Exam guide

The marks table

Section A is collected after 15 minutes. After that you have 2 hours 15 minutes for Sections B and C (40 marks), written on the separate answer sheet. Roughly: 10 + 5 + 9 + 16 = 40 marks to be earned by writing, so the paper gives you about 3 minutes per mark.

The five SLOs and where each is tested

Table of specification (30% knowledge, 50% understanding, 20% application)

The framework asks for 30% knowledge, 50% understanding and 20% application, with 5% allowed either way. The model paper's own table counts both choices of every OR, so it adds up to 85 marks, not 50: knowledge 24 (about 28%), understanding 41 (about 48%), application 20 (about 23%).

The 17 surahs and where each is examined

What kinds of facts are asked

Traps: similar numbers and similar surahs

The board's distractors are other surahs from the same list, or a nearby number. Learn these pairs and groups so that you are not tempted.

The bubble sheet

• Section A is printed on one page with the roll number and version number bubbles at the top. Fill your roll number and version number bubbles first, exactly as on your admission slip and as printed on your question paper.
• Use a lead pencil only. The page says: deleting and overwriting are not allowed. Think, then fill.
• One circle per question, filled completely. Two circles in one row will normally be read as wrong.
• The columns run right to left in Urdu: «الف» is the column next to the question and «د» is at the far left. Check the letter in the column header, not only the position.
• Keep the row number straight: the model paper numbers the questions i to x, in Roman numerals. Move your finger down the row as you fill.
• The whole section is handed over after 15 minutes. Spend about 1 minute per question, and use the last 3 minutes to check each row against its question.

How to get both marks

1. Count the marks: 2 marks means two ticks. Write two clear points, one sentence each, or a definition and one fact.
2. Answer the question that is asked, in its own words: 'rights of women' means list rights, not the story of the surah.
3. Give a reference for each point: surah and ayah number (An-Nisa 4:4). An examiner can tick a reference at once. If you cannot recall the number, write the surah name.
4. Write 'any two' as two. A third point earns nothing extra, and a wrong third point can cost you. The exception: 'which animals' asks for the list, so give the whole list in one line.
5. No long story. The story belongs to the long question; a short answer states the fact and stops (about 2 to 4 lines).
6. Attempt the OR you know better. Do not answer both.

Worked examples from the model paper

Q. Write any two rights of women in the light of Surah An-Nisa. (2 marks)

1. The right to mahr: the husband must give the bridal gift willingly, and if the wife gives up part of it happily he may take it (4:4).
2. The right of inheritance: women have a fixed share in what parents and close relatives leave, little or much (4:7, 4:11). Also, women may not be inherited by force or made to suffer to take back their mahr (4:19).

Q. The meat of which animals is declared forbidden in Surah Al-Ma'idah? (2 marks)

Al-Ma'idah 5:3 forbids: the dead animal, blood, the flesh of swine, an animal dedicated to other than Allah, and those killed by strangling, a violent blow, a fall or goring, and what a wild beast has eaten, unless you slaughtered it in time; also what was sacrificed on stone altars. One line for the first group, one for the second: that is the two marks.

Q. What reason is given in Surah Muhammad for the deeds of the disbelievers being wasted? (2 marks)

1. They disbelieve and keep people from the way of Allah, so He wastes their deeds (47:1), and they follow falsehood while the believers follow the truth from their Lord (47:3).
2. They disliked what Allah revealed, so He made their deeds worthless (47:9).

Q. Write an introduction to Surah Al-Ahzab. (2 marks)

Surah Al-Ahzab is the 33rd surah, Madani, of 73 ayat and 9 rukus, revealed about 5 AH. It is named after the confederates (Ahzab) who besieged Madinah in the Battle of the Trench in Shawwal 5 AH. It speaks of that battle and Banu Qurayzah, and gives social rulings: adopted sons, the Prophet's (ﷺ) household, hijab, and the finality of prophethood (33:40).

Q. What principle of successful teamwork is stated in Surah As-Saff? (2 marks)

1. Words and deeds must agree: 'why do you say what you do not do' is hateful to Allah (61:2 to 3).
2. Discipline and unity: Allah loves those who fight in His way in a row, as if they were one structure joined firmly (61:4).

Checklist: the likely short questions, surah by surah

Test yourself: for each row, can you give two points with references in 30 seconds? If not, go back to that surah's unit.

Method: five steps

Recognising an unfamiliar ayah

• The surah name and number are printed at the end of the ayah. Look there first: it tells you which of the 17 surahs it is, and so what the topic is.
• Who is addressed? «يٰٓاَيُّهَا الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْا» (O you who believe) starts rulings and etiquettes for the community: 4:59, 5:8, 49:6, 49:11, 58:11, 62:9, 63:9, 66:6. «يٰٓاَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ» (O Prophet) starts something concerning the Prophet (ﷺ), his household or the rules told through him: 33:59, 65:1, 66:1, 60:12. «يٰٓاَيُّهَا النَّاسُ» (O mankind) is a general call: 4:1, 49:13.
• Rulings or story? Words like 'lash', 'witnesses', 'share', 'expiation', 'iddah', 'forbidden' mean a ruling: answer with the rule and its conditions. Names of people, 'when', 'they said' mean a story or event: answer with who, what and the outcome.
• Reward or warning? Gardens, rivers, forgiveness: a reward. Fire, Hell, wasted deeds, curse: a warning. Sub-questions often ask for exactly these two (see 48:17 and 4:10).
• Names of Allah at the end: an ayah often ends with two attributes («سَمِيْعٌ عَلِيْمٌ», «قَوِيٌّ عَزِيْزٌ», «غَفُوْرٌ رَّحِيْمٌ»). The question 'which attributes are mentioned' is answered from the last line of the translation.

Three worked examples from the model paper

Example 1: Al-Hadid 25 (Q.2 (c)(i))

(a) With which two things did Allah send His messengers? (1 mark) The ayah says: with clear evidences, and with them the Scripture and the balance. Answer: the Book (Scripture) and the balance (justice). The ayah adds iron as something sent down, but it is not 'with the messengers'.

(b) Which attributes of Allah are mentioned at the end? (2 marks) The last line of the translation: Allah is Powerful (قوی) and Exalted in Might (عزیز). Write the two attributes with their meanings: He has great strength and He is Almighty, who cannot be overcome.

Example 2: Al-Hujurat 1 to 2 (Q.2 (c)(i) OR)

(a) Which attributes of Allah are mentioned in this ayah? (1 mark) Allah is All-Hearing and All-Knowing (سمیع، علیم), the end of the first ayah.

(b) What manners should be adopted when speaking to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)? (1 mark) Do not put yourselves ahead of Allah and His Messenger, and do not raise your voices above the Prophet's voice or speak loudly to him as you do to one another; fear Allah.

(c) What harm can come from speaking in a loud voice? (1 mark) Your deeds may become worthless (wasted) while you do not even perceive it (49:2).

Example 3: An-Nisa 10 (Q.2 (c)(iii) OR)

(a) What are those who unjustly eat the property of orphans actually eating? (2 marks) They are only filling their bellies with fire: what looks like wealth is fire in their stomachs (two points: it is fire; it goes into their bellies).

(b) What punishment is stated for such people in the Hereafter? (1 mark) They will be burned in a blazing Fire (جہنم کی بھڑکتی ہوئی آگ).

The most likely ayat

These are famous, self-contained ayat with a clear teaching, the kind a paper setter prints. Learn to recognise each by its key words and know what it is about. For the full notes and more ayat, see the 'recognising the ayat' section in each surah's unit. (The model paper's ayat are 57:25, 49:1 to 2, 48:17, 47:12, 5:8 and 4:10; other ayat of the same surahs are equally possible.)

Plan in 2 minutes

Template answer

• Use the part labels printed in the paper ((a), (b)) as your headings.
• Give each point its own line and number. Examiners award marks per point, and a numbered list is easy to count.
• Keep the order of the surah when listing points, and give the ayah number (An-Nisa 4:92).
• Full model answers for all 27 topics are in unit 18. Learn those answers; use this section only for technique.

Map of the 27 topics

Which topics are likely OR choices

The framework note says that both choices of an OR must be of the same difficulty (and, where possible, test different SLOs). In the model paper each pair joins a topic from a long early surah with one from a short later surah: An-Nisa (topic 4) with Al-Munafiqun (topic 24), and Al-Ma'idah (topic 6) with Al-Mumtahanah (topic 21). Only this one paper exists for the syllabus, so the pairs below are a guide, not a prediction: prepare every topic, but use the map to decide where to spend the last hours.

The totals: 5 + 55 + 50 + 10 = 120 minutes, which leaves about 15 minutes of reserve. Use it first on Section C, since an unfinished 8-mark answer costs the most.

Presentation

• Write Sections B and C in the order of the paper, and copy the question number exactly (Q.2 (a)(i), (c)(iii)) on the answer sheet, with the OR you chose clearly marked.
• Do not answer both choices of an OR. Write one, and the examiner marks one. If you write both, you only lose time.
• Write each answer part under its own label ((a), (b), (c)). Number the points. Leave a line between questions.
• Write the reference with each point: surah name and ayah number.
• Write the answer in Urdu or English, not mixed within a point. Names of surahs, and Arabic words in the ayah, are written carefully and in full.
• Write the word meanings (Section B (b)) as one line each, in the same language, next to the numbered word. One exact word for 1 mark.

The board's rules on honorifics

The framework page on honorific phrases lists the rules the board follows in its own papers. Follow them in your answers. They cost a few seconds and show care.

Common mistakes that lose marks

1. Skipping the OR rule: answering both, or answering neither part of the question.
2. Writing a long story for a 2-mark question, then running out of time for the long questions.
3. Writing three or four points where two are asked, with one of them wrong.
4. Not reading the translation of the printed ayah and answering from memory of another ayah.
5. Mixing up the surah: giving an Al-Hujurat etiquette in an Al-Mujadilah question, or the Ahzab events in an Al-Fath answer.
6. No references. A correct point without a surah or ayah number is worth less than one with it.
7. Writing the guidance part of a long answer too generally ('we should obey Islam'): tie it to the topic and to today.
8. Misspelling or confusing the 80 words that are almost the same (for example «سَبَّحَ» in Al-Hadid and «يُسَبِّحُ» in Al-Jumu'ah): learn each with its surah.
9. Changing a bubble or overwriting on the Section A sheet, or filling two circles in one row.
10. Leaving the last long answer unfinished. Better a complete 6-point answer than 3 perfect points.

Three-week plan

The daily routine

1. 45 minutes new surah: read the introduction, the exam points and the ayah recognition sections of the unit.
2. 20 minutes questions: the unit's MCQs and short questions. Write the short answers; do not only read them.
3. 30 minutes words (unit 19) and the ayat table of this guide: say the meaning aloud, then check.
4. 10 minutes at night: recall the day's surah with your eyes closed: number, ayat, rukus, period, three main teachings.

Last-night checklist

Do not start new material. Revise the lists below, then sleep.

• The 17 surahs in order with number and ayat count (4: 176, 5: 120, 24: 64, 33: 73, 47: 38, 48: 29, 49: 18, 57: 29, 58: 22, 59: 24, 60: 13, 61: 14, 62: 11, 63: 11, 64: 18, 65: 12, 66: 12).
• For each surah: the event it is tied to (Uhud, Trench, Hudaybiyah, Banu an-Nadir, Banu al-Mustaliq, before Makkah's conquest) and one fact about its name.
• The short-question checklist (section 3): one line per surah, aloud.
• The ayat table (section 4): cover the last two columns and name each ayah's topic.
• The 80 words: the ones you missed in the mock paper, twice.
• The 27 topics: the title, the number of points and the main ayat of each. For the four topics in the model paper (4, 24, 6, 21), the full headings.
• The honorific phrases and the answer template: introduction, numbered points with references, guidance, conclusion.
• Your things: lead pencils and a sharpener for Section A (the sheet does not allow overwriting), two pens, your admission slip, a watch. Sleep early.