1
Jabir ibn Hayyan is often called the father of:
Correct answer: A. Chemistry
Jabir ibn Hayyan (8th century) emphasized experiment and described processes such as distillation and crystallization.
easy
Muslim Scientists and Scholars MCQs
Solved MCQs on the great Muslim scientists, physicians, philosophers and travellers of the Islamic Golden Age and their contributions.
20 MCQsUpdated 27 October 2026
Discover the contributions of Muslim scientists and scholars: Jabir ibn Hayyan in chemistry, Al-Farabi in philosophy, Omar Khayyam in mathematics and poetry, Ibn Battuta's travels, and famous observatories and centres of learning.
Questions usually ask which field a scholar is known for or which title they carry. Learning each scholar with their field and one famous work makes these quick marks.
- 2
Which Muslim physician wrote the first clear medical distinction between smallpox and measles?
Correct answer: C. Al-Razi (Rhazes)
Abu Bakr al-Razi's treatise on smallpox and measles was used in Europe for centuries.
medium - 3
Al-Zahrawi (Abulcasis), who wrote a famous illustrated work on surgical instruments, lived in:
Correct answer: D. Al-Andalus (Muslim Spain)
Al-Zahrawi worked near Cordoba. His encyclopaedia Al-Tasrif described many surgical instruments and procedures.
medium - 4
Al-Farabi was known as the "Second Teacher". Who was considered the "First Teacher"?
Correct answer: D. Aristotle
Al-Farabi earned the title through his commentaries on Aristotle, the First Teacher.
medium - 5
Al-Kindi is often called:
Correct answer: B. The Philosopher of the Arabs
Al-Kindi (9th century) worked in philosophy, mathematics, music and cryptography in Baghdad.
medium - 6
Ibn Rushd (Averroes) is best known in Europe for his commentaries on the works of:
Correct answer: B. Aristotle
Ibn Rushd of Cordoba wrote detailed commentaries on Aristotle that influenced medieval European thought.
medium - 7
Omar Khayyam is famous both as a poet (the Rubaiyat) and as a:
Correct answer: C. Mathematician and astronomer
Khayyam solved cubic equations geometrically and helped reform the calendar in 11th-century Persia.
medium - 8
Al-Idrisi drew a famous world map in the 12th century for which ruler?
Correct answer: C. King Roger II of Sicily
His map and geography book, the Tabula Rogeriana, was made for Roger II of Sicily in 1154.
hard - 9
Nasir al-Din al-Tusi built a famous observatory at:
Correct answer: B. Maragha
The Maragha observatory in north-west Iran (13th century) was a major centre of astronomy.
hard - 10
The famous observatory built in the 15th century by the ruler-astronomer Ulugh Beg is in:
Correct answer: B. Samarkand
Ulugh Beg, grandson of Timur, built the observatory in Samarkand and produced a famous star catalogue.
hard - 11
"Ihya Ulum al-Din" (The Revival of the Religious Sciences) was written by:
Correct answer: A. Imam Ghazali
Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (11th–12th century) is known as Hujjat-ul-Islam (Proof of Islam).
medium - 12
The Bait-ul-Hikmah (House of Wisdom), a great centre of translation and learning, was in:
Correct answer: A. Baghdad
Under the Abbasids, especially Caliph al-Mamun, scholars there translated Greek, Persian and Indian works into Arabic.
easy - 13
The "Rihla" is the famous travel account of:
Correct answer: D. Ibn Battuta
Ibn Battuta dictated his Rihla after nearly 30 years of travel across Africa, Asia and Europe.
easy - 14
Ibn Sina is known in Europe by the name:
Correct answer: D. Avicenna
Avicenna is Ibn Sina. Averroes is Ibn Rushd, Alhazen is Ibn al-Haytham and Rhazes is al-Razi.
medium - 15
Ibn al-Haytham is known in Europe by the name:
Correct answer: A. Alhazen
Alhazen's work on optics influenced European scientists. "Algorismus" comes from al-Khwarizmi.
medium - 16
Al-Biruni accurately estimated which of the following using trigonometry?
Correct answer: C. The Earth's radius
Using the dip of the horizon from a mountain, Al-Biruni calculated the Earth's radius with remarkable accuracy.
hard - 17
Al-Khwarizmi's name gave English which word?
Correct answer: B. Algorithm
The Latin form of his name, Algoritmi, became "algorithm". "Algebra" comes from the title of his book.
easy - 18
Which scholar is considered a founder of sociology and the philosophy of history?
Correct answer: A. Ibn Khaldun
In the Muqaddimah, Ibn Khaldun analysed how societies rise and fall, introducing the concept of asabiyyah (group solidarity).
Read detailseasy - 19
Ibn al-Nafis, a 13th-century physician, is known for first describing:
Correct answer: C. Pulmonary (lung) circulation of blood
Ibn al-Nafis described blood flowing from the heart through the lungs, centuries before William Harvey's work on circulation.
Read detailshard - 20
Al-Khwarizmi worked at which centre of learning?
Correct answer: D. Bait-ul-Hikmah, Baghdad
Al-Khwarizmi was a scholar at the House of Wisdom in Baghdad in the 9th century.
medium