Truths And Untruths About Islam Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. It is often overlooked that Muslims consider the stories of the Bible to be part of Revelation as well, and are familiar with many Biblical characters. Which of these four is a "character" in Arabic tradition but NOT in the Christian or Jewish Bible?

Answer: Zuhara

Suleyman is Solomon; Yusuf is Joseph and Musa is Moses.
Zuhara is the one whom the Romans called Venus.

2. Under which of these names is Jesus known to the Muslims?

Answer: Isa

Yunus is Jonas; Nuh is Noah and Azrael is the Angel of Death.
Another important Angel is Israphel who blows on his trumpet on Judgment Day. And Malik is the Angel who is in charge of Hellfire.
Malakut is the Heaven of the Angels.

3. In contrast to Sunnite Muslims Shi'ites do not believe in the Sunnah.

Answer: False

Sunnites and Shi'ites both believe in both the Quran and the example set by Muhammad's life (Sunnah). They also both believe in the Hadith or "narrations" of Muhammad's life and of what he approved or disapproved of, though Shi'ites believe in Hadith brought down solely by Muhammad or his direct descendants as they believe all others to be "corrupt".

In contrast to the Sunnites the Shi'ites add to all that the "shia", which could be described as the views of Ali, one of the successors to Muhammad.

4. Which of these is, in the view of Muslims, NOT one of the "signs" of the Approach of the Day of Judgment?

Answer: The Conversion of the Jews to Islam

Increasing moral and religious decadence, increasing drinking of wine and spirits, increasing vice and lechery, generalised murder and crime all are "signs" of the coming of the Day of Reckoning.
Air pollution in the Islamic sense of the word may not be what the Kyoto Conference means by the term, but it definitely is a poisoning of the atmosphere and a darkening of the skies. The Arabic term is Ad-Duchan.

5. What was the name of the one who disobeyed Allah's order that all angels and jinns should bow down to newly-created Adam, and was therefore banished from Allah's Grace, and became a Tempter of Men?

Answer: Iblees

Iblees became Shaytan when he refused to obey the order to fall prostrate before Adam.
Zeit and Narr are Arabic words for "oil" and "fire". According to the Qur'an 7:12 Shaytan was created out of fire.
According to the Qur'an 18:50 Shaytan could also be called a Djinn which in essence means "somebody who remains hidden". This should not be understood however as if Shaytan were just another jinn.
Though djinns are often unreliable, there also are pious djinns.
What is essentially typical of djinns is their being able to see us without being seen by us. They remain hidden. Some of them kind of misbehave by misleading humans e.g. by mixing the true information they get by eavesdropping on the angels with untruths of their own making. Yet being mischievous is not part of their essence.

6. Apart from the three separators, how many beads to pray with are usually in the misbaha, the prayer chain that might be called the Muslim version of the Roman Catholic rosary?

Answer: 33

33 beads is practical because in that way the misbaha can be used to recite the 99 'most beautiful names of Allah'. 66- and 99-beaded misbaha do occur as well.
114 is the number of suras, or chapters, in the Qu'ran.

7. Al Fattah is one of the 99 "most beautiful names of Allah". What does it mean?

Answer: The Opener

Al Hafiz is the Protector. Al Quddus is the Holy. Al-Salam is the Peaceful. A website dealing with the ninety-nine names points to the basic problem of transliterating Arabic names into English. See www.salaamway.de/salaamwayenglish/modules/news/article.php?item_id=8

8. Which of these specializes in "law" rather than in theology?

Answer: the Mufti

The Muezzin is the crier who from a minaret or other high point of a mosque at stated hours five times daily intones aloud the call summoning Muslims to prayer. The Imam is a recognized religious leader or teacher. The Sheikh is the patriarch of a tribe or family. The word is related to shah which means king.
The Mufti is in Islamic law the attorney who writes his opinion on legal subjects for private clients or to assist judges in deciding cases.

9. The Ka'ba already existed before the Revelation of the Qu'ran to the Prophet.

Answer: True

The Ka'ba contains the Black Stone, possibly a fragment of a meteor, lava or basalt. It is now in three large pieces, plus smaller fragments, which are tied together with a silver band.
In the view of Muslims this does not yet mean that it is "older than Islam" as in their views Revelation begins BEFORE Muhammad. Adam, Ibrahim, and Ismail are prophets too.
More info on Islam at www.geocities.com/hayatanneosman/American-Muslim.html and groups.yahoo.com/group/IslamIstheTruth

10. Muslims don't like to be called Muhammedans.

Answer: True

The name Muhammedan might suggest they believe in Muhammad rather than in Allah. Muhammad saw himself as only one in a succession of prophets and as the prophet who finalized a process of Revelation in which Ibrahim had already played a role.It might even be said that in the Muslim view Adam already had known Allah and was the "first believer".

Source: Author flem-ish

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor nerthus before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Most people have a poor knowledge of other religions than the one they adhere to. See how much you know about what Muslims believe, and whether you can distinguish between rumours and truths about Islam.

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