed II

10- Which Islamic Sultanate gave sanctuary to Jewish refugees fleeing the Spanish inquisition?

a. Ottoman Sultanate

b. Delhi Sultanate

c. Mali Sultanate

d. Seljuk Sultanate

11- Despite their paralyzing grief and shock, what was the main focus of the senior sahabah on the day the Prophet ﷺ passed away?

a. Digging the grave

b. Washing his ﷺ body

c. Electing a Caliph

d. The funeral prayer

12- Which Ottoman Caliph gave aid to the Irish during the famine of 1845?

a. Abdul-Mejid I

b. Abdul-Hamid II

c. Mehmed III

d. Selim III

13- What shape is the ‘Dome of the Rock’?

a. Octagon

b. Hexagon

c. Rectangle

d. Pentagon

14- Which castle is built in the shape of the Arabic word Muhammad when viewed from above?

a. Windsor Castle

b. Rumeli Castle

c. Zarb Castle

d. Al-Arish castle

15- Which Mongol Khanate did NOT embrace Islam?

a. Golden Hordes in the Northeast

b. Great Khanate in China

c. Ilkhanate in the Southeast and Persia

d. Chagatai Khanate in Central Asia

16- On the reverse of the gold dinar minted by Abdul-Malik ibn Marwan in 77H, there are some verses from the Holy Qur’an. From which surah are these verses?

a. Ikhlas

b. Fatiha

c. Kafirun

d. Baqara

17- Which Caliph established the first navy in Islam?

a. Abdul-Hamid II

b. Umar ibn al-Khattab

c. Harun al-Rashid

d. Uthman bin Affan

18- What was the railway called which ran from Damascus to Medina in 1908?

a. Orient Express

b. Medina railway

c. Hejaz railway

d. Damascus railway

19- What disease was cured by a ‘vaccine’ first developed by the Ottomans?

a. Typhoid

b. COVID

c. Malaria

d. Smallpox

20- According to the 2017 Pew Survey how many Muslims in Afghanistan wanted sharia as official law?

a. 90%

b. 99%

c. 50%

d. 5%

21- Which Ottoman Sultan slayed Vlad the Impaler (Dracula)?

a. Murad I

b. Ahmed I

c. Mehmed II

d. Bayezid II

22- Which country nicknamed the Ottoman Caliph Sulayman as “The Magnificent”?

a. France

b. England

c. Italy

d. Turkiye

23- Who was the grandfather of ‘Isa (Jesus)?

a. Zakariya

b. Yahya

c. ‘Imraan

d. Luqman

24- Which Ottoman Caliph stopped France from staging Henri de Bornier’s blasphemous Mohamet play in 1890?

a. Abdul-Aziz

b. Abdul-Mejid I

c. Abdul-Hamid II

d. Murad IV

25- Who did Adam (as) gift 40 years of his life to?

a. Hawa’ (as)

b. Musa (as)

c. Dawud (as)

d. Yusuf (as)

26- Which British overseas territory is named after Tariq bin Ziyad?

a. Turks and Caicos Islands

b. Cayman Islands

c. Falklands Islands

d. Gibraltar

27- Which country contains the largest Muslim population?

a. Pakistan

b. Saudi Arabia

c. Egypt

d. Indonesia

28. Who was the first Muezzin in Islam?

a. Bilal ibn Rabah

b. Abu Bakr as-Siddeeq

c. Umar ibn al-Khattab

d. Ali ibn Abi Talib

29- How many Muslims gave the second pledge of Al-Aqaba to the Prophet ﷺ?

a. 70

b. 73

c. 75

d. 80

30- Who was the last Mughal Sultan of India?

a. Bahadur Shah II

b. Tipu Sultan

c. Aurangzeb

d. Timur

31- What made the Christian Abyssinian Negus cry, when Ja’far ibn Abi Talib spoke with him?

a. Reciting Surah Al-Ikhlaas

b. Reciting the story of ‘Isa (as) where he spoke as an infant and announced his prophethood

c. Reciting Surah Al-Fil

d. Reciting the story of Musa (as) and the parting of the sea which drowned Pharoah’s army

32- Which army general opened up India to Islam in 712CE and served as the first governor of Sindh?

a. Muhammad ibn al-Qasim

b. Qutayba ibn Muslim

c. Tariq bin Ziyad

d. Musa ibn Nusayr

33- Which sahabi is buried in Istanbul (formerly Constantinople)?

a. Abu Ayyub al-Ansari

b. Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas

c. Khalid ibn al-Walid

d. Abu Ubaydah ibn Al-Jarrah

34- After the conquest of Makkah, did the Prophet ﷺ stay in his old house, in which he lived before the hijra?

a. Yes

b. No

35- How did Salahuddin Ayyubi treat the defeated Christian Crusaders after he liberated Jerusalem in 1187?

a. Killed them

b. Released them so they could travel back to Europe

c. Imprisoned them

d. Ransomed them

36- Which sahabi brought Islam to China and is buried in Guangzhou, China?

a. Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas

b. Abdullah ibn Umar

c. Khalid ibn Walid

d. Usama ibn Zayd

37- Which Muslim women founded the first degree-granting university in Fez, Morocco in 859CE?

a. Asma bint Abi Bakr

b. Fatima al-Fihri

c. Al-Shifa’ bint Abdullah.

d. Arwa bint al-Harith

38- During the conquest of Egypt (639-646CE) the daughter of the Egyptian ruler al-Muqawqis, whose name was Armanoosah was captured by the Muslim army. What did they do to her?

a. Enslave her

b. Ransom her

c. Imprison her

d. Free her

39- In which city was the level of scholarship so high, that someone would have to go to Fez in Morocco first, to take prerequisite courses before they could study there?

a. Cairo

b. Madinah

c. Baghdad

d. Timbuktu

40- Who wrote ‘The Canon of Medicine’ first published in 1025CE, and which became a standard textbook in medical schools throughout 18^th century Europe?

a. Al-Khwarizmi

b. Al-Nafis

c. Ibn Sina

d. Al-Razi

41- Why did the leaders of Quraysh decide to kill the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ after 13 years of allowing him to live in Makkah?

a. His ﷺ preaching to Islam

b. His ﷺ decision to make hijra to Medina and establish a state

c. The conversion of some powerful elites from Quraysh

d. Tribal rivalry

42- Islamic coins have been found by archaeologists as far away as Sweden, Britain, and China.

a. True

b. False

43- What helped to guide the principals of Islamic merchants in the Middle Ages?

a. Arab traditions

b. Roman law

c. Persian law

d. The Qur’an

44- During the Battle of Ahzab when the Muslims of Medina were facing annihilation by the mushrikeen, which three lands did the Messenger of Allah ﷺ predict the Muslims would conquer?

a. Ash-Sham, Central Asia, India

b. Ash-Sham, Persia, Yemen

c. Persia, Egypt, India

d. Ash-Sham, Persia, Central Asia

45- What did the son of Nuh (as) say would save him from the flood?

a. The Ark

b. House

c. Tree

d. Mountain

46- Hulagu Khan, the Mongol leader launched an all-out attack on the Muslim world, killing the Abbasid Caliph in 1258 and had Makkah, Medina and Jerusalem in his sights. Which Muslim Mongol ruler defeated Hulagu and destroyed the Mongol invasion?

a. Salahudeen Ayyubi

b. Berke Khan

c. Abdul-Hamid II

d. Sultan Baibars

47- Which football team has the star and crescent as its emblem, in recognition of the Ottoman assistance to Ireland during the Great Famine?

a. Drogheda United

b. Liverpool

c. Celtic

d. Shamrock Rovers

48- What religion was the chief physician of the Ottoman Caliph Sulayman The Magnificent?

a. Muslim

b. Christian

c. Jew

d. Buddhist

49- Which Caliph refused to sell Palestine to pay off the Islamic state’s debts?