Islamic Studies Midterm

Written Exam Guide

Baqar Hassan Syed

Exam Syllabus
Session 1: Introduction to the Course
Session 2: Approaching the Islamic Religion and Civilization
Session 3: The Qur’an
Session 4: Sirah – The Life of Prophet (PBUH)
Session 5: The Ḥadīth Tradition
Session 6: The Islamic Legal Tradition I + The Shi‘i Tradition
Session 7: The Islamic Legal Tradition II

Exam Format
The total time for the written exam will be one hour, and there will be two parts of
the exam.

The total marks for the written exam are 50. Part 1 will carry 20 marks and Part 2
will have 30 marks.

Please submit your exam as a Word file with your name and roll number as the
file name (for example, Namra Ali 2022xxx.docx) in the assignments section of
our course website on LMS.

Note: If you encounter any connectivity issues during the exam, please let the TA
know immediately over the phone.

In Part 1 you will be given 10 minutes to write short notes on ten terms, books
and/or authors. These will be selected from the list that you can find in this
document. With two marks for each term, the total marks will be 20.

In Part 2 you will have 50 minutes to attempt one question out of two and review
your exam. Each of these questions will include several short questions, a few
samples of which have been included in this document for you. The marks for
each short question may vary, but the total marks will be 30.

The exam will be open book and open notes. However, please keep your
camera and mic on during the exam and make sure your environment is quiet.
The penalty for not doing so will be severe. We may not even accept your
exam.

• Make sure you try the iVCam app if you are using a PC without a
built-in camera. This app will allow you to appear in Zoom on video
using your phone’s camera.

How to Prepare for the Exam

Part 1 of the exam is a simple test of your familiarity with certain words. For this
part, prepare your answers from the lectures and the readings, then save them
on your PC. Simply copy paste into LMS once the exam starts. I expect the class
to collaborate! However, please make sure you use your own words to save
yourself from the charge of cheating or plagiarism. You may take help from the
internet, but be very careful since there is much unreliable information around.

Part 2 is the real deal, for it tests how well you understood certain issues that are
of interest to scholars of Islamic Studies. To prepare for this part, make sure you
have excellent lecture notes to read from. Study the slides carefully and focus
especially on the content that relates to the lecture. Try to note how the lecture
elaborated upon and developed the content on the slides.

While you prepare, make sure you are able to explain points that are mentioned
briefly in the slides. Slides along with lecture notes should cover most of your
exam preparation. If you have time after reviewing and memorizing these, go
through your readings selectively to see how they relate to questions raised in
the slides and the lectures. This will help you strengthen your understanding of
key issues.
Browsing through the internet or going through the readings during the exam is
not a good idea! You will lose precious time and may not find relevant material.
A better approach is to make your own notes for the second part of the exam
and memorize key points. For example, when going through the lecture slides
on Session 5 (Ḥadīth), you will come across slides in which the relationship
between ḥadīth and Sunnah is discussed. You should try to memorize some of
the differences between these we discussed, be able to explain the way the
two relate, and relate specific examples that illustrate these ideas.

You do not need to worry about very specific details like names, dates, how to
transliterate Arabic into Latin/English. Instead, focus on larger questions that I’ve
been raising during my lectures. Anticipate these questions in the exam and
have your answers ready!

How NOT to Prepare for the Exam

Do not try to memorize everything! There’s just too much I’ve given you to read
and absorb, so I don’t expect you to rote learn everything that was assigned.
The right way of going about the preparation for the exam involves careful
selection of what to focus on and what to just skim. You’ll have to judge this
based mainly on my lectures. Your preparation of the exam should be guided
by the questions I raised. Please do not get lost in all the details. For example, in
a question about how ḥadīth scholars structured their books, do not try to
memorize the names of their chapters—just remember a few as examples to
make your point. Focus instead on the main ideas involved; in this case you
should try to understand why these scholars structured their books the way they
did. Make some notes on this issue and memorize key points so that you can
explain it in the exam.

Some materials on LMS may be meant only to help you understand certain
ideas and problems or develop your interest in some issue. These include, for
example, optional readings in your course pack. Reading these for the exam
may be wasted effort. If you’re confused about any such material, please ask
your TAs for clarification.
Some Additional Tips:
• You should prepare terms based on the slides and the readings. Avoid
turning to the internet since it contains a mix of reliable and unreliable
information.
• Focus on the most essential aspects of each term that I have emphasized
in the lectures or as they have been presented in the assigned texts. If you
are not sure about this, please seek help during office hours.
• When going through slides, remember to memorize answers to questions I
have raised. I can’t emphasize this enough!

Terms for Part 1

Terms and concepts

Epistemology

Ontology

Polemics

Mutawatir

Sira

Sunnah

Maghazi

Hadith

The Documentary Hypothesis (in Biblical Studies)

Ellipticalism (in the Qur’an)

Matn

Isnad

Sahifa

Musannaf
Musnad

Sahih

Hasan

Daíf

Mawdu’

Ílm al-rijal

Jarh wa al-ta’dil

Khabar ul-wahid/ahad

Mashhur

Sunan

Shari‘ah

Fiqh

Usul al-Fiqh

‘Ibadat

Mu‘amalat

Mufti

Qadi

Fatwa

Hukm

Halal

Haram

Fardh

Mandub

Mubah
Makruh

Haram

Ijtihad

Qiyas

Ijma

Ithna Ashari/Imami/Twelvers

Ismaili

Zaydis

Imam (Shi‘ism)

Ghayba

ḥudūd

ta‘zīr

anachronism

reification

Authors and Works

Ibn Ishaq

Muwatta of Malik ibn Anas

Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal

Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan

Imam Shafi‘i

Sahih of Bukhari

Sahih of Muslim
Sample Questions
Part 1

Write short notes on any ten of the following (suggested time for each note is 3
minutes):

1. Isnad

2. Zaydis

Part 2

Attempt any two questions from the following three questions (suggested time
for each question is 45 minutes)

Q. 1

i) Briefly describe, in terms of content and purported objectives, the main ways
in which later medieval sira differed from the earlier medieval sira literature.

ii) Briefly explain with an example

a) How some aḥādīth may indicate the Sunnah (three points)

b) How some aḥādīth may not indicate the Sunnah (three points)

iii) ......

iv) .....

v) ......

There will be four or five sub-parts to one major question (like the above
question—it has five parts).

There will be a total of two major questions out of which you will have to attempt
one. PLEASE DO NOT GET THIS WRONG!