Skip to main content

Understanding Mosques: A Quiz on Islamic Architecture and History

This quiz tests your knowledge about the history, architecture, and cultural significance of mosques around the world.

#Islam #Mosques #Architecture #History #Religion #Cultural Significance

1 [19] Similar attacks occurred throughout the United Kingdom following the ________.

2 [37] Congregants pray in rows parallel to the qiblah wall and thus arrange themselves so they face ________.

3 Mosques in South and ________ put men and women in separate rooms, as the divisions were built into them centuries ago.

4 According to ________, these verses were followed to the letter at the times of Muhammad, when Jews and Christians, considered monotheists, were still allowed to the Masjid al-Haram.

5 Mosques, especially those in countries where Muslims are the majority, will also host Eid prayers outside in courtyards or ________.

6 ________ was the subject of such a conflict up until the early 1990s when it was demolished.

7 Mosques gradually diffused to different parts of ________, but the most rapid growth in the number of mosques has occurred within the past century as more Muslims have migrated to the continent.

8 The first minaret was constructed in 665 in ________ during the reign of the Umayyad caliph Muawiyah I.

9 The qiblah wall should, in a properly oriented mosque, be set perpendicular to a line leading to Mecca, the location of the ________.

10 [2] Mosques in Sicily and Spain do not primarily reflect the architecture of Visigothic predecessors, but instead reflect the architecture introduced by the Muslim ________.

đź’ˇ Interesting Facts

  • the Great Mosque of Aleppo, built by the Umayyads in 717, is the oldest mosque in Aleppo, Syria.
  • the Great Mosque of Gaza (pictured), completed by the Mamluks in 1344, is the largest and one of the oldest mosques in the Gaza Strip.
  • the Church of the Assumption in Uzundzhovo, Bulgaria, was initially built as a mosque and was probably commissioned to famous architect Sinan.
  • the Church of the Acheiropoietos, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Thessaloniki, was the first Christian church to be converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest of the Greek city in 1430.
  • the Cheraman Juma Masjid, the oldest mosque in India, was originally constructed in traditional Hindu architectural style.
  • the Islamic Cultural Center of New York (pictured), which opened in 1991, was the first purpose-built mosque in New York City.
  • the Mosque of Kefeli in Istanbul was used jointly as a church by Roman Catholic and Armenian believers before becoming a mosque.
  • the Great Mosque of Al-Zaytuna, the oldest mosque in Tunis, Tunisia, was partly built using materials from the ruins of the ancient city of Carthage.
  • the church of Hagia Thekla in Constantinople, now a mosque, was rebuilt by Emperor Isaac I Komnenos as thanks for surviving a hunting accident.
  • the White Mosque is the oldest mosque in Nazareth.
  • the Mosque of Omar (pictured) is Bethlehem's only mosque, named after the Caliph Omar ibn al-Khattab, who prayed at the location of the mosque.
  • the Khirki Masjid mosque and the Satpula weir were both built during the time of the Tughlaq dynasty in 14th century Delhi.
  • the Sultan Bayezid II Mosque is the oldest surviving Ottoman imperial mosque complex in Istanbul, Turkey.
  • the mosque of Kalenderhane (pictured) in Istanbul contained the most ancient cycle of frescoes portraying Saint Francis of Assisi still extant.
  • Jangipara, a block in the Indian state of West Bengal, includes a mosque built in 1375.
  • Moth Ki Masjid (pictured) was a new type of mosque built in 1505 by Miya Bhoiya, Prime Minister during Sikander Lodi's reign in the fourth city of medieval Delhi of Delhi Sultanate.
  • Irfan Pathan, the only bowler to take a Test hat-trick in the first over of a match, grew up playing cricket inside a Baroda mosque where his father was the muezzin, and could not afford equipment until his domestic team furnished it, at age 15.
  • Hauz Khas Complex in South Delhi encompasses a water tank, an Islamic seminary, a mosque, a tomb and pavilions built around a medieval village in the 13th-century Delhi Sultanate reign.
  • al-Azhar Mosque (pictured) was the first mosque founded in Cairo.
  • Park51, an Islamic cultural center whose proposed site has sparked controversy, will include a mosque, a 500-seat auditorium, and a swimming pool.
  • places of worship in Bangalore include over 1,000 temples, 400 mosques, 100 churches, 40 Jain mandirs, three Gurudwaras, two Buddha Viharas and one Parsi Agiari in a metropolitan area of 741 km2 (286 sq mi).
  • the 1318 Mamluk Qala'un Mosque was considered the most glamorous mosque in Cairo until its wooden dome collapsed in the 16th century.
  • despite being a key building of middle byzantine Architecture, the mosque of Eski Imaret (pictured) is still one among the least studied monuments of Istanbul.
  • a Muslim fundamentalist beheaded a statue of the Virgin Mary at St. Augustine's and carted a statue of Father Serra to a nearby mosque in October 2001.
  • Turkish shadow puppet characters Karagöz and Hacivat (pictured) are supposedly based on two laborers who were executed because their banter slowed down the construction of a mosque.
  • Modernisme architect Enrique Nieto not only designed the main synagogue in Melilla, but also the Central Mosque and several Catholic church buildings.
    • Previous Quiz Next Quiz

    Related Quizzes

    Key Events and Figures of the 13th Century: A Quiz

    #13th century #history #Mongol Empire #Crusades #European culture #Franciscan order #Cambridge #Boyana Church

    Discovering the 14th Century: A Historical Quiz

    #14th Century #History #Renaissance #Ming Dynasty #Hundred Years' War #Petrarch #Military History

    Exploring the 16th Century: Events, Figures, and Discoveries

    #history #16th century #exploration #Renaissance #Conquistadores #art #politics #religion

    Exploring the 17th Century: Key Events and Figures

    #17th century #history #empires #Mughal Empire #Ottoman Empire #Persian Empire #Taiwan #Hudson's Bay Company #Kara Mustafa #French history

    Exploring the 18th Century: A Historical Quiz

    #18th century #history #quiz #education #literature #philosophy #politics

    Significant Events of 1904

    #1904 #history #events #quiz #education

    Significant Events and Figures of 1906

    #1906 #history #chess #astronomy #civil rights #swimming #biochemistry

    Significant Events and Figures of 1911

    #1911 #history #events #figures #Nobel Prize #aviation #fire incidents #education #composers