Famous Muslims Trivia Quiz

Answer: 570 AD

Mohammed was born in Mecca, now in Saudi Arabia. His father, Abdullah, died shortly before his birth, and his mother passed away five years later. Mohammed was brought up by his uncle, Abu Talib. At that time, the Meccans worshipped 360 idols-one for every day of their year.

When he was 40, Mohammed saw a vision of the archangel Gabriel. He was told to summon people to worship one God, instead of their 360. When Mecca's leaders started persecuting Mohammed and his followers, they migrated to Medina, whose people converted to Islam, and declared Mohammed their leader. Nine years later, Mohammed advanced towards Mecca with an army of 10,000 faithful believers. Mecca was captured, and its leaders-many of whom had committed brutal atrocities against the Muslims-were granted an immunity by Mohammed, who died three years later, in 632 AD.

Answer: Khadija

She was Mohammed's wife. Ali-son of Abu Talib, Mohammed's uncle-was the first child to accept Islam at the age of ten, Abu Bakar was the first male adult, and Zaid was the first servant to do so.

Answer: Fatima

She was married to Ali, and they had two sons and two daughters -- Hasan, Husain, Zaynab, and Umm-e-Kulthum respectively.

Answer: Abu Bakar

Caliph generally means "Successor of Mohammed." Abu Bakar was chosen to be the caliph after Mohammed's death in 632 AD. He ruled for two years, and under him, the whole of the Arabian peninsula was brought under Islamic rule. He died two years later, handing over the caliphate to Omar.

Most Shia Muslim groups regard Ali ibn Abi Talib as the first caliph; Sunnis consider there to have been three earlier caliphs: Abu Bakar, Umar ibn Al-Khattab, and Uthman ibn Affan.

Answer: Harun al-Rashid

Harun is often found in the stories of the Thousand And One Nights. He ruled from 786 AD till 809 AD, and was known to have diplomatic relationships with Charlemagne and China.

Answer: Saladin

Saladin was the sultan (king) of Egypt. He lived from 1138 till 1193.

Answer: Sultan Mehmet

Constantinople was renamed Istanbul, and remained the capital of the Ottoman Empire until its decline after WWI.

Answer: Babur

His full name was Zahiruddin Babur. He was a descendant of Genghis Khan. His grandson, Akbar, the third Mogul emperor, was a great patron of arts and architecture. Shah Jehan, the fifth Mogul emperor, had the Taj Mahal, the Mosque of Delhi, and the Lahore Fort built. Under his son, Aurangzeb, nearly the whole of the Indian subcontinent was brought under Mogul rule.

The last Mogul emperor, Bahadur Shah II "Zafar" was defeated by the British in the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857, and spent his last days in exile, in Rangoon, Burma.

Answer: Tipu Sultan

He was the ruler of the South-Indian state of Mysore. His defeat in 1799 was because of the betrayal of several of his highest-ranking officers.

Answer: Jinnah

He was born in 1876 in Karachi, now in present-day Pakistan. A lawyer by profession, he led the political war for Pakistan's independence from British rule. He died of tuberculosis in 1948, one year after Pakistan achieved freedom.

Answer: Nasser

Nasser was born in Alexanderia in 1918. Under him, building of the Aswan Dam was started. Nasser died of a heart attack in 1970, with thousands of people mourning for their lost leader.

Answer: Ataturk

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was born in 1881 and was responsible for building a successful, modern, secular state on the ruins of the Ottoman Empire. He died in 1938.

Answer: Ayotollah Khomeini

Khomeini was born in Iran in 1902. Exiled by Mohammed Reza Shah Pehlavi, he moved to Turkey, then to Iraq, and then to France. In 1979, he returned, after the triumph of the Islamic Revolution. Khomeini became Iran's Supreme Leader and died in 1989. His funeral was attended by hundreds of thousands of followers.

Answer: Shah Faisal

He became king of Saudi Arabia in 1964 after King Saud's abdication. He was assassinated by a nephew in 1975, and was succeeded by Crown Prince Khalid.

Answer: Yusuf Islam