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Lesser-known facts of the Muslim past

A people without a positive history is like a vehicle without an engine. - Steven Biko

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Sicily

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1Muhammad al-Idrisi was born in Morocco (Ceuta) and spent a long time living in Palermo, Sicily. How did he end up there?

He was a trader who imported the famous Sicilian silk to Morocco and Muslim Spain

He was the military commander who started the Muslim opening of Sicily

He was a cartographer who was invited by the Christian king of Sicily to make a map of the world

He was on his way to Hajj (pelgrimage) but was shipwrecked near Palermo

2What was the reaction of the Norman rulers to the Islamic culture they found when they conquered Sicily in the 11th century CE?

They ignored it

They tried to destroy it

They supported it

They suppressed it

3Who was Asad ibn al-Furat?

A Muslim religious scholar who was appointed as commander of the army that would start the Muslim opening of Sicily

A Muslim cartographer from Palermo

A Muslim Sicilian who introduced many irrigation techniques into Sicily

A Muslim religious scholar who was born and raised in Sicily but was forced to flee after the Norman conquest

4Which Sicilian word is NOT originaly from Arabic?

Gebbia (cistern, well)

Catusu (pipe)

Mischinu (poor guy)

Cirasa (cherry)

5What was the Muslim "nickname" for Palermo?

Al Jabal (the mountain)

Al Boustan (the garden)

As Souq (the market)

Al Madina (the city)

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