Q 01/05

The Arabic word sirah, used for the Prophet's biography, comes from a verb with what meaning?

A) To remember

B) To travel

C) To recite

D) To witness

Answer · why

B) To travel

To travel is the root sense: sirah comes from the verb sara, so a person's sirah is their journey through life, from birth to death.

Q 02/05

Which ruler, by Muslim accounts, tore up the Prophet's letter and told his Yemeni vassal to seize its sender?

A) The Negus of Axum

B) Khosrow II of Persia

C) The Muqawqis of Egypt

D) Hawdha of Yamamah

Answer · why

B) Khosrow II of Persia

Khosrow II of Persia, furious that a subject had written his name first, tore the letter to pieces; the Prophet answered, 'May God tear apart his king...

Q 03/05

Of what metal was the seal ring the Prophet had made for his letters, engraved 'Muhammad, Messenger of God'?

A) Gold

B) Iron

C) Copper

D) Silver

Answer · why

D) Silver

Silver was the metal, and Muhammad ordered that no duplicate of the seal ever be made; the ring was later lost down a well in Medina.

Q 04/05

On the Mi'raj, which prophet kept sending Muhammad back to plead for fewer daily prayers until fifty became five?

A) Moses

B) Abraham

C) Jesus

D) Adam

Answer · why

A) Moses

Moses, met in the sixth heaven, warned that fifty prayers a day were too many, and Muhammad went back and forth nine times.

Q 05/05

What, by the seerah, finally broke the confederates' siege of Medina after the trench had stalled their cavalry?

A) A sudden flash flood

B) A plague

C) A violent wind

D) A famine

Answer · why

C) A violent wind

A violent wind blew out the besiegers' campfires and stripped them of warmth, while the Muslim camp lay sheltered from it.