Islamic Reform and Revival Movements

Multiple-Choice Questions

1 Islamic reform movements generally seek to:
(a) Renew religious understanding and practice (b) Abandon all religious teachings
(c) Replace scholarship with superstition (d) None of these

2 The Arabic term tajdid means:
(a) Renewal or revival (b) Migration
(c) Conquest (d) None of these

3 The term islah generally refers to:
(a) Reform or rectification (b) Military expansion
(c) Commercial exchange (d) None of these

4 The concept of tajdid is associated with:
(a) Renewal of religious understanding and practice (b) Abolition of education
(c) Rejection of all intellectual activity (d) None of these

5 A mujaddid is traditionally understood as:
(a) A renewer of the faith (b) A tax collector
(c) A military governor (d) None of these

6 The Hadith concerning a renewer at the beginning of each century is reported in:
(a) Sunan Abu Dawood (b) Sahih al-Bukhari only
(c) Muwatta Imam Malik only (d) None of these

7 The eighteenth-century Arabian reform movement is particularly associated with:
(a) Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (b) Jamal al-Din al-Afghani
(c) Muhammad Abduh (d) None of these

8 Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab was born in:
(a) Najd (b) Egypt
(c) India (d) None of these

9 The movement associated with Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab emphasised:
(a) Tawhid and opposition to practices it regarded as shirk (b) Abolition of monotheism
(c) Rejection of the Qur’an (d) None of these

10 The alliance between Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab and Muhammad ibn Saud began in:
(a) 1744 (b) 1804
(c) 1924 (d) None of these

11 The Deoband movement began with the establishment of Darul Uloom Deoband in:
(a) 1866 (b) 1757
(c) 1947 (d) None of these

12 Darul Uloom Deoband was established in:
(a) Delhi (b) Deoband
(c) Lahore (d) None of these

13 The founding figures associated with Darul Uloom Deoband include:
(a) Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi and Rashid Ahmad Gangohi (b) Ahmad Raza Khan and Syed Ahmad Barelvi
(c) Shah Waliullah and Shah Abdul Aziz (d) None of these

14 The Deoband movement particularly emphasised:
(a) Islamic scholarship, religious education and reform (b) Abolition of traditional Islamic learning
(c) Exclusive focus on European literature (d) None of these

15 The Barelvi movement is associated with:
(a) Ahmad Raza Khan (b) Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi
(c) Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (d) None of these

16 Ahmad Raza Khan was based primarily in:
(a) Bareilly (b) Cairo
(c) Damascus (d) None of these

17 The Ahl-i Hadith movement in South Asia emphasised:
(a) Direct reliance on the Qur’an and Hadith (b) Exclusive adherence to one inherited legal school
(c) Rejection of Hadith literature (d) None of these

18 The Faraizi movement in Bengal was founded by:
(a) Haji Shariatullah (b) Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
(c) Muhammad Abduh (d) None of these

19 The Faraizi movement particularly stressed:
(a) Fulfilment of obligatory religious duties (b) Abandonment of obligatory worship
(c) Promotion of idol worship (d) None of these

20 Dudu Miyan was associated with:
(a) The Faraizi movement (b) The Sanusiyya order
(c) The Mahdist movement in Sudan (d) None of these

21 The Tariqah-i Muhammadiyah movement in the Indian subcontinent is associated with:
(a) Syed Ahmad Barelvi (b) Muhammad Abduh
(c) Hasan al-Banna (d) None of these

22 Syed Ahmad Barelvi’s reform movement was strongly influenced by:
(a) Shah Waliullah’s intellectual legacy (b) European romanticism
(c) Ancient Greek paganism (d) None of these

23 The Mujahidin movement in nineteenth-century India was associated with:
(a) Religious reform and resistance to Sikh rule in the northwest (b) Establishment of Portuguese rule
(c) Abolition of Islamic education (d) None of these

24 The Sanusiyya movement originated in:
(a) North Africa (b) Bengal
(c) Indonesia (d) None of these

25 The founder of the Sanusiyya movement was:
(a) Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sanusi (b) Muhammad Abduh
(c) Rashid Rida (d) None of these

26 The Mahdist movement in nineteenth-century Sudan was led by:
(a) Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi (b) Ahmad Raza Khan
(c) Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi (d) None of these

27 The Mahdist movement in Sudan challenged:
(a) Egyptian and Anglo-Egyptian domination (b) Ottoman rule in Anatolia only
(c) Dutch colonial rule in Indonesia (d) None of these

28 The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in 1928 by:
(a) Hasan al-Banna (b) Sayyid Qutb
(c) Muhammad Abduh (d) None of these

29 The Muslim Brotherhood originated in:
(a) Egypt (b) India
(c) Morocco (d) None of these

30 The central emphasis of the early Muslim Brotherhood included:
(a) Islamic social reform and organised community activity (b) Rejection of all social institutions
(c) Exclusive pursuit of military expansion (d) None of these

31 Jamaat-e-Islami was founded in 1941 by:
(a) Abul A’la Maududi (b) Muhammad Iqbal
(c) Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (d) None of these

32 Jamaat-e-Islami was founded in:
(a) Lahore (b) Cairo
(c) Istanbul (d) None of these

33 The main intellectual emphasis of Jamaat-e-Islami includes:
(a) Islam as a comprehensive system of life (b) Separation of Islam from every aspect of society
(c) Rejection of organised religious thought (d) None of these

34 The Salafi reform trend generally emphasises:
(a) Following the Qur’an, Sunnah and understanding of the early Muslim generations (b) Abandoning the Sunnah
(c) Replacing revelation with folklore (d) None of these

35 The term Salaf al-Salih refers to:
(a) The pious early generations of Muslims (b) Medieval European philosophers
(c) Modern political parties (d) None of these

36 Which nineteenth-century reformer promoted modern scientific education among Indian Muslims?
(a) Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (b) Abdul Qadir Jilani
(c) Ahmad al-Tijani (d) None of these

37 The Aligarh Movement was initiated by:
(a) Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (b) Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi
(c) Ahmad Raza Khan (d) None of these

38 The Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College was established in:
(a) Aligarh (b) Deoband
(c) Lucknow (d) None of these

39 The Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College was established in:
(a) 1875 (b) 1857
(c) 1906 (d) None of these

40 The Aligarh Movement particularly aimed to:
(a) Promote modern education among Muslims (b) Abolish all forms of education
(c) End scientific inquiry (d) None of these

41 The Nadwatul Ulama movement was established in:
(a) Lucknow (b) Multan
(c) Peshawar (d) None of these

42 Nadwatul Ulama was founded in:
(a) 1894 (b) 1744
(c) 1941 (d) None of these

43 A major objective of Nadwatul Ulama was to:
(a) Bridge traditional Islamic scholarship and contemporary needs (b) Reject all classical scholarship
(c) Prohibit the study of Arabic (d) None of these

44 The Ahmadiyya movement was founded by:
(a) Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (b) Muhammad Iqbal
(c) Syed Ahmad Barelvi (d) None of these

45 The Ahmadiyya movement originated in:
(a) Qadian, Punjab (b) Cairo
(c) Istanbul (d) None of these

46 Islamic revival movements have historically differed over:
(a) Methods of reform, authority and interpretation (b) The existence of the Qur’an
(c) The basic meaning of prayer alone (d) None of these

47 Modernist Islamic reformers generally sought to:
(a) Reconcile Islamic principles with modern intellectual and social challenges (b) Reject all education
(c) End engagement with contemporary society (d) None of these

48 Which publication became an important platform for Islamic modernist debate in the late nineteenth century?
(a) Al-Urwah al-Wuthqa (b) Al-Muqaddimah
(c) Kashf al-Mahjub (d) None of these

49 Islamic revival movements have often focused on:
(a) Education, social reform and religious renewal (b) Abandonment of literacy
(c) Elimination of all community institutions (d) None of these

50 A balanced academic study of Islamic reform movements requires:
(a) Attention to their historical context and diversity (b) Treating all movements as identical
(c) Ignoring their intellectual differences (d) None of these

Answer Key

1 (a) Renew religious understanding and practice
2 (a) Renewal or revival
3 (a) Reform or rectification
4 (a) Renewal of religious understanding and practice
5 (a) A renewer of the faith
6 (a) Sunan Abu Dawood
7 (a) Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab
8 (a) Najd
9 (a) Tawhid and opposition to practices it regarded as shirk
10 (a) 1744
11 (a) 1866
12 (b) Deoband
13 (a) Muhammad Qasim Nanautavi and Rashid Ahmad Gangohi
14 (a) Islamic scholarship, religious education and reform
15 (a) Ahmad Raza Khan
16 (a) Bareilly
17 (a) Direct reliance on the Qur’an and Hadith
18 (a) Haji Shariatullah
19 (a) Fulfilment of obligatory religious duties
20 (a) The Faraizi movement
21 (a) Syed Ahmad Barelvi
22 (a) Shah Waliullah’s intellectual legacy
23 (a) Religious reform and resistance to Sikh rule in the northwest
24 (a) North Africa
25 (a) Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sanusi
26 (a) Muhammad Ahmad al-Mahdi
27 (a) Egyptian and Anglo-Egyptian domination
28 (a) Hasan al-Banna
29 (a) Egypt
30 (a) Islamic social reform and organised community activity
31 (a) Abul A’la Maududi
32 (a) Lahore
33 (a) Islam as a comprehensive system of life
34 (a) Following the Qur’an, Sunnah and understanding of the early Muslim generations
35 (a) The pious early generations of Muslims
36 (a) Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
37 (a) Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
38 (a) Aligarh
39 (a) 1875
40 (a) Promote modern education among Muslims
41 (a) Lucknow
42 (a) 1894
43 (a) Bridge traditional Islamic scholarship and contemporary needs
44 (a) Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
45 (a) Qadian, Punjab
46 (a) Methods of reform, authority and interpretation
47 (a) Reconcile Islamic principles with modern intellectual and social challenges
48 (a) Al-Urwah al-Wuthqa
49 (a) Education, social reform and religious renewal
50 (a) Attention to their historical context and diversity