The students usually prepare two segments: “Islamic Systems” and “Fundamental

Problems of the Humans and the Holy Quran” and neglect the other two. But, only one
or two questions are asked from these segments and sometimes this number falls to
zero.
It is a known fact that Islamiat paper in CSS exam has always been a tricky one. In
CE 2014, 8628 candidates failed this very paper. Moreover, during 2005-11, the
examiners have mainly focussed the contemporary challenges to Islam.

On the basis of my experience and interaction with the students, I have found these
10 mistakes responsible for very low scores in Islamiat:

1. The whole range of question in Islamiat paper can be divided into four segments:

a. Beliefs
b. Pillars of Islam
c. Islamic Systems
d. Fundamental Problems of the Humans and the Holy Quran

The students usually prepare two segments: “Islamic Systems” and “Fundamental
Problems of the Humans and the Holy Quran” and neglect the other two. But, only one
or two questions are asked from these segments and sometimes this number falls to
zero.

2. The aspirants seldom practice writing good introduction to an answer.

3. Then there is hardly any heed paid to maintain coherence and linkage between the
paragraphs.

4. The students neither memorize Arabic text of verses and ahadith nor do they
bother to write any text in actual paper.

5. Objecting others is, unfortunately, rampant in our society. We hear criticism of

every sort almost round the clock. But, in CSS, it is not approved of by the
examiners. They just want to assess that which candidate has actually understood
the issue and what suggestions he has to help resolve the said issue. It has been
witnessed that some students become more-than-necessary critical while writing the
answers to questions related to Western culture or civilization or those related to
the issues of women. However, to score high, a balanced approach must be followed.

6. The students do read the books but they fail to utilize their analytical skills
and creativity while writing down their answers. The students should consciously
try to think about the contemporary challenges to Islam and the ways to tackle
those.

7. Unfortunately, the books available in the market are mostly meretricious as no

heed has been paid in those to the prevailing trend of questions in the actual
paper.

8. Most students follow “read, read and read” principle but do not pay any
attention on enhancing their writing speed.

9. Numerous aspirants, having no academic background in Islamiat, need a lot of

guidance but they do not bother to seek any.

10. The last, but not least, are spelling and grammar mistakes.

How to Overcome These Mistakes?

If the above mentioned problems are overcome then there is no reason why the
students would get low scores or fail this paper. Proper, coherent and impressive
introduction to an answer is a prerequisite to scoring high in Islamiat paper.
Following suggestions can be helpful in improving the quality of your answer to get
the maximum score:

1. There are usually three types of sentences:

a. Issue-based
b. Argumentative, which may support the issue at hand
c. concluding, which are usually suggestion-based

2. After providing an impressive introduction, the answer should be written in a

style that is simply rational and coherent.

3. During preparations you should focus basically the Islamic Systems and the
questions related to the fundamental problems of human beings and the importance
and role of the Holy Quran in finding solutions to them.

4. Do write a relevant Quranic verse before starting to write the answer.