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SELF-TEST YOUR ',tSLAM QUOTTENT'
By Laurence Michalak
Check Judaism. Christianity. and/or Islam:
lslam
Judaism Christianity
Abraham is an important figure
Jesus is an important figure
Muhammad is an important figure
Circumsion of males is a rite of passage
Marriage is a contract
Wine is an important part of ritual
Veneration of a central holy book
A monotheistic Middle Eastern religion
Belief in original sin
Belief in prophets
A patriarchal religion
Belief in the virgin bilth
Eve was created from Adam's rib
Jerusalem is a holy city
Writc the Western forms of these Arabic names:
15. Issa
16. Yusuf
17. Ibrahim
18. Ayyub
19. Miriam
20. Hawa
21. Musa
22. Yunus
23. Harun
24. Dawud
25. Gibril
26. Yahya
Define brieflv:
27. Islam28. Sunni *
29. Shi'a 30. Sufi 31. jihad 32. hijra 33. shirk 34. syncretism 35. orthodoxy 36. orthopraxis Circle True or False:
37. Female circumcision is practiced throughout the Middle East
and is approved by most Muslims.
38. Muslims bow toward the East when they pray.
39. "Allah" is the word for "God" used by Arabic-speaking
Muslims, Christians and Jews.
40. The Qur'an says that men and women should dress modestly.
TF
TF
TF
TF
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4r.
44.
45.
42.
43.
Fill in the Blanks:
The Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar which begins with the flight of the Prophet Muhammad in the year (46) ______A.D. from Makkah to (41)
__. The holy shrine in Makkah
In 1995 there were in the world,
which contains a black stone is called the (48)
four women as elected heads of state. Three of these were Muslim women; the Muslim countries where they had been elected were (49)
, (50)
________, and
(51) ____
ristan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan,
___. A Muslim nation bordered by Turkmenistan,
About one out of every (53) ____
China, Pakistan, and Iran, is (52)
people in the world is a Muslim. An Islamic people whose men cover their faces in public but
whose women do not is the (54) ____
Islam is a world religion. The largest Muslim population of any country in the world (180
million) is not in the Middle East but in the South Asian country of (55)
The seiond, third, and fourth largest populations of Muslims ari: not'in inJMi-ilale-trist?-ittr-er,
but in the countries of Pakistan (about 140 million Muslims), (56)
_ (with
(with about 110 million Muslims).
(57) ____
about 140 million Muslims) and (57)
Muslims)
______(with
pqpulation.of.about
region of the w
world with a Muslim population
The Middle East is the resion
of about 380 million;
million: it
includes the countries with the 6th,
6th. 7th,
7tl and Sth largest Muslim populations, each with about
60 million Muslims; these are (58)
; (se)
, and (60)
population
far
the
largest
Muslim
The
country
with
by
in
Sub-Saharan
Africa,
___.
. The Cehtial Asian country with the largest
with 50 mlli-ion Muslims,ls (61)
(62)
populauon (23
is----ls
(oz.) _. And the country with the
(zJ .millioq)
million) ig_(
mlllron)
Muslim
Muslim population
Musllm
population
Hemisphere, estimated at between 5 and 8 million IS
in
the
Western
largest Muslim
(63) _____
For discussion (no right or wrong answers):
Jot down five words that come to mind when you hear the word "Muslim."
4.
5.
1.
2.
3..
Answer IGy (It is best to make a copy of the test and write in the answers using this "key" and use it in leading
a discussion): 1.IJC,2.[C,3.I,4. IJ,5. IJ,6. JC,7. IJC, 8. IJC,9. C, 10. IJC, l1.IJC,12.IC, 13. JC, 14. IJC,
15. Jesus, 16. Joseph, 17. Abraham, 18. Job, 19. Mary, 20.8ve,21. Moses, 22.Ionah,23. Aaron, 24.David,25.
Gabriel,26. John,27.peace through submission to the will of God,28. "of the tradition" - the mainstream form
of Islam, 29. "partisans" of the line of Ali as Caliph of Islam, 30. a mystical form of Islam, 31. holy struggle,
either personal or collective, 32.622 A.D., Muhammad flees to Medina, calendar begins,33. the heresy of
associating other gods with God, 34. mixing practices and/or beliefs of multiple religions, 35. emphasis on
correct belief,36. emphasis on correct action,37. False,38. False,39. True,40. Ture,4l. professing beliefin the
one God and Muhammad as his messeng er, 42. praying five times a day, 43. giving charity to the poor, 44.
fasting during the month of Ramadan, 45. pilgrimage to Makkah by those who can do so, 46.622,47. Medina,
48. Kaaba,49. Turkey, 50. Bangladesh,5l. Pakistan, 52. Afghanistan, 53. five, 54. Tuareg,55. Indonesia,56.
India,57. Bangladesh,58. Turkey,59. Iran,60. Egypt,61. Nigeria,62. Uzbekistan,63. The U.S.A.
Laurence Michalak is the Director of Outreach
for
the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Califomia, Berkeley
Islam
PRE-TEST: THREE HOLY BOOKS
Teacher: This is a good pre-test designed to stimulate discussion of a less well-known religion,
Islam. Take the test yourself, before you turn the page to look at the answer key, and
you'll discover what a good conversation starter this can be.
Directions: For each quotation, indicate which is the source by writing a letter in the blank.
Testament) B. The New Testament C. The Qur,an
dwell thou and thy wife in the Garden; and eat of the bountiful
A. Jewish Scripture (The Old
-- 1.
We said: "O Adam!
things therein as ye
sion"
---2.
We sent Noah to his people: he said, "O my people! Worship God!Ye have no other
god but Him. Will ye not hear Him?"
---3.
And (remember) Job, when he cried to his Lord, "Truly distress has seized me. But
Thou are the Most Merciful of those who are merciful."
---4.
We sent an inspiration to Moses: "Travel by night with My servants, and strike a dry
path for them through the sea, without fear of being overtaken by Pharaoh and without
any other fear."
---5.
O ye Children of Israel!We delivered you from your enemy, and we made a Covenant with you on
the right side of Mount Sinai, andWe sent down to you Manna and quails...
---6.
Behold! Abraham said to his father and his people: "I do indeed clear myself of what
ye worship: I worship only Him Who made me, and He will certainly guide me."
---7.
We have sent thee inspiration, as We sent it to Noah, and the messengers after him: We
sent inspiration to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, to Jesus, Job, Jonah,
Aaron, and Solomon, and to David We gave the Psalms.
---8.
Say: "We believe in God, and in what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to
Abraham, Ismail; Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, and in (the Books) given to Moses,
Jesus, and the Prophets, from their Lord: We make no distinction between one and
another among them, and to God do we bow our will (in Islam).
Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of God, and
the Seal of the Prophets: and God has full knowledge of all things.
----9.
will; but approach not this tree, or ye run into harm
and transgres-
---10.
She (Mary) said: "How shall I have a son, seeing that no man has touched me, and I
am not unchaste?' He said: "So it will be: thy Lord saith, 'That is easy for Me: and We
wish to appoint him as a Sign unto man and a Mercy from Us.' It is a matter so decreed"
---11.
When Jesus found unbelief on their part he said: "Who
of God?" Said the Disciples: "'We are God's helpers..."
will
be my helpers in the work
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Answer Key for Pre-Test: Three Holy Books:
ALL ARE FROM THE QUR'AN!
l.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Sura 2, ayat 35
Sura 23, ayat 23
Sura 21, ayat 83
Sura 20, ayat77
Sura 20, ayat 80
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
1
l.
Sura 43, ayat26
Sura 4, ayat 163
Sura 3, ayat 84
Sura 33, ayat 40
Sura 12, ayat20-21
Sura 3, ayat 52
(Yusuf Ali Translations)
Teacher: here are some comments you might make following the revealing of the answer
key and the general surprise that results:
Islam sees itself as part of that historic continuum of revealed religions. The Qur'an declares it is the culmination and the completion of earlier divine revelations - revelations that began with Adam (the first
Prophet) and continue through a long line that includes Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus. Muhammad
is not the founder of Islam - rather he is the last in a long line of messengers.
2) Mary (Maryam in Arabic) is venerated in Islam. Though other women are mentioned in the Qur'an, Mary has
an entire chapter which bears her name, "Mary's Chapter." The Qur'an tells the story of theVirgin
Birth of Jesus. (It would be safe to say, since all Muslims regard the Qur'an as the literal word of God,
that there are more Muslims who believe in the Virgin birth of Jesus than there are Christians who
believe in the Virgin birth.) Mary is a Prophet ("in the company of those nearest to God") in Islam,
and another verse (3:45) confirms Jesus as the promised "Messiah."
5) Many stories familiar through Jesus and Christian scripture find re-telting in Qur'an. And many times, it is
enough for God to simply reference a story the listener already knows. A "remember Job" recalls for
the listener the entire story, so that in the Qur'anic context the reference becomes a metaphor for
1)
something else.
4) you may think that what you have been examining is an English "translation" of the Qur'an, but a Muslim
would be quick to point out that it is an English "interpretation." The Qur'an is inArabic, and everything else is an interpretation. This points to the importance of scholarship in Islam. It should not be
inferred that Arabic is therefore a chosen language or that Arabs are somehow special/chosen people'
Nothing of the sort exists in Islam. It is simply an acknowledgement that any time someone attempts
to translate a work, what we end up with is at best "a record of an encounter" between the translator
and the text they are working on - but it is not that text in another language.
5) Earlier versions of this pre-test used exclusively "Old Testament" as the first choice (A). It should be noted to
students that such terminology is from a Christian-centric perspective, and therefore we have used
,,Jewish Scripture" with the notation (Old Testament) in parenthesis. Biblical scholars might prefer the
terminolgy "Hebrew Bible" to be used here, but we felt "Jewish Scripture" would better convey to
students the point we were trying to make about "someone else's perspective."
Pre-Test: Three Religions
lslam
By Audrey Shabbas
Teacher: This is a wonderful exercise as a pre-test, for it will elicit a lot of discussion. Some students will argue
that questions can be interpreted in a number of ways and that there are not always hard and fast answers. (This
in itself is a valuable thing for them to experience.) You will quickly get a sense of how much knowledge students have about Judaism and Christianity. Many statements raise further questions, i.e. "What was I [teacher]
trying to say when I phrased question 24; how is it different from question 22?" See the answer key (which must
be "taken with a grain of salt") for comments eliciting further discussion of certain questions.
Matching: Questions may have more than one correct answer. Write "J" if the statement is true regarding
Judaism, "C" for Christianity, "I" for Islam.
1. The principal early figures of this religion were Middle Easterners.
2. The Qur'an is one of their holy books.
3. A follower of this religion is called a Jew.
4. Jesus was its founder.
5. The youngest or newest of the major religions.
6. They believe in both the Old and New Testaments.
7. Make a pilgrimage to Makkah.
8. The oldest of the three religions.
9. Believe that Abraham is the father of their people.
10. Face Makkah when they pray.
11. Is a "monotheistic" religion.
12.
A follower of this religion is called a Christian.
13. They believe there is no god but God.
14. Call their "church" a synagogue.
15. Believe their religion is for all the world; actively seek converts.
16. Began as a Jewish sect.
17. Muhammad is their last prophet.
18. Old Testament (Jewish Scripture) is their primary holy book.
-----19.
The Middle East is the birthplace of this religion.
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-----20.
Regard Abraham and Moses as prophets or wise leaders.
_____21. Regard Jerusalem as a holy city.
22. The "church" is called a mosque.
23. A follower of this religion is called a Muslim.
_____24. Call their "mosque" a church.
25. Recognize Jesus in their religion.
26. Discourages pictures or statues of their religious leaders.
_____27 . Prohibits the eating of pork.
-----28.
Accepts the story of Adam and Eve as part of their tradition.
_____29. Today contains many branches or sects.
-----30.
Has a creation story about God creating the universe out of nothing.
Answer Key: for Pre-Test: Three Religions
1. JCI
6. CI
1 1. JCI
16.
2.r
7.r
12. C
t7.
3.J
8.J
13. JCI
18.
4.C
5. I
9. J,I
10. I
14.
15.
I
CI
C
I
I
19. JCI
20. JCI
21. JCI
22.I
23.1
24. C
25, C,I
26. T,T
27 . J,I
28. JCI
29. rct
30. JCI
Comments: 2. Qur'an, Muslims believe, is God's word revealed. Teachings and sayings of the prophet
Muhammad are in the Hadith. Islamic tradition hold there have been 104 revealed texts; the
eur,an names four
of them: Torah, Psalms, Gospels, Qur'an. 4,5,6,8. Words like "youngest," "oldest,,,,.newest,,,and,,founder,,
elicit much discussion. Some will say Jesus did not set out to "found" anything, but rather to ,,reform,, Judaism;
some may give credit to "founding" of Christianity to Paul, others may name Peter. Muslims however would
not
debate the issue of who "founded" Islam. Muhammad was not Islam's founder, but rather only a messenger
the
last one. The "message" existed long before Muhammad. Therefore the answer to 5 is problematic for Muslims.
We don't read about Islam until the seventh century, but Muslims would respond that Islam began with the
first
revelation (to the prophet Adam). , or even earlier, with God, before the creation of the earth. 9. Some Christians
also regard Abraham as the physical father of their people, though perhaps most would consider him the ,,spiritual" father. 12. This is a statement of monotheism. You may know it is also the first part of the Muslim declaration of faith (followed by "and Muhammad is the messenger of God"). See the
."uding about the Arabic
word Allah ("God") used by Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews as well as by "o."
Muslims around the world who
use Arabic for their prayers. 15. Christianity and Islam are universalist faiths and inspire missionary
movements.
For most of its history, Islam has not had organized missionary movements in the same way Christianity
has had.
Islam was spread by the personal example of individual Muslims particularly merchants and traders (witness
the
largest Muslim communities in South East Asia - never part of a Muslim empire). 18. See the notation on ,,pre-Test:
Three
Holy Books." 23. See the Core Reading for an explanation of the Arabic languages derivitive words how ,,muslim,' is
derived from the word "islam." 28. Texts, however are different. In the Qur'anic version, Eve is not created from Adam's rib
(she is not a secondary creation), and she is not responsible for the "fall" she does not temptAdam to
eat the forbidden
fruit. 29. Though Islam has branch "sects" ("schools" is a better term when looking at Islam), all use the same prayers and
follow the same five pillars. And Muslims always use the generic term "Muslim" when describing themselves never by the
term describing their particular "school."