Context: At the begin of the Holocene (~11,700 years ago), the Rhine occupied its Late-Glacial valley. As a meandering river, it reworked its ice-age braidplain. As sea-level continued to rise in the Netherlands, the formation of the Holocene Rhine-Meuse delta began (~8,000 years ago). Coeval absolute sea-level rise and tectonic subsidence have strongly influenced delta evolution. Other factors of importance to the shape of the delta are the local tectonic activities of the Peel Boundary Fault, the substrate and geomorphology, as inherited from the Last Glacial and the coastal-marine dynamics, such as barrier and tidal inlet formations.

Question: When was the Holocene?

Question: When did the formation of the Holocene Rhine-Meuse delta begin?

Question: Where did the Rhine occupy during the Holocene?

Question: What country did the Rhine continue to rise during the holocene?


Context: Since ~3000 yr BP (= years Before Present), human impact is seen in the delta. As a result of increasing land clearance (Bronze Age agriculture), in the upland areas (central Germany), the sediment load of the Rhine has strongly increased and delta growth has sped up. This caused increased flooding and sedimentation, ending peat formation in the delta. The shifting of river channels to new locations, on the floodplain (termed avulsion), was the main process distributing sediment across the subrecent delta. Over the past 6000 years, approximately 80 avulsions have occurred. Direct human impact in the delta started with peat mining, for salt and fuel, from Roman times onward. This was followed by embankment, of the major distributaries and damming of minor distributaries, which took place in the 11–13th century AD. Thereafter, canals were dug, bends were short cut and groynes were built, to prevent the river's channels from migrating or silting up.

Question: When have humans started impacting the delta?

Question: What has increased sediment and delta growth also produced in the Rhine?

Question: What increased in the Rhine because of the land clearance in the upland areas?

Question: When did embankment of the major Rhine distributaries take palce?

Question: How many avulsions have occurred in the past 6000 yeas?


Context: At present, the branches Waal and Nederrijn-Lek discharge to the North Sea, through the former Meuse estuary, near Rotterdam. The river IJssel branch flows to the north and enters the IJsselmeer, formerly the Zuider Zee brackish lagoon; however, since 1932, a freshwater lake. The discharge of the Rhine is divided among three branches: the River Waal (6/9 of total discharge), the River Nederrijn – Lek (2/9 of total discharge) and the River IJssel (1/9 of total discharge). This discharge distribution has been maintained since 1709, by river engineering works, including the digging of the Pannerdens canal and since the 20th century, with the help of weirs in the Nederrijn river.

Question: Where do the branches Waal and Nederrijn-Lek discharge to?

Question: What do the Waal and the Nederrijn-Lek discharge throguh?

Question: Where does the Ijssel branch flow?

Question: What did the Zuider Zee brackish lagoon change into?

Question: How many branches does the Rhine branch into?


Context: The Rhine was not known to Herodotus and first enters the historical period in the 1st century BC in Roman-era geography. At that time, it formed the boundary between Gaul and Germania. The Upper Rhine had been part of the areal of the late Hallstatt culture since the 6th century BC, and by the 1st century BC, the areal of the La Tène culture covered almost its entire length, forming a contact zone with the Jastorf culture, i.e. the locus of early Celtic-Germanic cultural contact. In Roman geography, the Rhine formed the boundary between Gallia and Germania by definition; e.g. Maurus Servius Honoratus, Commentary on the Aeneid of Vergil (8.727) (Rhenus) fluvius Galliae, qui Germanos a Gallia dividit "(The Rhine is a) river of Gaul, which divides the Germanic people from Gaul."

Question: When was the Rhine first discovered?

Question: The Rhine first formed a boundary between Gaul and what else?

Question: Since when was the Rhine part of the areal of Hallstatt culture?

Question: Who first wrote about the Rhine's discovery and border?


Context: From the death of Augustus in AD 14 until after AD 70, Rome accepted as her Germanic frontier the water-boundary of the Rhine and upper Danube. Beyond these rivers she held only the fertile plain of Frankfurt, opposite the Roman border fortress of Moguntiacum (Mainz), the southernmost slopes of the Black Forest and a few scattered bridge-heads. The northern section of this frontier, where the Rhine is deep and broad, remained the Roman boundary until the empire fell. The southern part was different. The upper Rhine and upper Danube are easily crossed. The frontier which they form is inconveniently long, enclosing an acute-angled wedge of foreign territory between the modern Baden and Württemberg. The Germanic populations of these lands seem in Roman times to have been scanty, and Roman subjects from the modern Alsace-Lorraine had drifted across the river eastwards.

Question: When did Augustus die?

Question: The Rhine and what other river were accepted as the Germanic frontier?

Question: When did the Rhine stop being the Roman boundary?

Question: Which direction did Romans use to drift through the Rhine?

Question: Where are the upper Rhine and upper Danube crossed?


Context: The Romans kept eight legions in five bases along the Rhine. The actual number of legions present at any base or in all, depended on whether a state or threat of war existed. Between about AD 14 and 180, the assignment of legions was as follows: for the army of Germania Inferior, two legions at Vetera (Xanten), I Germanica and XX Valeria (Pannonian troops); two legions at oppidum Ubiorum ("town of the Ubii"), which was renamed to Colonia Agrippina, descending to Cologne, V Alaudae, a Celtic legion recruited from Gallia Narbonensis and XXI, possibly a Galatian legion from the other side of the empire.

Question: How many legions in five bases were along the Rhine by the Romans?

Question: Vetra and I Germanica and XX Valeria were the two legions for what?

Question: What was the Colonia Agrippina's original name?

Question: What did the number of legions in Roman times depend on?

Question: What does Colonia Agrippina's original name translate into?


Context: Germanic tribes crossed the Rhine in the Migration period, by the 5th century establishing the kingdoms of Francia on the Lower Rhine, Burgundy on the Upper Rhine and Alemannia on the High Rhine. This "Germanic Heroic Age" is reflected in medieval legend, such as the Nibelungenlied which tells of the hero Siegfried killing a dragon on the Drachenfels (Siebengebirge) ("dragons rock"), near Bonn at the Rhine and of the Burgundians and their court at Worms, at the Rhine and Kriemhild's golden treasure, which was thrown into the Rhine by Hagen.

Question: When did Germanic tribes cross the Rhine to migrate?

Question: What did Germanic tribes establish with help from the Rhine?

Question: What is the translation of Siebengebirge?

Question: Who is the hero who killed a dragon on the Drachenfels?

Question: Who threw gold into the Rhine, according to legend?


Context: By the 6th century, the Rhine was within the borders of Francia. In the 9th, it formed part of the border between Middle and Western Francia, but in the 10th century, it was fully within the Holy Roman Empire, flowing through Swabia, Franconia and Lower Lorraine. The mouths of the Rhine, in the county of Holland, fell to the Burgundian Netherlands in the 15th century; Holland remained contentious territory throughout the European wars of religion and the eventual collapse of the Holy Roman Empire, when the length of the Rhine fell to the First French Empire and its client states. The Alsace on the left banks of the Upper Rhine was sold to Burgundy by Archduke Sigismund of Austria in 1469 and eventually fell to France in the Thirty Years' War. The numerous historic castles in Rhineland-Palatinate attest to the importance of the river as a commercial route.

Question: When did the Rhine become borders with Francia?

Question: When was the Rhine fully within the Holy Roman Empire?

Question: The Rhine flowed through Swabia, Franconia and what other location in the 10th Century?

Question: Who sold the Upper Rhine to Burgundy?

Question: When was the Upper Rhine sold to Burgundy?


Context: Since the Peace of Westphalia, the Upper Rhine formed a contentious border between France and Germany. Establishing "natural borders" on the Rhine was a long-term goal of French foreign policy, since the Middle Ages, though the language border was – and is – far more to the west. French leaders, such as Louis XIV and Napoleon Bonaparte, tried with varying degrees of success to annex lands west of the Rhine. The Confederation of the Rhine was established by Napoleon, as a French client state, in 1806 and lasted until 1814, during which time it served as a significant source of resources and military manpower for the First French Empire. In 1840, the Rhine crisis, prompted by French prime minister Adolphe Thiers's desire to reinstate the Rhine as a natural border, led to a diplomatic crisis and a wave of nationalism in Germany.

Question: What was the name of the time the Upper Rhine form a border between France and Germany?

Question: What was a long term goal of French foreign policy along the Rhine?

Question: Who established the Confederation of the Rhine?

Question: When was the confederation of the Rhine?

Question: When was the Rhine crisis?


Context: At the end of World War I, the Rhineland was subject to the Treaty of Versailles. This decreed that it would be occupied by the allies, until 1935 and after that, it would be a demilitarised zone, with the German army forbidden to enter. The Treaty of Versailles and this particular provision, in general, caused much resentment in Germany and is often cited as helping Adolf Hitler's rise to power. The allies left the Rhineland, in 1930 and the German army re-occupied it in 1936, which was enormously popular in Germany. Although the allies could probably have prevented the re-occupation, Britain and France were not inclined to do so, a feature of their policy of appeasement to Hitler.

Question: When was Rhineland subject to the Treaty of Versailles?

Question: When would the occupation of allies leave Rhineland?

Question: After 1935, who would be forbidden to enter Rhineland?

Question: What do some believe the Treaty of Versailles assisted in?

Question: When did the German army reoccupy Rhineland?


Context: In World War II, it was recognised that the Rhine would present a formidable natural obstacle to the invasion of Germany, by the Western Allies. The Rhine bridge at Arnhem, immortalized in the book, A Bridge Too Far and the film, was a central focus of the battle for Arnhem, during the failed Operation Market Garden of September 1944. The bridges at Nijmegen, over the Waal distributary of the Rhine, were also an objective of Operation Market Garden. In a separate operation, the Ludendorff Bridge, crossing the Rhine at Remagen, became famous, when U.S. forces were able to capture it intact – much to their own surprise – after the Germans failed to demolish it. This also became the subject of a film, The Bridge at Remagen. Seven Days to the River Rhine was a Warsaw Pact war plan for an invasion of Western Europe during the Cold War.

Question: Where is the Rhine Bridge?

Question: What was the Rhine considered to invaders in WWII?

Question: When was Operation Market Garden?

Question: What bridge did the Germans fail to demolish?

Question: What was the Warsaw Pact war plan?


Context: Until 1932 the generally accepted length of the Rhine was 1,230 kilometres (764 miles). In 1932 the German encyclopedia Knaurs Lexikon stated the length as 1,320 kilometres (820 miles), presumably a typographical error. After this number was placed into the authoritative Brockhaus Enzyklopädie, it became generally accepted and found its way into numerous textbooks and official publications. The error was discovered in 2010, and the Dutch Rijkswaterstaat confirms the length at 1,232 kilometres (766 miles).[note 1]

Question: What was the accepted length of the Rhine prior to 1932?

Question: Who stated a change of the length of the Rhine?

Question: Why was the Rhine measurement changed?

Question: in 1932 what was the Rhine measurement changed to?

Question: When was the Rhine measurement corrected back to the original?


Context: Following a referendum in 1997, in which the Scottish electorate voted for devolution, the current Parliament was convened by the Scotland Act 1998, which sets out its powers as a devolved legislature. The Act delineates the legislative competence of the Parliament – the areas in which it can make laws – by explicitly specifying powers that are "reserved" to the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Scottish Parliament has the power to legislate in all areas that are not explicitly reserved to Westminster. The British Parliament retains the ability to amend the terms of reference of the Scottish Parliament, and can extend or reduce the areas in which it can make laws. The first meeting of the new Parliament took place on 12 May 1999.

Question: When was the current parliament of Scotland convened?

Question: What act set out the Parliament's powers as a devolved legislature?

Question: The legislative competence of the Parliament species what areas?

Question: To what body are certain powers explicitly specified as being reserved for?

Question: The Scottish Parliament may legislate as it pleases as long as the powers aren't already reserved by where?


Context: For the next three hundred years, Scotland was directly governed by the Parliament of Great Britain and the subsequent Parliament of the United Kingdom, both seated at Westminster, and the lack of a Parliament of Scotland remained an important element in Scottish national identity. Suggestions for a 'devolved' Parliament were made before 1914, but were shelved due to the outbreak of the First World War. A sharp rise in nationalism in Scotland during the late 1960s fuelled demands for some form of home rule or complete independence, and in 1969 prompted the incumbent Labour government of Harold Wilson to set up the Kilbrandon Commission to consider the British constitution. One of the principal objectives of the commission was to examine ways of enabling more self-government for Scotland, within the unitary state of the United Kingdom. Kilbrandon published his report in 1973 recommending the establishment of a directly elected Scottish Assembly to legislate for the majority of domestic Scottish affairs.

Question: What remained an important issue in Scottish national identity for many years?

Question: How many hundred of years was Scotland directly governed by the parliament of Great Britain?

Question: Why were the initial suggestions for a devolved parliament before 1914 shelved?

Question: When was there a sharp rise in nationalism in Scotland?

Question: What did Kllbrandon's report in 1973 recommend establishing?


Context: During this time, the discovery of oil in the North Sea and the following "It's Scotland's oil" campaign of the Scottish National Party (SNP) resulted in rising support for Scottish independence, as well as the SNP. The party argued that the revenues from the oil were not benefitting Scotland as much as they should. The combined effect of these events led to Prime Minister Wilson committing his government to some form of devolved legislature in 1974. However, it was not until 1978 that final legislative proposals for a Scottish Assembly were passed by the United Kingdom Parliament.

Question: Which sea was oil discovered in?

Question: What campaigh did the Scottish National Party (SNP) run?

Question: When did Prime Minister Wilson commit to some form of devolved legislature?

Question: What did the SNP publicly opine about the oil revenues?

Question: When was the final legislative proposals for a Scottish Assembly passed?


Context: Under the terms of the Scotland Act 1978, an elected assembly would be set up in Edinburgh provided that the majority of the Scottish electorate voted for it in a referendum to be held on 1 March 1979 that represented at least 40% of the total electorate. The 1979 Scottish devolution referendum to establish a devolved Scottish Assembly failed. Although the vote was 51.6% in favour of a Scottish Assembly, this figure did not equal the 40% of the total electorate threshold deemed necessary to pass the measure, as 32.9% of the eligible voting population did not, or had been unable to, vote.

Question: Where was an elected assembly to be set up, under the terms of the Scotland Act of 1978?

Question: How many of the Scottish electorate would need to for it on the referendum?

Question: What percentage of the vote for a Scottish Assembly in favor of it?

Question: How did trying to establish a devolved Scottish Assembly go in 1979?

Question: What percentage of Scotland's voting population failed to actually vote?


Context: Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, demand for a Scottish Parliament grew, in part because the government of the United Kingdom was controlled by the Conservative Party, while Scotland itself elected relatively few Conservative MPs. In the aftermath of the 1979 referendum defeat, the Campaign for a Scottish Assembly was initiated as a pressure group, leading to the 1989 Scottish Constitutional Convention with various organisations such as Scottish churches, political parties and representatives of industry taking part. Publishing its blueprint for devolution in 1995, the Convention provided much of the basis for the structure of the Parliament.

Question: In the range between 1980 and 1990, what did demand for grow?

Question: Whose control of the UK's government helped fuel a desire for a Scottish Parliament?

Question: When was the Scottish Constitutional Convention held?

Question: What provided much of the basis for the structure of the Parliament in 1995?


Context: Since September 2004, the official home of the Scottish Parliament has been a new Scottish Parliament Building, in the Holyrood area of Edinburgh. The Scottish Parliament building was designed by Spanish architect Enric Miralles in partnership with local Edinburgh Architecture firm RMJM which was led by Design Principal Tony Kettle. Some of the principal features of the complex include leaf-shaped buildings, a grass-roofed branch merging into adjacent parkland and gabion walls formed from the stones of previous buildings. Throughout the building there are many repeated motifs, such as shapes based on Raeburn's Skating Minister. Crow-stepped gables and the upturned boat skylights of the Garden Lobby, complete the unique architecture. Queen Elizabeth II opened the new building on 9 October 2004.

Question: Where has the official home of the Scottish Parliament been since 2004?

Question: Who designed the Scottish Parliament building?

Question: What nationality is the architect Enric Miralles?

Question: What shape are some of the buildings in the Parliament complex?

Question: Who opened the new Parliament building on October 9, 2004?


Context: Whilst the permanent building at Holyrood was being constructed, the Parliament's temporary home was the General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. Official photographs and television interviews were held in the courtyard adjoining the Assembly Hall, which is part of the School of Divinity of the University of Edinburgh. This building was vacated twice to allow for the meeting of the Church's General Assembly. In May 2000, the Parliament was temporarily relocated to the former Strathclyde Regional Council debating chamber in Glasgow, and to the University of Aberdeen in May 2002.

Question: What was the building vacated twice to allow for?

Question: Where was Parliament's temporary home whilst the permanent building was being built?

Question: Where were interviews held while the parliament was in its temporary building?

Question: In May 2002, where would you go to address the Parliament?

Question: Where was Parliament temporarily relocated to in May of 2000?


Context: In addition to the General Assembly Hall, the Parliament also used buildings rented from the City of Edinburgh Council. The former administrative building of Lothian Regional Council on George IV Bridge was used for the MSP's offices. Following the move to Holyrood in 2004 this building was demolished. The former Midlothian County Buildings facing Parliament Square, High Street and George IV Bridge in Edinburgh (originally built as the headquarters of the pre-1975 Midlothian County Council) housed the Parliament's visitors' centre and shop, whilst the main hall was used as the Parliament's principal committee room.

Question: Who did the Parliament rent additional buildings from?

Question: What  former administrative building was used for the MSP's offices?

Question: What happened to the building on George IV Bridge when the Parliament was done with it?

Question: What do the former Midlothian County Buildings face?

Question: Which hall was used as Parliament's principle committee room?


Context: After each election to the Scottish Parliament, at the beginning of each parliamentary session, Parliament elects one MSP to serve as Presiding Officer, the equivalent of the speaker (currently Tricia Marwick), and two MSPs to serve as deputies (currently Elaine Smith and John Scott). The Presiding Officer and deputies are elected by a secret ballot of the 129 MSPs, which is the only secret ballot conducted in the Scottish Parliament. Principally, the role of the Presiding Officer is to chair chamber proceedings and the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. When chairing meetings of the Parliament, the Presiding Officer and his/her deputies must be politically impartial. During debates, the Presiding Officer (or the deputy) is assisted by the parliamentary clerks, who give advice on how to interpret the standing orders that govern the proceedings of meetings. A vote clerk sits in front of the Presiding Officer and operates the electronic voting equipment and chamber clocks.

Question: Who is elected to serve as the Presiding Officer at the beginning of each parliamentary session?

Question: Who is currently speaker of the Scottish Parliament?

Question: What type of ballot is used to elect the Presiding Officer and deputies of the Parliament?

Question: How many MSPs are there?

Question: Who is responsible for operating the electronic voting equipment and chamber clocks?


Context: As a member of the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body, the Presiding Officer is responsible for ensuring that the Parliament functions effectively and has the staff, property and resources it requires to operate. Convening the Parliamentary Bureau, which allocates time and sets the work agenda in the chamber, is another of the roles of the Presiding Officer. Under the Standing Orders of the Parliament the Bureau consists of the Presiding Officer and one representative from each political parties with five or more seats in the Parliament. Amongst the duties of the Bureau are to agree the timetable of business in the chamber, establish the number, remit and membership of parliamentary committees and regulate the passage of legislation (bills) through the Parliament. The Presiding Officer also represents the Scottish Parliament at home and abroad in an official capacity.

Question: Who is responsible for ensuring the Parliament works smoothly?

Question: Who sets the work agenda and allocates time in the chamber?

Question: How many seats must a political party have to be represented on the Parliamentary Bureau?

Question: Who represents the Scottish Parliament at home and abroad in an official capacity?


Context: The debating chamber of the Scottish Parliament has seating arranged in a hemicycle, which reflects the desire to encourage consensus amongst elected members. There are 131 seats in the debating chamber. Of the total 131 seats, 129 are occupied by the Parliament's elected MSPs and 2 are seats for the Scottish Law Officers – the Lord Advocate and the Solicitor General for Scotland, who are not elected members of the Parliament but are members of the Scottish Government. As such the Law Officers may attend and speak in the plenary meetings of the Parliament but, as they are not elected MSPs, cannot vote. Members are able to sit anywhere in the debating chamber, but typically sit in their party groupings. The First Minister, Scottish cabinet ministers and Law officers sit in the front row, in the middle section of the chamber. The largest party in the Parliament sits in the middle of the semicircle, with opposing parties on either side. The Presiding Officer, parliamentary clerks and officials sit opposite members at the front of the debating chamber.

Question: What is the seating arrangement of the debating chamber?

Question: Why is the seating of the debating chamber arranged as it is?

Question: How many seats are in the debating chamber?

Question: How many members in the seats of the Scottish Parliament are members of the Scottish Government?

Question: What can the non-elected members from the Scottish Government not do?


Context: In front of the Presiding Officers' desk is the parliamentary mace, which is made from silver and inlaid with gold panned from Scottish rivers and inscribed with the words: Wisdom, Compassion, Justice and Integrity. The words There shall be a Scottish Parliament, which are the first words of the Scotland Act, are inscribed around the head of the mace, which has a formal ceremonial role in the meetings of Parliament, reinforcing the authority of the Parliament in its ability to make laws. Presented to the Scottish Parliament by the Queen upon its official opening in July 1999, the mace is displayed in a glass case suspended from the lid. At the beginning of each sitting in the chamber, the lid of the case is rotated so that the mace is above the glass, to symbolise that a full meeting of the Parliament is taking place.

Question: Where does the gold in the parliamentary mace come from?

Question: What is the parliamentary mace made of?

Question: Who presented the mac to the Scottish Parliament when it was initially opened?

Question: What words are inscribed on the mace of parliament?

Question: What is the mace displayed in?


Context: Parliament typically sits Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from early January to late June and from early September to mid December, with two-week recesses in April and October. Plenary meetings in the debating chamber usually take place on Wednesday afternoons from 2 pm to 6 pm and on Thursdays from 9:15 am to 6 pm. Chamber debates and committee meetings are open to the public. Entry is free, but booking in advance is recommended due to limited space. Meetings are broadcast on the Parliament's own channel Holyrood.tv and on the BBC's parliamentary channel BBC Parliament. Proceedings are also recorded in text form, in print and online, in the Official Report, which is the substantially verbatim transcript of parliamentary debates.

Question: Which month is the first in the year Parliament takes a two week vacation?

Question: Where do plenary meetings take place?

Question: Who are debates and meetings open to?

Question: How much does it cost to gain entry to a parliament meeting?

Question: What contains a nearly verbatim of parliamentary debates?


Context: The first item of business on Wednesdays is usually Time for Reflection, at which a speaker addresses members for up to four minutes, sharing a perspective on issues of faith. This contrasts with the formal style of "Prayers", which is the first item of business in meetings of the House of Commons. Speakers are drawn from across Scotland and are chosen to represent the balance of religious beliefs according to the Scottish census. Invitations to address Parliament in this manner are determined by the Presiding Officer on the advice of the parliamentary bureau. Faith groups can make direct representations to the Presiding Officer to nominate speakers.

Question: What day of the week does the Time for Reflection take place?

Question: How long might a speaker address the members during the Time of Reflection?

Question: Who decides who gets to address the members of Parliament to share their thoughts on issues of faith?

Question: Because speakers are drawn from across Scotland, what do the represent the balance of?

Question: What can faith groups ask the Presiding Officer to do for them?


Context: The Presiding Officer (or Deputy Presiding Officer) decides who speaks in chamber debates and the amount of time for which they are allowed to speak. Normally, the Presiding Officer tries to achieve a balance between different viewpoints and political parties when selecting members to speak. Typically, ministers or party leaders open debates, with opening speakers given between 5 and 20 minutes, and succeeding speakers allocated less time. The Presiding Officer can reduce speaking time if a large number of members wish to participate in the debate. Debate is more informal than in some parliamentary systems. Members may call each other directly by name, rather than by constituency or cabinet position, and hand clapping is allowed. Speeches to the chamber are normally delivered in English, but members may use Scots, Gaelic, or any other language with the agreement of the Presiding Officer. The Scottish Parliament has conducted debates in the Gaelic language.

Question: Who decides who gets to speak in the chamber debates?

Question: What is also decided by the Presiding Officer?

Question: What does the Presiding Officer try to achieve a balance of between speakers?

Question: What members typically open debates?

Question: What language other than English has the Scottish Parliament had meetings in?


Context: Each sitting day, normally at 5 pm, MSPs decide on all the motions and amendments that have been moved that day. This "Decision Time" is heralded by the sounding of the division bell, which is heard throughout the Parliamentary campus and alerts MSPs who are not in the chamber to return and vote. At Decision Time, the Presiding Officer puts questions on the motions and amendments by reading out the name of the motion or amendment as well as the proposer and asking "Are we all agreed?", to which the chamber first votes orally. If there is audible dissent, the Presiding Officer announces "There will be a division" and members vote by means of electronic consoles on their desks. Each MSP has a unique access card with a microchip which, when inserted into the console, identifies them and allows them to vote. As a result, the outcome of each division is known in seconds.

Question: What time do the MSPs normally decide on the motions and amendments from that day?

Question: What is heralded by the sounding of the division bell?

Question: What do MSPs who are not in the chamber when the division bell rings return to do?

Question: How do members vote when there is a division?

Question: How long does it take to know the outcome of a division?


Context: The outcome of most votes can be predicted beforehand since political parties normally instruct members which way to vote. Parties entrust some MSPs, known as whips, with the task of ensuring that party members vote according to the party line. MSPs do not tend to vote against such instructions, since those who do are unlikely to reach higher political ranks in their parties. Errant members can be deselected as official party candidates during future elections, and, in serious cases, may be expelled from their parties outright. Thus, as with many Parliaments, the independence of Members of the Scottish Parliament tends to be low, and backbench rebellions by members who are discontent with their party's policies are rare. In some circumstances, however, parties announce "free votes", which allows Members to vote as they please. This is typically done on moral issues.

Question: What can often be predicted beforehand?

Question: Who normally instructs members how to vote?

Question: Who has the task of ensuring party members vote according to the party line?

Question: What type of issues are members typically allowed to vote as they please?

Question: What happens if a member doesn't vote the party line?


Context: Immediately after Decision Time a "Members Debate" is held, which lasts for 45 minutes. Members Business is a debate on a motion proposed by an MSP who is not a Scottish minister. Such motions are on issues which may be of interest to a particular area such as a member's own constituency, an upcoming or past event or any other item which would otherwise not be accorded official parliamentary time. As well as the proposer, other members normally contribute to the debate. The relevant minister, whose department the debate and motion relate to "winds up" the debate by speaking after all other participants.

Question: When is the Members Debate held?

Question: Why are debates on proposed motions by an MSP conducted?

Question: How long does the Members Debate last?

Question: Who contributes to Members Business in addition to the proposer?

Question: What does the minister who was the catalyst of the Members Business do by speaking after everyone else?


Context: Much of the work of the Scottish Parliament is done in committee. The role of committees is stronger in the Scottish Parliament than in other parliamentary systems, partly as a means of strengthening the role of backbenchers in their scrutiny of the government and partly to compensate for the fact that there is no revising chamber. The principal role of committees in the Scottish Parliament is to take evidence from witnesses, conduct inquiries and scrutinise legislation. Committee meetings take place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning when Parliament is sitting. Committees can also meet at other locations throughout Scotland.

Question: Where is much of the work of the Scottish Parliament done?

Question: What are committees in the Scottish Parliament compared to other systems?

Question: What is one avenue being compensated for by having committees serve such a large role?

Question: Taking evidence from witnesses is one of committees' what?

Question: Where might committees meet outside of Parliament?


Context: Committees comprise a small number of MSPs, with membership reflecting the balance of parties across Parliament. There are different committees with their functions set out in different ways. Mandatory Committees are committees which are set down under the Scottish Parliament's standing orders, which govern their remits and proceedings. The current Mandatory Committees in the fourth Session of the Scottish Parliament are: Public Audit; Equal Opportunities; European and External Relations; Finance; Public Petitions; Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments; and Delegated Powers and Law Reform.

Question: Who are committees comprised of?

Question: What do the membership of the committees reflect?

Question: Different committees have what set out in different ways?

Question: What type of committee is set down under the SP's standing orders?

Question: What session is the Scottish Parliament in?


Context: Subject Committees are established at the beginning of each parliamentary session, and again the members on each committee reflect the balance of parties across Parliament. Typically each committee corresponds with one (or more) of the departments (or ministries) of the Scottish Government. The current Subject Committees in the fourth Session are: Economy, Energy and Tourism; Education and Culture; Health and Sport; Justice; Local Government and Regeneration; Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment; Welfare Reform; and Infrastructure and Capital Investment.

Question: When are subject committees established?

Question: How many ministries of the Scottish government does a committee typically correspond to?

Question: Economy, Energy and Tourism is one of the what?

Question: What is the Scottish Parliament currently in the fourth of?


Context: A further type of committee is normally set up to scrutinise private bills submitted to the Scottish Parliament by an outside party or promoter who is not a member of the Scottish Parliament or Scottish Government. Private bills normally relate to large-scale development projects such as infrastructure projects that require the use of land or property. Private Bill Committees have been set up to consider legislation on issues such as the development of the Edinburgh Tram Network, the Glasgow Airport Rail Link, the Airdrie-Bathgate Rail Link and extensions to the National Gallery of Scotland.

Question: What is set up to scrutinize private bills submitted by party outsiders?

Question: What topic do private bills typically have?

Question: Who decides how land or property is allowed to be used?

Question: What kind of committee considered legislation on the development of the Edinburgh Tram Network?


Context: The Scotland Act 1998, which was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom and given royal assent by Queen Elizabeth II on 19 November 1998, governs the functions and role of the Scottish Parliament and delimits its legislative competence. The Scotland Act 2012 extends the devolved competencies. For the purposes of parliamentary sovereignty, the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster continues to constitute the supreme legislature of Scotland. However, under the terms of the Scotland Act, Westminster agreed to devolve some of its responsibilities over Scottish domestic policy to the Scottish Parliament. Such "devolved matters" include education, health, agriculture and justice. The Scotland Act enabled the Scottish Parliament to pass primary legislation on these issues. A degree of domestic authority, and all foreign policy, remain with the UK Parliament in Westminster. The Scottish Parliament has the power to pass laws and has limited tax-varying capability. Another of the roles of the Parliament is to hold the Scottish Government to account.

Question: What act sets forth the functions of the Scottish Parliament?

Question: Who gave her royal assent to the Scotland Act of 1998?

Question: What does the Scotland Act of 2012 extend?

Question: What body constitutes the supreme legislature of Scotland?

Question: Who has the role of holding the Scottish Government to account?


Context: The specific devolved matters are all subjects which are not explicitly stated in Schedule 5 to the Scotland Act as reserved matters. All matters that are not specifically reserved are automatically devolved to the Scottish Parliament. Most importantly, this includes agriculture, fisheries and forestry, economic development, education, environment, food standards, health, home affairs, Scots law – courts, police and fire services, local government, sport and the arts, transport, training, tourism, research and statistics and social work. The Scottish Parliament has the ability to alter income tax in Scotland by up to 3 pence in the pound. The 2012 Act conferred further fiscal devolution including borrowing powers and some other unconnected matters such as setting speed limits and control of air guns.

Question: Where are reserved matters stated in the Scotland Act?

Question: If a matter is not specifically reserved, who is it devolved to?

Question: Why do police and fire services fall under the purview of the Scottish Parliament?

Question: How much can the SP alter income tax in Scotland?

Question: Setting speed limits was one of the further devolutions which was conferred by what act?


Context: Reserved matters are subjects that are outside the legislative competence of the Scotland Parliament. The Scottish Parliament is unable to legislate on such issues that are reserved to, and dealt with at, Westminster (and where Ministerial functions usually lie with UK Government ministers). These include abortion, broadcasting policy, civil service, common markets for UK goods and services, constitution, electricity, coal, oil, gas, nuclear energy, defence and national security, drug policy, employment, foreign policy and relations with Europe, most aspects of transport safety and regulation, National Lottery, protection of borders, social security and stability of UK's fiscal, economic and monetary system.

Question: What is the name of matters outside the legislative ability of the Scottish Parliament?

Question: Issues dealt with at Westminster are not ones who is able to deal with?

Question: Where are issues like abortion and drug policy legislated on?

Question: Most aspects of transport safety is a subject dealt with by whom?


Context: Bills can be introduced to Parliament in a number of ways; the Scottish Government can introduce new laws or amendments to existing laws as a bill; a committee of the Parliament can present a bill in one of the areas under its remit; a member of the Scottish Parliament can introduce a bill as a private member; or a private bill can be submitted to Parliament by an outside proposer. Most draft laws are government bills introduced by ministers in the governing party. Bills pass through Parliament in a number of stages:

Question: What may be presented to Parliament in various ways?

Question: Who may introduce new laws or amendments to laws already on the books as a bill?

Question: An MSP may introduce a bill as what?

Question: Who may also submit private bills to Parliament?

Question: How do bills pass through Parliament?


Context: Stage 1 is the first, or introductory stage of the bill, where the minister or member in charge of the bill will formally introduce it to Parliament together with its accompanying documents – Explanatory Notes, a Policy Memorandum setting out the policy underlying the bill, and a Financial Memorandum setting out the costs and savings associated with it. Statements from the Presiding Officer and the member in charge of the bill are also lodged indicating whether the bill is within the legislative competence of the Parliament. Stage 1 usually takes place, initially, in the relevant committee or committees and is then submitted to the whole Parliament for a full debate in the chamber on the general principles of the bill. If the whole Parliament agrees in a vote to the general principles of the bill, it then proceeds to Stage 2.

Question: What is stage 1 in the life of a bill?

Question: What are presented to parliament in addition to the bill itself?

Question: What do statements from the PO and member in charge of the bill also indicate?

Question: Where are bills typically gestated in Stage 1?

Question: If Parliament agrees in a vote to the general principle of a bill, what does it then proceed to?


Context: Stage 3 is the final stage of the bill and is considered at a meeting of the whole Parliament. This stage comprises two parts: consideration of amendments to the bill as a general debate, and a final vote on the bill. Opposition members can table "wrecking amendments" to the bill, designed to thwart further progress and take up parliamentary time, to cause the bill to fall without a final vote being taken. After a general debate on the final form of the bill, members proceed to vote at Decision Time on whether they agree to the general principles of the final bill.

Question: What is the final stage of a bill in the Scottish Parliament?

Question: How many parts does the consideration of a bill in Stage 3 have?

Question: What vote on a bill takes place in Stage 3?

Question: What type of amendments might members opposed to a bill put on the table?

Question: When do members proceed to vote on whether they agree to the principles of the final bill?


Context: Royal assent: After the bill has been passed, the Presiding Officer submits it to the Monarch for royal assent and it becomes an Act of the Scottish Parliament. However he cannot do so until a 4-week period has elapsed, during which the Law Officers of the Scottish Government or UK Government can refer the bill to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom for a ruling on whether it is within the powers of the Parliament. Acts of the Scottish Parliament do not begin with a conventional enacting formula. Instead they begin with a phrase that reads: "The Bill for this Act of the Scottish Parliament was passed by the Parliament on [Date] and received royal assent on [Date]".

Question: Who does the Presiding Officer submit the final bill to?

Question: Why is the final bill passed to the Monarch?

Question: What is the minimum amount of time before a bill can go into law?

Question: Who is a bill referred to for a ruling on whether it's within the powers of the Parliament?

Question: What does the template for bills passed by the Scottish Parliament include?


Context: The party, or parties, that hold the majority of seats in the Parliament forms the Scottish Government. In contrast to many other parliamentary systems, Parliament elects a First Minister from a number of candidates at the beginning of each parliamentary term (after a general election). Any member can put their name forward to be First Minister, and a vote is taken by all members of Parliament. Normally, the leader of the largest party is returned as First Minister, and head of the Scottish Government. Theoretically, Parliament also elects the Scottish Ministers who form the government of Scotland and sit in the Scottish cabinet, but such ministers are, in practice, appointed to their roles by the First Minister. Junior ministers, who do not attend cabinet, are also appointed to assist Scottish ministers in their departments. Most ministers and their juniors are drawn from amongst the elected MSPs, with the exception of Scotland's Chief Law Officers: the Lord Advocate and the Solicitor General. Whilst the First Minister chooses the ministers – and may decide to remove them at any time – the formal appointment or dismissal is made by the Sovereign.

Question: What party forms the Scottish Parliament?

Question: Who is eligible to toss their name in the hat to be First Minister?

Question: Who is elected at the beginning of each term?

Question: Other than Scotland's Chief Law Officer, from whence are most ministers drawn from amongst?

Question: Who makes formal appointment or dismissal decisions?


Context: Under the Scotland Act 1998, ordinary general elections for the Scottish Parliament are held on the first Thursday in May every four years (1999, 2003, 2007 and so on). The date of the poll may be varied by up to one month either way by the Monarch on the proposal of the Presiding Officer. If the Parliament itself resolves that it should be dissolved (with at least two-thirds of the Members voting in favour), or if the Parliament fails to nominate one of its members to be First Minister within 28 days of a General Election or of the position becoming vacant, the Presiding Officer proposes a date for an extraordinary general election and the Parliament is dissolved by the Queen by royal proclamation. Extraordinary general elections are in addition to ordinary general elections, unless held less than six months before the due date of an ordinary general election, in which case they supplant it. The following ordinary election reverts to the first Thursday in May, a multiple of four years after 1999 (i.e., 5 May 2011, 7 May 2015, etc.).

Question: What day of the week are general elections held?

Question: What month, every four years, are the ordinary general elections held on?

Question: Who may change the date by up to a month, on the proposal of the PO?

Question: If an extraordinary election is held within less than six months before the date of an ordinary election, what does it do to the ordinary election?

Question: How many days does the Parliament have to nominate a First Minister after a General Election?


Context: Several procedures enable the Scottish Parliament to scrutinise the Government. The First Minister or members of the cabinet can deliver statements to Parliament upon which MSPs are invited to question. For example, at the beginning of each parliamentary year, the First Minister delivers a statement to the chamber setting out the Government's legislative programme for the forthcoming year. After the statement has been delivered, the leaders of the opposition parties and other MSPs question the First Minister on issues related to the substance of the statement.

Question: What enables the Scottish Parliament to scrutinize the government?

Question: Who can question statements the First Minister or members of the cabinet make?

Question: What does the First Minister deliver at the beginning of each parliamentary year?

Question: What do the leaders of the opposition parties and other MSPs question the First Minister about?


Context: Parliamentary time is also set aside for question periods in the debating chamber. A "General Question Time" takes place on a Thursday between 11:40 a.m. and 12 p.m. where members can direct questions to any member of the Scottish Government. At 2.30pm, a 40-minute long themed "Question Time" takes place, where members can ask questions of ministers in departments that are selected for questioning that sitting day, such as health and justice or education and transport. Between 12 p.m. and 12:30 p.m. on Thursdays, when Parliament is sitting, First Minister's Question Time takes place. This gives members an opportunity to question the First Minister directly on issues under their jurisdiction. Opposition leaders ask a general question of the First Minister and then supplementary questions. Such a practice enables a "lead-in" to the questioner, who then uses their supplementary question to ask the First Minister any issue. The four general questions available to opposition leaders are:

Question: What is set aside for question periods in the debating chamber?

Question: On what day does a General Question Time take place?

Question: Who may members direct questions towards during General Question Time?

Question: What may members question the First Minister about directly during First Minister's Question Time?

Question: How many general questions are available to opposition leaders?


Context: Of the 129 MSPs, 73 are elected to represent first past the post constituencies and are known as "Constituency MSPs". Voters choose one member to represent the constituency, and the member with most votes is returned as a constituency MSP. The 73 Scottish Parliament constituencies shared the same boundaries as the UK Parliament constituencies in Scotland, prior to the 2005 reduction in the number of Scottish MPs, with the exception of Orkney and Shetland which each return their own constituency MSP. Currently, the average Scottish Parliament constituency comprises 55,000 electors. Given the geographical distribution of population in Scotland, this results in constituencies of a smaller area in the Central Lowlands, where the bulk of Scotland's population live, and much larger constituency areas in the north and west of the country, which have a low population density. The island archipelagos of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles comprise a much smaller number of electors, due to their dispersed population and distance from the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. If a Constituency MSP resigns from Parliament, this triggers a by-election in his or her constituency, where a replacement MSP is returned from one of the parties by the plurality system.

Question: What is the number of Constituency MSPs?

Question: When was there a reduction in the number of Scottish MPs?

Question: How many members can voters choose to represent the constituency?

Question: Why do the island archipelagos comprise a smaller number of electors?

Question: What is the current number of electors currently in a Scottish Parliament constituency?


Context: The total number of seats in the Parliament are allocated to parties proportionally to the number of votes received in the second vote of the ballot using the d'Hondt method. For example, to determine who is awarded the first list seat, the number of list votes cast for each party is divided by one plus the number of seats the party won in the region (at this point just constituency seats). The party with the highest quotient is awarded the seat, which is then added to its constituency seats in allocating the second seat. This is repeated iteratively until all available list seats are allocated.

Question: How are the total numbers of seats allocated to parties?

Question: What method is used for tallying votes in the second vote of the ballot?

Question: The party awarded a seat is the one with the highest what?

Question: What set is a seat added to after being allocated?

Question: How is the process of allocating seats repeated until all available seats have been determined?


Context: As in the House of Commons, a number of qualifications apply to being an MSP. Such qualifications were introduced under the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 and the British Nationality Act 1981. Specifically, members must be over the age of 18 and must be a citizen of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, one of the countries in the Commonwealth of Nations, a citizen of a British overseas territory, or a European Union citizen resident in the UK. Members of the police and the armed forces are disqualified from sitting in the Scottish Parliament as elected MSPs, and similarly, civil servants and members of foreign legislatures are disqualified. An individual may not sit in the Scottish Parliament if he or she is judged to be insane under the terms of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003.

Question: What does being an MSP share with the House of Commons?

Question: When was the British Nationality Act passed?

Question: How old most a person be to apply to be an MSP?

Question: Members of which organizations are disqualified from sitting in the SP as elected MSPs?

Question: What act sets the term for judging the boundaries of sanity to which individuals wishing to sit on the SP must adhere?


Context: The election produced a majority SNP government, making this the first time in the Scottish Parliament where a party has commanded a parliamentary majority. The SNP took 16 seats from Labour, with many of their key figures not returned to parliament, although Labour leader Iain Gray retained East Lothian by 151 votes. The SNP took a further eight seats from the Liberal Democrats and one seat from the Conservatives. The SNP overall majority meant that there was sufficient support in the Scottish Parliament to hold a referendum on Scottish independence.

Question: When the election produced an SNP majority government, what was it the first occurrence of?

Question: Who did the SNP obtain 16 seats from?

Question: By how much did Labour lead Lain Gray retain East Lothian?

Question: How many seats did the SNP take from the Liberal Democrats?

Question: What did the result of the SNP majority allow a referendum be held on?


Context: For the Conservatives, the main disappointment was the loss of Edinburgh Pentlands, the seat of former party leader David McLetchie, to the SNP. McLetchie was elected on the Lothian regional list and the Conservatives suffered a net loss of five seats, with leader Annabel Goldie claiming that their support had held firm. Nevertheless, she too announced she would step down as leader of the party. Cameron congratulated the SNP on their victory but vowed to campaign for the Union in the independence referendum.

Question: The loss of Edinburgh Pentlands really disappointed whom the most?

Question: What was the seat of former party leader David McLetchie?

Question: What net loss did the Conservatives suffer?

Question: Who announced she would step down as leader of the Conservatives?

Question: Who congratulated the SNP while vowing to campaign against their referendum?


Context: A procedural consequence of the establishment of the Scottish Parliament is that Scottish MPs sitting in the UK House of Commons are able to vote on domestic legislation that applies only to England, Wales and Northern Ireland – whilst English, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish Westminster MPs are unable to vote on the domestic legislation of the Scottish Parliament. This phenomenon is known as the West Lothian question and has led to criticism. Following the Conservative victory in the 2015 UK election, standing orders of the House of Commons were changed to give MPs representing English constituencies a new "veto" over laws only affecting England.

Question: What consequence of establishing the Scottish Parliament applies to Scottish MPs sitting in the UK House of Commons?

Question: What are MPs unable to vote upon?

Question: What phenomenon has led to criticism?

Question: What party had a victory in the 2015 UK election?

Question: MPs representing English constituencies can only veto laws affecting which country?


Context: Islamism, also known as Political Islam (Arabic: إسلام سياسي islām siyāsī), is an Islamic revival movement often characterized by moral conservatism, literalism, and the attempt "to implement Islamic values in all spheres of life." Islamism favors the reordering of government and society in accordance with the Shari'a. The different Islamist movements have been described as "oscillating between two poles": at one end is a strategy of Islamization of society through state power seized by revolution or invasion; at the other "reformist" pole Islamists work to Islamize society gradually "from the bottom up". The movements have "arguably altered the Middle East more than any trend since the modern states gained independence", redefining "politics and even borders" according to one journalist (Robin Wright).

Question: What is an Islamic revival movement?

Question: What aspects of life does Islamism seek to integrate itself into?

Question: What goal does Islamism have when it comes to society and government?

Question: What have the two different Islamist movements been described as oscillating between?

Question: One strategy of Islamization is to seize power by what methods?


Context: Moderate and reformist Islamists who accept and work within the democratic process include parties like the Tunisian Ennahda Movement. Jamaat-e-Islami of Pakistan is basically a socio-political and democratic Vanguard party but has also gained political influence through military coup d'état in past. The Islamist groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine participate in democratic and political process as well as armed attacks, seeking to abolish the state of Israel. Radical Islamist organizations like al-Qaeda and the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and groups such as the Taliban, entirely reject democracy, often declaring as kuffar those Muslims who support it (see takfirism), as well as calling for violent/offensive jihad or urging and conducting attacks on a religious basis.

Question: What process do moderate and reformist Islamists work within the boundaries of?

Question: Where does Hamas originate?

Question: What is the goal of Islamist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas?

Question: What do radical Islamist organizations reject entirely?

Question: On what basis do the radical Islamist organizations conduct their attacks?


Context: Another major division within Islamism is between what Graham E. Fuller has described as the fundamentalist "guardians of the tradition" (Salafis, such as those in the Wahhabi movement) and the "vanguard of change and Islamic reform" centered around the Muslim Brotherhood. Olivier Roy argues that "Sunni pan-Islamism underwent a remarkable shift in the second half of the 20th century" when the Muslim Brotherhood movement and its focus on Islamisation of pan-Arabism was eclipsed by the Salafi movement with its emphasis on "sharia rather than the building of Islamic institutions," and rejection of Shia Islam. Following the Arab Spring, Roy has described Islamism as "increasingly interdependent" with democracy in much of the Arab Muslim world, such that "neither can now survive without the other." While Islamist political culture itself may not be democratic, Islamists need democratic elections to maintain their legitimacy. At the same time, their popularity is such that no government can call itself democratic that excludes mainstream Islamist groups.

Question: What exists between fundamentalist Islamism and reformist Islamism?

Question: What did Olivier Roy state underwent a remarkable shift in the second half of the 20th century?

Question: What did the Salafi movement put emphasis on?

Question: What has Islamism been increasingly interdependent with following the Arab Spring?

Question: Why do Islamists need democratic elections?


Context: Islamism is a controversial concept not just because it posits a political role for Islam but also because its supporters believe their views merely reflect Islam, while the contrary idea that Islam is, or can be, apolitical is an error. Scholars and observers who do not believe that Islam is merely a political ideology include Fred Halliday, John Esposito and Muslim intellectuals like Javed Ahmad Ghamidi. Hayri Abaza argues the failure to distinguish between Islam and Islamism leads many in the West to support illiberal Islamic regimes, to the detriment of progressive moderates who seek to separate religion from politics.

Question: What type of role that Islamism seeks makes it a somewhat controversial concept?

Question: What do supporters of Islamism believe their views reflect?

Question: The idea that Islam can be apolitical isn't able to be embraced by whom?

Question: What does the inability to separate Islam from Islamism lead many in the West to support?

Question: What do progressive moderates of Islam seek to separate?


Context: Islamists have asked the question, "If Islam is a way of life, how can we say that those who want to live by its principles in legal, social, political, economic, and political spheres of life are not Muslims, but Islamists and believe in Islamism, not [just] Islam?" Similarly, a writer for the International Crisis Group maintains that "the conception of 'political Islam'" is a creation of Americans to explain the Iranian Islamic Revolution and apolitical Islam was a historical fluke of the "short-lived era of the heyday of secular Arab nationalism between 1945 and 1970", and it is quietist/non-political Islam, not Islamism, that requires explanation.

Question: What term do Islamists think should be applied to them?

Question: What does a writer for the International Crisis Group think the concept of political Islam is a creation of?

Question: What was apolitical Islam?

Question: When was the heyday of secular Arab nationalism?

Question: What, rather than Islamism, requires explanation?


Context: Egyptian President Anwar Sadat – whose policies included opening Egypt to Western investment (infitah); transferring Egypt's allegiance from the Soviet Union to the United States; and making peace with Israel – released Islamists from prison and welcomed home exiles in tacit exchange for political support in his struggle against leftists. His "encouraging of the emergence of the Islamist movement" was said to have been "imitated by many other Muslim leaders in the years that followed."  This "gentlemen's agreement" between Sadat and Islamists broke down in 1975 but not before Islamists came to completely dominate university student unions. Sadat was later assassinated and a formidable insurgency was formed in Egypt in the 1990s. The French government has also been reported to have promoted Islamist preachers "in the hope of channeling Muslim energies into zones of piety and charity."

Question: Who is the President of Egypt?

Question: What relationship with Israel is Sadat for?

Question: What was Sadat seeking by releasing Islamists from prison?

Question: When did the so called gentlemen's agreement between Sadat and the Islamists break down?

Question: How was Sadat rewarded by the Islamists for his attempts to bring Egypt into modern times and civilization?


Context: The interpretation of Islam promoted by this funding was the strict, conservative Saudi-based Wahhabism or Salafism. In its harshest form it preached that Muslims should not only "always oppose" infidels "in every way," but "hate them for their religion ... for Allah's sake," that democracy "is responsible for all the horrible wars of the 20th century," that Shia and other non-Wahhabi Muslims were infidels, etc. While this effort has by no means converted all, or even most Muslims to the Wahhabist interpretation of Islam, it has done much to overwhelm more moderate local interpretations, and has set the Saudi-interpretation of Islam as the "gold standard" of religion in minds of some or many Muslims.

Question: What type of interpretation of Islam does Salafism promote?

Question: What does Salafism in its harshest form encourage its followers to view the religion of others with?

Question: Salafism posits that democracy is responsible for what type of horrible events of the 20th century?

Question: Conservative Islam classifies Muslims who follow Shia interpretation as what?

Question: What interpretation of Islam is, for many of the adherents, the "gold standard" of their religion?


Context: Islamist movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood, "are well known for providing shelters, educational assistance, free or low cost medical clinics, housing assistance to students from out of town, student advisory groups, facilitation of inexpensive mass marriage ceremonies to avoid prohibitively costly dowry demands, legal assistance, sports facilities, and women's groups." All this compares very favourably against incompetent, inefficient, or neglectful governments whose commitment to social justice is limited to rhetoric.

Question: What type of movement is the Muslim Brotherhood?

Question: The Muslim Brotherhood's competence compares well against what type of local governments?

Question: What type of assistance to out of town students is the Muslim Brotherhood known for?

Question: What are incompetent government's commitment to social justice limited to?

Question: Why has the Muslim Brotherhood facilitated inexpensive mass marriage ceremonies?


Context: While studying law and philosophy in England and Germany, Iqbal became a member of the London branch of the All India Muslim League. He came back to Lahore in 1908. While dividing his time between law practice and philosophical poetry, Iqbal had remained active in the Muslim League. He did not support Indian involvement in World War I and remained in close touch with Muslim political leaders such as Muhammad Ali Johar and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He was a critic of the mainstream Indian nationalist and secularist Indian National Congress. Iqbal's seven English lectures were published by Oxford University press in 1934 in a book titled The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam. These lectures dwell on the role of Islam as a religion as well as a political and legal philosophy in the modern age.

Question: What was Iqbal studying in England and Germany?

Question: What organization did Iqbal join in London?

Question: Who was Iqbal a critic of?

Question: What year did Iqbal return to Lahore?

Question: What book was Iqbal's seven English lectures published as?


Context: Iqbal expressed fears that not only would secularism and secular nationalism weaken the spiritual foundations of Islam and Muslim society, but that India's Hindu-majority population would crowd out Muslim heritage, culture and political influence. In his travels to Egypt, Afghanistan, Palestine and Syria, he promoted ideas of greater Islamic political co-operation and unity, calling for the shedding of nationalist differences. Sir Muhammad Iqbal was elected president of the Muslim League in 1930 at its session in Allahabad as well as for the session in Lahore in 1932. In his Allahabad Address on 29 December 1930, Iqbal outlined a vision of an independent state for Muslim-majority provinces in northwestern India. This address later inspired the Pakistan movement.

Question: What did Iqbal fear would weaken the spiritual foundations of Islam and Muslim society?

Question: Iqbal worried that India's mostly Hindu population would do what to Muslim heritage and culture?

Question: When Iqbal promoted ideas of greater Islamic political unity, what did he encourage ending?

Question: When was Iqbal elected president of the Muslim League?

Question: What did Iqbal's Allahabad address inspire?


Context: Maududi also believed that Muslim society could not be Islamic without Sharia, and Islam required the establishment of an Islamic state. This state should be a "theo-democracy," based on the principles of: tawhid (unity of God), risala (prophethood) and khilafa (caliphate). Although Maududi talked about Islamic revolution, by "revolution" he meant not the violence or populist policies of the Iranian Revolution, but the gradual changing the hearts and minds of individuals from the top of society downward through an educational process or da'wah.

Question: What did Maududi believe Muslim society could not be Islamic in the absence of?

Question: Maududi believed that Islam needed what to be established?

Question: What is the English translation of tawhid?

Question: What type of revolution did Maududi advocate?

Question: By what method did Maududi want to change the hearts and minds of individuals?


Context: Roughly contemporaneous with Maududi was the founding of the Muslim Brotherhood in Ismailiyah, Egypt in 1928 by Hassan al Banna. His was arguably the first, largest and most influential modern Islamic political/religious organization. Under the motto "the Qur'an is our constitution," it sought Islamic revival through preaching and also by providing basic community services including schools, mosques, and workshops. Like Maududi, Al Banna believed in the necessity of government rule based on Shariah law implemented gradually and by persuasion, and of eliminating all imperialist influence in the Muslim world.

Question: When was the Muslim Brotherhood founded?

Question: Where was the Muslim Brotherhood founded?

Question: Who founded the Muslim Brotherhood?

Question: The motto of the Muslim Brotherhood specifies what as being their constitution?

Question: What influence did Al Banna wish to eliminate from the Muslim world?


Context: Some elements of the Brotherhood, though perhaps against orders, did engage in violence against the government, and its founder Al-Banna was assassinated in 1949 in retaliation for the assassination of Egypt's premier Mahmud Fami Naqrashi three months earlier. The Brotherhood has suffered periodic repression in Egypt and has been banned several times, in 1948 and several years later following confrontations with Egyptian president Gamal Abdul Nasser, who jailed thousands of members for several years.

Question: Some elements of the Brotherhood directed what action against the government?

Question: When was Al-Banna assassinated?

Question: Who was Al-Banna's assassination a retaliation for the prior assassination of?

Question: When was the Brotherhood first banned in Egypt?

Question: What Egyptian president jailed thousands of members of the Brotherhood?


Context: Despite periodic repression, the Brotherhood has become one of the most influential movements in the Islamic world, particularly in the Arab world. For many years it was described as "semi-legal" and was the only opposition group in Egypt able to field candidates during elections. In the Egyptian parliamentary election, 2011–2012, the political parties identified as "Islamist" (the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, Salafi Al-Nour Party and liberal Islamist Al-Wasat Party) won 75% of the total seats. Mohamed Morsi, an Islamist democrat of Muslim Brotherhood, was the first democratically elected president of Egypt. He was deposed during the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état.

Question: What status has the Brotherhood obtained in the Islamic world?

Question: What percentage of seats did political parties identifying as Islamist win in the Egyptian parliamentary election of 2011-2012?

Question: For many years, what was the Brotherhood described as?

Question: The Brotherhood was the only opposition group in Egypt able to do what during elections?

Question: Who was the first democratically elected president of Egypt?


Context: The quick and decisive defeat of the Arab troops during the Six-Day War by Israeli troops constituted a pivotal event in the Arab Muslim world. The defeat along with economic stagnation in the defeated countries, was blamed on the secular Arab nationalism of the ruling regimes. A steep and steady decline in the popularity and credibility of secular, socialist and nationalist politics ensued. Ba'athism, Arab socialism, and Arab nationalism suffered, and different democratic and anti-democratic Islamist movements inspired by Maududi and Sayyid Qutb gained ground.

Question: What was the defeat of the Arab troops at the hand of the Israeli troops during the Six-Day War?

Question: The defeat of the Arab troops in the Six-Day War constituted what for the Arab Muslim world?

Question: Secular Arab nationalism was blamed for both the defeat of Arab troops as well as what type of stagnation?

Question: What happened to the credibility of secular politics as a result of the Six-Day War?

Question: What gained ground when Arab nationalism suffered?


Context: The views of Ali Shariati, ideologue of the Iranian Revolution, had resemblance with Mohammad Iqbal, ideological father of the State of Pakistan, but Khomeini's beliefs is perceived to be placed somewhere between beliefs of Sunni Islamic thinkers like Mawdudi and Qutb. He believed that complete imitation of the Prophet Mohammad and his successors such as Ali for restoration of Sharia law was essential to Islam, that many secular, Westernizing Muslims were actually agents of the West serving Western interests, and that the acts such as "plundering" of Muslim lands was part of a long-term conspiracy against Islam by the Western governments.

Question: Mohammad Iqbal was what type of father to the State of Pakistan?

Question: Who was the ideologue of the Iranian Revolution?

Question: Where does Khomeini's beliefs fall as compared to Mawdudi and Qutb?

Question: Who was it essential to Islam to imitate?

Question: What long term agenda was the acts of plundering Muslim lands by the West?


Context: The Islamic Republic has also maintained its hold on power in Iran in spite of US economic sanctions, and has created or assisted like-minded Shia terrorist groups in Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Jordan (SCIRI) and Lebanon (Hezbollah) (two Muslim countries that also have large Shiite populations). During the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, the Iranian government enjoyed something of a resurgence in popularity amongst the predominantly Sunni "Arab street," due to its support for Hezbollah and to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's vehement opposition to the United States and his call that Israel shall vanish.

Question: What Republic has maintained its control of Iran?

Question: Iran has assisted what type of groups in Iraq?

Question: What type of sanctions has the US directed at Iran?

Question: When did the Iranian government enjoy something of a resurgence?

Question: Who stated he wanted Israel to vanish?


Context: In 1979, the Soviet Union deployed its 40th Army into Afghanistan, attempting to suppress an Islamic rebellion against an allied Marxist regime in the Afghan Civil War. The conflict, pitting indigenous impoverished Muslims (mujahideen) against an anti-religious superpower, galvanized thousands of Muslims around the world to send aid and sometimes to go themselves to fight for their faith. Leading this pan-Islamic effort was Palestinian sheikh Abdullah Yusuf Azzam. While the military effectiveness of these "Afghan Arabs" was marginal, an estimated 16,000 to 35,000 Muslim volunteers came from around the world came to fight in Afghanistan.

Question: Who deployed its army into Afghanistan in 1979?

Question: What was the Soviet Union trying to suppress with its army?

Question: What did the conflict galvanize Muslims around the world to do?

Question: How effective was the military use of the "Afghan Arabs"?

Question: How many Muslims came from around the world to fight in Afghanistan?


Context: Another factor in the early 1990s that worked to radicalize the Islamist movement was the Gulf War, which brought several hundred thousand US and allied non-Muslim military personnel to Saudi Arabian soil to put an end to Saddam Hussein's occupation of Kuwait. Prior to 1990 Saudi Arabia played an important role in restraining the many Islamist groups that received its aid. But when Saddam, secularist and Ba'athist dictator of neighboring Iraq, attacked Saudi Arabia (his enemy in the war), western troops came to protect the Saudi monarchy. Islamists accused the Saudi regime of being a puppet of the west.

Question: What did the Gulf War inadvertently do in the early 1990s?

Question: Whose occupation of Kuwait did the US military personal seek to put an end to?

Question: Up until 1990, Saudi Arabia played an important role in restraining what groups?

Question: What monarchy did western troops protect?

Question: Whose puppet did Islamists accuse the Saudi regime of being?


Context: These attacks resonated with conservative Muslims and the problem did not go away with Saddam's defeat either, since American troops remained stationed in the kingdom, and a de facto cooperation with the Palestinian-Israeli peace process developed. Saudi Arabia attempted to compensate for its loss of prestige among these groups by repressing those domestic Islamists who attacked it (bin Laden being a prime example), and increasing aid to Islamic groups (Islamist madrassas around the world and even aiding some violent Islamist groups) that did not, but its pre-war influence on behalf of moderation was greatly reduced. One result of this was a campaign of attacks on government officials and tourists in Egypt, a bloody civil war in Algeria and Osama bin Laden's terror attacks climaxing in the 9/11 attack.

Question: Who did the attacks resonate most with?

Question: What did Saudi Arabia try to repress to compensate for its loss of stature?

Question: Where did American troops remain stationed after Saddam's defeat?

Question: Where did a bloody civil war break out?

Question: Who masterminded many terror attacks?


Context: While Qutb's ideas became increasingly radical during his imprisonment prior to his execution in 1966, the leadership of the Brotherhood, led by Hasan al-Hudaybi, remained moderate and interested in political negotiation and activism. Fringe or splinter movements inspired by the final writings of Qutb in the mid-1960s (particularly the manifesto Milestones, a.k.a. Ma'alim fi-l-Tariq) did, however, develop and they pursued a more radical direction. By the 1970s, the Brotherhood had renounced violence as a means of achieving its goals.

Question: Whose ideas became increasingly radical during his imprisonment?

Question: When was Qutb executed?

Question: What organization was led by Hasan al-Hudaybi?

Question: What movements pursued a more radical direction?

Question: When had the Brotherhood renounced violence as a means of achieving its goals?


Context: The path of violence and military struggle was then taken up by the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization responsible for the assassination of Anwar Sadat in 1981. Unlike earlier anti-colonial movements the extremist group directed its attacks against what it believed were "apostate" leaders of Muslim states, leaders who held secular leanings or who had introduced or promoted Western/foreign ideas and practices into Islamic societies. Its views were outlined in a pamphlet written by Muhammad Abd al-Salaam Farag, in which he states:

Question: Who took up the path of violence?

Question: When did the Egyptian Islamic Jihad assassinate Anwar Sadat?

Question: Which leaders did the Islamic extremists attack?

Question: What sin were the leaders the extremists attacked guilty of?

Question: Who wrote a pamphlet outlining the radical ideas of the extremists?


Context: Another of the Egyptian groups which employed violence in their struggle for Islamic order was al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group). Victims of their campaign against the Egyptian state in the 1990s included the head of the counter-terrorism police (Major General Raouf Khayrat), a parliamentary speaker (Rifaat al-Mahgoub), dozens of European tourists and Egyptian bystanders, and over 100 Egyptian police. Ultimately the campaign to overthrow the government was unsuccessful, and the major jihadi group, Jamaa Islamiya (or al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya), renounced violence in 2003. Other lesser known groups include the Islamic Liberation Party, Salvation from Hell and Takfir wal-Hijra, and these groups have variously been involved in activities such as attempted assassinations of political figures, arson of video shops and attempted takeovers of government buildings.

Question: What did al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya use to get its way?

Question: Over 100 Egyptian police were victims of what group's campaign of terror?

Question: When did Jamaa Islamiya renounce violence?

Question: How did the Islamic Group's campaign to overthrow the government turn out?

Question: Who has the Islamic Liberation Party attempted to assassinate?


Context: For some decades prior to the First Palestine Intifada in 1987, the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine took a "quiescent" stance towards Israel, focusing on preaching, education and social services, and benefiting from Israel's "indulgence" to build up a network of mosques and charitable organizations. As the First Intifada gathered momentum and Palestinian shopkeepers closed their shops in support of the uprising, the Brotherhood announced the formation of HAMAS ("zeal"), devoted to Jihad against Israel. Rather than being more moderate than the PLO, the 1988 Hamas charter took a more uncompromising stand, calling for the destruction of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic state in Palestine. It was soon competing with and then overtaking the PLO for control of the intifada. The Brotherhood's base of devout middle class found common cause with the impoverished youth of the intifada in their cultural conservatism and antipathy for activities of the secular middle class such as drinking alcohol and going about without hijab.

Question: Until 1987, what stance did the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine take towards Israel?

Question: What organization is devoted to Jihad against Israel?

Question: What did the Hamas charter uncompromisingly encourage?

Question: The Brotherhood's members are against consuming what beverage?

Question: Where does HAMAS want to establish an Islamic state?


Context: Hamas has continued to be a major player in Palestine. From 2000 to 2007 it killed 542 people in 140 suicide bombing or "martyrdom operations". In the January 2006 legislative election—its first foray into the political process—it won the majority of the seats, and in 2007 it drove the PLO out of Gaza. Hamas has been praised by Muslims for driving Israel out of the Gaza Strip, but criticized for failure to achieve its demands in the 2008-9 and 2014 Gaza Wars despite heavy destruction and significant loss of life.

Question: What organization has continued to be a major disruptive force in Palestine?

Question: How many people did Hamas kill between 2000 to 2007?

Question: What did Hamas win in the January 2006 legislative election?

Question: When did Hamas drive the PLO out of Gaza?

Question: What have Muslims praised Hamas for doing?


Context: For many years, Sudan had an Islamist regime under the leadership of Hassan al-Turabi. His National Islamic Front first gained influence when strongman General Gaafar al-Nimeiry invited members to serve in his government in 1979. Turabi built a powerful economic base with money from foreign Islamist banking systems, especially those linked with Saudi Arabia. He also recruited and built a cadre of influential loyalists by placing sympathetic students in the university and military academy while serving as minister of education.

Question: What type of regime ruled over Sudan for many years?

Question: Who was the leader of the Islamist regime in Sudan?

Question: What organization did General Gaafar al-Nimeiry invite members of to serve in his government?

Question: How did Turabi build a strong economic base?

Question: Where did Turabi place students sympathetic to his views?


Context: After al-Nimeiry was overthrown in 1985 the party did poorly in national elections, but in 1989 it was able to overthrow the elected post-al-Nimeiry government with the help of the military. Turabi was noted for proclaiming his support for the democratic process and a liberal government before coming to power, but strict application of sharia law, torture and mass imprisonment of the opposition, and an intensification of the long-running war in southern Sudan, once in power. The NIF regime also harbored Osama bin Laden for a time (before 9/11), and worked to unify Islamist opposition to the American attack on Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War.

Question: When was al-Nimeiry overthrown?

Question: How did the party overthrow the elected government in 1989?

Question: Though Turabi proclaimed his support for the democratic process, he strictly applied what after coming into power?

Question: Who did the NIF regime harbor prior to 9/11?

Question: What did the NIF try to unify Islamist opposition against?


Context: An Islamist movement influenced by Salafism and the jihad in Afghanistan, as well as the Muslim Brotherhood, was the FIS or Front Islamique de Salut (the Islamic Salvation Front) in Algeria. Founded as a broad Islamist coalition in 1989 it was led by Abbassi Madani, and a charismatic Islamist young preacher, Ali Belhadj. Taking advantage of economic failure and unpopular social liberalization and secularization by the ruling leftist-nationalist FLN government, it used its preaching to advocate the establishment of a legal system following Sharia law, economic liberalization and development program, education in Arabic rather than French, and gender segregation, with women staying home to alleviate the high rate of unemployment among young Algerian men. The FIS won sweeping victories in local elections and it was going to win national elections in 1991 when voting was canceled by a military coup d'état.

Question: One of FIS' agenda items was to force women to start doing what?

Question: When was the FIS founded?

Question: Where was the FIS formed?

Question: What does the acronym FIS stand for?

Question: What were the national elections in 1991 canceled by?


Context: In Afghanistan, the mujahideen's victory against the Soviet Union in the 1980s did not lead to justice and prosperity, due to a vicious and destructive civil war between political and tribal warlords, making Afghanistan one of the poorest countries on earth. In 1992, the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan ruled by communist forces collapsed, and democratic Islamist elements of mujahdeen founded the Islamic State of Afghanistan. In 1996, a more conservative and anti-democratic Islamist movement known as the Taliban rose to power, defeated most of the warlords and took over roughly 80% of Afghanistan.

Question: Unsurprisingly, the mujahideen's victory against the Soviets in the 1980s failed to produce what?

Question: What type of civil war was fought between political and tribal warlords?

Question: When did the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan collapse?

Question: What did the civil war leave the state of Afghanistan's economy in?

Question: How much of Afghanistan did the Taliban take over?


Context: The Taliban were spawned by the thousands of madrasahs the Deobandi movement established for impoverished Afghan refugees and supported by governmental and religious groups in neighboring Pakistan. The Taliban differed from other Islamist movements to the point where they might be more properly described as Islamic fundamentalist or neofundamentalist, interested in spreading "an idealized and systematized version of conservative tribal village customs" under the label of Sharia to an entire country. Their ideology was also described as being influenced by Wahhabism, and the extremist jihadism of their guest Osama bin Laden.

Question: Thousands of madrasahs spawned what organization?

Question: Where did support from governmental and religious groups come from?

Question: The Taliban was so different from other moments that they could be more accurately described as being what?

Question: What did the Taliban want to subject the entire country to?

Question: Who influenced the Taliban's ideology?


Context: In July 1977, General Zia-ul-Haq overthrew Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's regime in Pakistan. Ali Bhutto, a leftist in democratic competition with Islamists, had announced banning alcohol and nightclubs within six months, shortly before he was overthrown. Zia-ul-Haq was much more committed to Islamism, and "Islamization" or implementation of Islamic law, became a cornerstone of his eleven-year military dictatorship and Islamism became his "official state ideology". Zia ul Haq was an admirer of Mawdudi and Mawdudi's party Jamaat-e-Islami became the "regime's ideological and political arm". In Pakistan this Islamization from above was "probably" more complete "than under any other regime except those in Iran and Sudan," but Zia-ul-Haq was also criticized by many Islamists for imposing "symbols" rather than substance, and using Islamization to legitimize his means of seizing power. Unlike neighboring Iran, Zia-ul-Haq's policies were intended to "avoid revolutionary excess", and not to strain relations with his American and Persian Gulf state allies. Zia-ul-Haq was killed in 1988 but Islamization remains an important element in Pakistani society.

Question: When was the regime in Pakistan overthrown by General Zia-ul-Haq?

Question: What had Bhutto planned on banning within six months, before he was overthrown?

Question: What was Zia-ul-Haq's official state ideology?

Question: What was Zia-ul-Haq accused of using Islamization to legitimize?

Question: When was Zia-ul-Haq killed?


Context: "The Islamic State", formerly known as the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" and before that as the "Islamic State of Iraq", (and called the acronym Daesh by its many detractors), is a Wahhabi/Salafi jihadist extremist militant group which is led by and mainly composed of Sunni Arabs from Iraq and Syria. In 2014, the group proclaimed itself a caliphate, with religious, political and military authority over all Muslims worldwide. As of March 2015[update], it had control over territory occupied by ten million people in Iraq and Syria, and has nominal control over small areas of Libya, Nigeria and Afghanistan. (While a self-described state, it lacks international recognition.) The group also operates or has affiliates in other parts of the world, including North Africa and South Asia.

Question: What type of group is The Islamic State?

Question: Who leads The Islamic State?

Question: How many people did the Islamic State control the territory of as of March 2015?

Question: What does the Islamic State lack from the international community?

Question: What did the Islamic State proclaim itself in 2014?


Context: Originating as the Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad in 1999, it pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda in 2004, participated in the Iraqi insurgency that followed the March 2003 invasion of Iraq by Western forces, joined the fight in the Syrian Civil War beginning in March 2011, and was expelled from al-Qaeda in early 2014, (which complained of its failure to consult and "notorious intransigence"). The group gained prominence after it drove Iraqi government forces out of key cities in western Iraq in a 2014 offensive. The group is adept at social media, posting Internet videos of beheadings of soldiers, civilians, journalists and aid workers, and is known for its destruction of cultural heritage sites. The United Nations has held ISIL responsible for human rights abuses and war crimes, and Amnesty International has reported ethnic cleansing by the group on a "historic scale". The group has been designated a terrorist organisation by the United Nations, the European Union and member states, the United States, India, Indonesia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Syria and other countries.

Question: When did ISIL pledge allegiance to al-Qaeda?

Question: When did Western forces invade Iraq?

Question: Why did al-Qaeda tell ISIL to take a hike?

Question: When did the Syrian Civil War begin?

Question: What has the United Nations designed ISIL?


Context: In its focus on the Caliphate, the party takes a different view of Muslim history than some other Islamists such as Muhammad Qutb. HT sees Islam's pivotal turning point as occurring not with the death of Ali, or one of the other four rightly guided Caliphs in the 7th century, but with the abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate in 1924. This is believed to have ended the true Islamic system, something for which it blames "the disbelieving (Kafir) colonial powers" working through Turkish modernist Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

Question: What's the party's take on Muslim history?

Question: When did the four rightly guided Caliphs die?

Question: When was the Ottoman Caliphate abolished?

Question: The abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate is believed to have ended what system?

Question: What are colonial powers blamed for?


Context: HT does not engage in armed jihad or work for a democratic system, but works to take power through "ideological struggle" to change Muslim public opinion, and in particular through elites who will "facilitate" a "change of the government," i.e., launch a "bloodless" coup. It allegedly attempted and failed such coups in 1968 and 1969 in Jordan, and in 1974 in Egypt, and is now banned in both countries. But many HT members have gone on to join terrorist groups and many jihadi terrorists have cited HT as their key influence.

Question: What type of jihad does HT avoid engaging in?

Question: How does HT strive to amass power?

Question: Who specifically does HT target to change the opinion of?

Question: Where did HT fail to pull off a bloodless coup in 1974?

Question: What have many HT members graduated to joining?


Context: Greater London has over 900,000 Muslims, (most of South Asian origins and concentrated in the East London boroughs of Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest), and among them are some with a strong Islamist outlook. Their presence, combined with a perceived British policy of allowing them free rein, heightened by exposés such as the 2007 Channel 4 documentary programme Undercover Mosque, has given rise to the term Londonistan. Following the 9/11 attacks, however, Abu Hamza al-Masri, the imam of the Finsbury Park Mosque, was arrested and charged with incitement to terrorism which has caused many Islamists to leave the UK to avoid internment.[citation needed]

Question: How many Muslims are in Greater London?

Question: What type of outlook do some of the Muslims in London have?

Question: When did the Channel 4 documentary Undercover Mosque air?

Question: The perceived British policy of being hands off of its Muslim population has resulted in what derogatory term for London?

Question: What was Abu Hamaz al-Masri charged with when he was arrested?


Context: The U.S. government has engaged in efforts to counter Islamism, or violent Islamism, since 2001. These efforts were centred in the U.S. around public diplomacy programmes conducted by the State Department. There have been calls to create an independent agency in the U.S. with a specific mission of undermining Islamism and jihadism. Christian Whiton, an official in the George W. Bush administration, called for a new agency focused on the nonviolent practice of "political warfare" aimed at undermining the ideology. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates called for establishing something similar to the defunct U.S. Information Agency, which was charged with undermining the communist ideology during the Cold War.

Question: How long as the U.S. government been actively engaged in efforts to counter Islamism?

Question: What department in the U.S. spearheaded the efforts against Islamism?

Question: Who called for an agency to be created to be solely focused at undermining the Islamism ideology?

Question: What position in the government does Robert Gates hold?

Question: What was the U.S. Information Agency charged with doing during the Cold War?


Context: Imperialism is a type of advocacy of empire. Its name originated from the Latin word "imperium", which means to rule over large territories. Imperialism is "a policy of extending a country's power and influence through colonization, use of military force, or other means". Imperialism has greatly shaped the contemporary world. It has also allowed for the rapid spread of technologies and ideas. The term imperialism has been applied to Western (and Japanese) political and economic dominance especially in Asia and Africa in the 19th and 20th centuries. Its precise meaning continues to be debated by scholars. Some writers, such as Edward Said, use the term more broadly to describe any system of domination and subordination organised with an imperial center and a periphery.

Question: The word imperialism has it's origins in which ancient language?

Question: By what means is imperialism usually administered?

Question: The term imperialism has been applied to western countries, and which eastern county?

Question: Imperialism is responsible for the rapid spread of what?


Context: Imperialism is defined as "A policy of extending a country’s power and influence through diplomacy or military force." Imperialism is particularly focused on the control that one group, often a state power, has on another group of people. This is often through various forms of "othering" (see other) based on racial, religious, or cultural stereotypes. There are "formal" or "informal" imperialisms. "Formal imperialism" is defined as "physical control or full-fledged colonial rule". "Informal imperialism" is less direct; however, it is still a powerful form of dominance.

Question: Imperialism extends a country's power and what?

Question: colonial rule would be considered what type of imperialism?

Question: imperialism often divides countries by using which technique?

Question: Informal imperialism is still dominant; however, less what?