Q 01/05

Shia and some Sunni sources say Ali was born inside which Meccan site?

A) The Kaaba

B) The Cave of Hira

C) Abu Talib's house

D) The Dar al-Nadwa

Answer · why

A) The Kaaba

The Kaaba is said to have opened its wall for Ali's mother as she prayed beside it and closed again once she was inside. The Sunni historian al-Mas'ud...

Q 02/05

In the best-known account, which nickname did Muhammad give Ali after finding him asleep on a mosque floor?

A) Abu Dharr

B) Abu Turab

C) Abu Ubayda

D) Abu Sufyan

Answer · why

B) Abu Turab

Abu Turab means 'father of dust': Muhammad is said to have woken him with 'Get up, Abu Turab'. Umayyad preachers later used the name as an insult, yet...

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 is said to have been taken as booty at Badr and handed to Ali by Muhammad at Uhud, where al-Tabari records the cry 'no sword but Zulfiqar, no...

Q 04/05

The title Nahj al-Balagha, the collection of Ali's sermons, letters and sayings, is commonly rendered in English as what?

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 familiar English title, though nahj more literally means a path or way. Its compiler gave no chains of transmission, which ha...

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, named the spot. There Muhammad said 'whoever I am mawla of, Ali is his mawla', which Shia read as naming a successor and Sun...