Islam

Question 1

Annual pilgrimage to Mecca and one of the Five Pillars of Islam

Answer 1

Hajj

Question 2

Saudi Arabian city, the sacred center of the Muslim world, and the home of the Kaaba shrine around which the annual hajj revolves

Answer 2

Mecca

Question 3

Place of community prayer that includes a niche in the wall marking the direction to Mecca, toward which that prayer is directed

Answer 3

Mosque

Question 4

Literally a “witness” (shadid), someone who dies in the struggle for Islam

Answer 4

Martyr

Question 5

The cubic House of God in Mecca toward which observation Muslims pry every day and around which pilgrims walk during the hajj. Typically covered in an ornate black cloth, it includes a sacred black stone said to have fallen from heaven

Answer 5

Kaaba

Question 6

Major Islamic prophet and champion of monotheism

Answer 6

Abraham (or Ibrahim)

Question 7

Islamic scripture second in authority only to the Quran, consisting of the exemplary sayings and actions of Muhammad and his companions

Answer 7

Hadith

Question 8

Islam’s second holiest city, the place where Muhammad and his followers migrated in 622 and established the Muslim community and calendar

Answer 8

Medina

Question 9

Human beings through whom God brings his revelations into the world, including Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and finally Muhammad, “the seal of the prophets”

Answer 9

Prophets

Question 10

Founder, lawmaker, jurist, politician, general, family man, the human exemplar of the Islamic way, the source of the sayings and actions in the Hadith, and the final prophet of Islam

Answer 10

Muhammad (570-632)

Question 11

The Arabic words of God brought into the world through the prophet Muhammad; a short book of 114 chapters, the Quran’s key teachings include the unity of God, the prophethood of Muhammad, the Day of Judgment, and the afterlife rewards and punishments

Answer 11

Quran

Question 12

Islamic prophet and messenger and a key figure in the Quran, where he appears as Isa

Answer 12

Jesus

Question 13

Majority branch of Islam that predominates in most Muslim-majority countries

Answer 13

Sunni

Question 14

Among Sunnis, the local leader who oversees congregational prayers; among the Shia, the community leader and a blood relative of Muhammad

Answer 14

Imam/Imam

Question 15

Literally “community,” more specifically the worldwide community of Muslims

Answer 15

Umma

Question 16

Minority branch of Islam now dominant in Iran

Answer 16

Shia

Question 17

Islamic law and, more broadly, the Islamic way of life

Answer 17

Sharia (“path to water”)