Q 01/05

Shia and some Sunni sources say Ali was born inside which shrine in Mecca?

A) The Kaaba

B) The Cave of Hira

C) The Zamzam Well

D) Mount Safa

Answer · why

A) The Kaaba

The Kaaba is said to have opened for Ali's mother as she prayed beside it and closed again after she went in. The Sunni history The Meadows of Gold re...

Q 02/05

Which nickname did Muhammad give Ali after finding him asleep on the floor of the Medina mosque?

A) Abu Dharr

B) Abu Turab

C) Abu Ubayda

D) Abu Sufyan

Answer · why

B) Abu Turab

Abu Turab means 'father of dust', and Muhammad is said to have woken him with the words 'Get up, Abu Turab'. The story places the nap in the mosque of...

Q 03/05

Which sword of Ali, hailed by a voice Muhammad reported at Uhud, is drawn with a two-pointed blade?

A) Al-Battar

B) Al-Ma'thur

C) Zulfiqar

D) Qal'i

Answer · why

C) Zulfiqar

Zulfiqar has become one of the most recognisable symbols of Shia Islam, stamped on flags and pendants. Al-Tabari records the cry: 'no sword but Zulfiq...

Q 04/05

What does the title Nahj al-Balagha, the collection of Ali's sermons, letters and sayings, translate to?

A) Peak of Eloquence

B) Path of Guidance

C) Garden of the Righteous

D) Sea of Lights

Answer · why

A) Peak of Eloquence

Peak of Eloquence is the usual rendering, and the book is studied as a model of Arabic prose as much as a religious text. Its compiler gave no chains ...

Q 05/05

What kind of place was Ghadir Khumm, where Muhammad spoke of Ali after his final pilgrimage in 632?

A) A mountain pass

B) A pond

C) A date grove

D) A walled well

Answer · why

B) A pond

A pond, ghadir in Arabic, fed by a spring in the wadi of Khumm gave the gathering its name. Muhammad declared there 'for whomever I am mawla, Ali is a...