Muhammad Iqbal and Islamic Thought

Multiple-Choice Questions

1 Muhammad Iqbal was born in:
(a) Lahore (b) Sialkot
(c) Delhi (d) None of these

2 Muhammad Iqbal was born in:
(a) 1877 (b) 1899
(c) 1905 (d) None of these

3 Muhammad Iqbal is widely known as:
(a) Mujaddid Alf Thani (b) Hujjat al-Islam
(c) Allama Iqbal (d) None of these

4 Iqbal’s father was:
(a) Sheikh Noor Muhammad (b) Shah Abdul Rahim
(c) Sir Syed Ahmad Khan (d) None of these

5 Iqbal received his early education in:
(a) Delhi (b) Sialkot
(c) Cairo (d) None of these

6 Iqbal studied at Government College, Lahore, where he was taught by:
(a) Thomas Arnold (b) Muhammad Abduh
(c) Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (d) None of these

7 Iqbal pursued advanced studies in Europe at:
(a) Oxford and Cambridge only (b) Paris and Rome only
(c) Cambridge, Munich and other European institutions (d) None of these

8 Iqbal earned his doctorate from:
(a) University of Munich (b) University of Oxford
(c) University of Paris (d) None of these

9 Iqbal’s doctoral thesis was titled:
(a) The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam
(b) The Development of Metaphysics in Persia
(c) The Spirit of Islam
(d) None of these

10 Iqbal’s doctoral research focused on:
(a) Political history of India (b) The development of metaphysics in Persia
(c) Modern economics (d) None of these

11 Iqbal’s Persian philosophical poem is:
(a) Asrar-i-Khudi (b) Bang-i-Dra
(c) Zarb-i-Kalim (d) None of these

12 Asrar-i-Khudi primarily explores:
(a) Colonial administration (b) The concept of selfhood
(c) Military strategy (d) None of these

13 The concept of Khudi in Iqbal’s philosophy refers to:
(a) Selfhood and the development of personality (b) Material wealth alone
(c) Political authority alone (d) None of these

14 Iqbal’s sequel to Asrar-i-Khudi is:
(a) Payam-i-Mashriq (b) Rumuz-i-Bekhudi
(c) Javid Nama (d) None of these

15 Rumuz-i-Bekhudi focuses particularly on:
(a) The role of the individual in community and society (b) European colonial trade
(c) Ancient Greek mythology (d) None of these

16 Iqbal’s famous Urdu poetry collection published in 1924 is:
(a) Bal-i-Jibril (b) Bang-i-Dra
(c) Zabur-i-Ajam (d) None of these

17 Bang-i-Dra was published in:
(a) 1935 (b) 1924
(c) 1922 (d) None of these

18 Which poem by Iqbal expresses a vision of Muslim political and spiritual renewal?
(a) Shikwa and Jawab-e-Shikwa (b) The Waste Land
(c) Paradise Lost (d) None of these

19 Iqbal’s Shikwa was followed by:
(a) Javid Nama (b) Jawab-e-Shikwa
(c) Asrar-i-Khudi (d) None of these

20 Iqbal’s poem Tarana-e-Milli begins with the idea:
(a) China is our homeland (b) India alone is our homeland
(c) The whole Muslim world is our homeland (d) None of these

21 Iqbal delivered the Allahabad Address in:
(a) 1930 (b) 1920
(c) 1940 (d) None of these

22 The Allahabad Address was delivered at the annual session of:
(a) Indian National Congress (b) All-India Muslim League
(c) Khilafat Committee (d) None of these

23 The Allahabad Address is significant because it:
(a) Proposed a separate political arrangement for Muslim-majority regions in northwestern India
(b) Announced the creation of Pakistan in 1947
(c) Established the Muslim League
(d) None of these

24 Iqbal’s political vision in the Allahabad Address concerned:
(a) Muslim-majority provinces of northwestern India (b) All of Central Asia
(c) The Ottoman Empire alone (d) None of these

25 Iqbal’s presidential address was delivered at:
(a) Allahabad (b) Lahore
(c) Karachi (d) None of these

26 Iqbal’s lectures on the reconstruction of religious thought were delivered mainly in:
(a) 1910–1912 (b) 1928–1930
(c) 1940–1942 (d) None of these

27 The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam discusses:
(a) Islamic philosophy, religion and modern intellectual questions
(b) The history of the Mughal army
(c) European maritime exploration
(d) None of these

28 Iqbal’s philosophical thought was influenced by:
(a) Nietzsche, Bergson and Rumi, among others (b) Aristotle alone
(c) Thomas Aquinas alone (d) None of these

29 Iqbal regarded Jalaluddin Rumi as:
(a) A major spiritual guide and intellectual influence (b) A political opponent
(c) A modern European philosopher (d) None of these

30 Iqbal’s concept of the self emphasises:
(a) Passivity and withdrawal (b) Self-development, action and responsibility
(c) Rejection of moral discipline (d) None of these

31 Iqbal’s philosophy of time and change emphasises:
(a) A dynamic understanding of the universe (b) A completely static universe
(c) The rejection of all scientific thought (d) None of these

32 Iqbal’s concept of ijtihad is discussed in:
(a) The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam (b) Bang-i-Dra
(c) Javid Nama (d) None of these

33 Iqbal described ijtihad as:
(a) Independent reasoning in Islamic legal thought (b) Ritual pilgrimage
(c) Commercial taxation (d) None of these

34 Iqbal believed that Islamic law and society required:
(a) Complete intellectual stagnation (b) Rejection of all inherited knowledge
(c) Creative interpretation in response to changing conditions (d) None of these

35 Iqbal’s political thought emphasised:
(a) Muslim political consciousness and self-determination (b) Colonial subordination
(c) Permanent political fragmentation (d) None of these

36 Iqbal’s Persian work Javid Nama is named after:
(a) His father (b) His son Javid
(c) His teacher Thomas Arnold (d) None of these

37 Iqbal’s son was named:
(a) Javid Iqbal (b) Muhammad Ali Jauhar
(c) Liaquat Ali Khan (d) None of these

38 Iqbal’s famous poem Masjid-e-Qurtuba celebrates:
(a) The Great Mosque of Cordoba (b) The Badshahi Mosque
(c) The Faisal Mosque (d) None of these

39 Iqbal’s poetry frequently addresses:
(a) Selfhood, faith, action and Muslim revival (b) Only courtly romance
(c) Only agricultural techniques (d) None of these

40 Iqbal’s work Payam-i-Mashriq was written partly in response to:
(a) Goethe’s West-Eastern Divan (b) Dante’s Divine Comedy
(c) Milton’s Paradise Lost (d) None of these

41 Iqbal’s philosophical poem Zabur-i-Ajam is written in:
(a) Arabic (b) Persian
(c) Turkish (d) None of these

42 Iqbal received a knighthood in:
(a) 1922 (b) 1930
(c) 1947 (d) None of these

43 Iqbal died in:
(a) 1938 (b) 1940
(c) 1947 (d) None of these

44 Iqbal died in:
(a) Sialkot (b) Delhi
(c) Lahore (d) None of these

45 Iqbal’s birthday is commemorated in Pakistan as:
(a) Pakistan Day (b) Iqbal Day
(c) Defence Day (d) None of these

46 Iqbal’s philosophical idea of the Perfect Man is closely related to:
(a) The developed and spiritually integrated self (b) The absolute power of a monarch
(c) Material accumulation (d) None of these

47 Iqbal’s concept of Muslim community emphasises:
(a) Collective identity and moral solidarity (b) Complete social isolation
(c) Ethnic superiority alone (d) None of these

48 Iqbal’s political thought contributed to:
(a) Intellectual debates about Muslim political identity in South Asia
(b) The creation of the Ottoman Empire
(c) The establishment of the Abbasid dynasty
(d) None of these

49 Iqbal is regarded as an important thinker because he:
(a) Connected Islamic thought with modern philosophical debates (b) Rejected all modern questions
(c) Wrote only military manuals (d) None of these

50 Allama Iqbal is often called:
(a) Shair-e-Mashriq (b) Mujaddid Alf Thani
(c) Hujjat al-Islam (d) None of these

Answer Key

1 (b) Sialkot
2 (a) 1877
3 (c) Allama Iqbal
4 (a) Sheikh Noor Muhammad
5 (b) Sialkot
6 (a) Thomas Arnold
7 (c) Cambridge, Munich and other European institutions
8 (a) University of Munich
9 (b) The development of metaphysics in Persia
10 (b) The development of metaphysics in Persia
11 (a) Asrar-i-Khudi
12 (b) The concept of selfhood
13 (a) Selfhood and the development of personality
14 (b) Rumuz-i-Bekhudi
15 (a) The role of the individual in community and society
16 (b) Bang-i-Dra
17 (c) 1922
18 (a) Shikwa and Jawab-e-Shikwa
19 (b) Jawab-e-Shikwa
20 (c) The whole Muslim world is our homeland
21 (a) 1930
22 (b) All-India Muslim League
23 (a) Proposed a separate political arrangement for Muslim-majority regions in northwestern India
24 (a) Muslim-majority provinces of northwestern India
25 (a) Allahabad
26 (b) 1928–1930
27 (a) Islamic philosophy, religion and modern intellectual questions
28 (a) Nietzsche, Bergson and Rumi, among others
29 (a) A major spiritual guide and intellectual influence
30 (b) Self-development, action and responsibility
31 (a) A dynamic understanding of the universe
32 (a) The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam
33 (a) Independent reasoning in Islamic legal thought
34 (c) Creative interpretation in response to changing conditions
35 (a) Muslim political consciousness and self-determination
36 (b) His son Javid
37 (a) Javid Iqbal
38 (a) The Great Mosque of Cordoba
39 (a) Selfhood, faith, action and Muslim revival
40 (a) Goethe’s West-Eastern Divan
41 (b) Persian
42 (a) 1922
43 (a) 1938
44 (c) Lahore
45 (b) Iqbal Day
46 (a) The developed and spiritually integrated self
47 (a) Collective identity and moral solidarity
48 (a) Intellectual debates about Muslim political identity in South Asia
49 (a) Connected Islamic thought with modern philosophical debates
50 (a) Shair-e-Mashriq