Which Quraysh clan dominated Mecca and later became an Islamic dynasty?

• A. Quraysh
• B. Hashim
• C. Umayyad
• D. Abbasid

Answer: (C)

The question tests knowledge of which Quraysh faction rose to power as a ruling dynasty after dominating Mecca. The Umayyad clan, or Banu Umayya, was the group within Quraysh that held and consolidated control in Mecca and then founded the Umayyad Caliphate, the first major hereditary Islamic dynasty, with its early capital in Damascus and a vast expansion of empire. The Hashim clan is Muhammad’s own clan and did not establish a ruling dynasty. The Abbasids were another Quraysh branch that eventually overthrew the Umayyads and set up a separate dynasty centered in Baghdad, not Mecca. So the Umayyad clan best fits both parts of the question: dominance in Mecca and the creation of a lasting Islamic dynasty.