WAEC SSCE - Islamic Studies - 2018 (Essay)

A comment on the three verses is given below.

(i) Iyyaka na'budu wa iyyaka nasta'in (Q.1:5): "You alone do we worship, and You alone do we ask for help."

• This verse from Suratul-Fatihah is the heart of Tawhid. Worship (ibadah) and the seeking of help (isti'anah) are directed to Allah alone.
• The use of "we" rather than "I" points to the communal spirit of Islam and the unity of the believers.
• It teaches sincerity in worship and total reliance on Allah, forbidding any form of Shirk.

(ii) Alaysa Llahu bi ahkamil-hakimin (Q.95:8): "Is not Allah the Most Just of judges?"

• This closing verse of Suratut-Tin affirms that Allah is the wisest and most just of all judges.
• It reminds man, who was created in the best of moulds, that he will be brought to account, so none should deny the Day of Recompense.
• It builds confidence that Allah's judgement is perfectly fair and free of error.

(iii) Inna anzalnahu fi laylatil-Qadr (Q.97:1): "Indeed, We revealed it (the Qur'an) on the Night of Power."

• This opening verse of Suratul-Qadr states that the Qur'an began to be revealed on Laylatul-Qadr in the month of Ramadan.
• That night is described as better than a thousand months; worship in it carries immense reward.
• It highlights the honour of the Qur'an and encourages Muslims to seek the Night of Power in the last ten nights of Ramadan.

Shirk means associating partners with Allah, that is, ascribing to any created being the qualities, rights or worship that belong to Allah alone. It is the opposite of Tawhid (the Oneness of Allah) and is the greatest sin in Islam. The teachings of Islam on Shirk are as follows.

1. Shirk is the gravest sin: Allah says He forgives all sins for whom He wills except that a partner be set up with Him (Q.4:48). One who dies upon Shirk without repentance is forbidden Paradise (Q.5:72).
2. Types of Shirk: Major Shirk (Shirk Akbar) is worshipping idols, spirits, the sun, moon or any being besides Allah; it takes one out of Islam. Minor Shirk (Shirk Asghar) includes showing off in worship (riya'), swearing by other than Allah, and excessive reliance on charms and amulets.
3. The whole mission of the Prophets was against Shirk: Every Prophet, from Adam to Muhammad (S.A.W.), called people to worship Allah alone and to shun false deities (Q.16:36).
4. Shirk nullifies good deeds: The Qur'an warns that if a person commits Shirk his works become worthless (Q.39:65).
5. Forms condemned in the Qur'an: worship of idols, angels, jinn, prophets, saints and graves; belief that others can independently give benefit or cause harm; and directing supplication, sacrifice or vows to other than Allah.
6. Cure of Shirk: firm belief in Tawhid, sincere worship of Allah alone, reliance (tawakkul) on Him, and seeking help and refuge in Him only.

Islam therefore condemns Shirk in all its forms and commands pure monotheism as the foundation of faith.

The Year of the Elephant (Amul-Fil, about 570 C.E.) is the year in which Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.) was born and in which Abrahah, the Abyssinian governor of Yemen, marched with an army led by elephants to destroy the Ka'bah in Makkah. Its significance is examined below.

1. Divine protection of the Ka'bah: Abrahah intended to demolish the Sacred House so that people would turn to his own church at San'a'. Allah destroyed his army with flocks of birds (Ababil) that pelted them with stones of baked clay, as recorded in Suratul-Fil (Q.105). This showed that the Ka'bah is under Allah's protection.
2. Birth of the Prophet: It marks the year of the birth of Muhammad (S.A.W.), the Seal of the Prophets, giving the event lasting importance in Islamic history.
3. Chronological landmark: The Arabs, who had no fixed calendar then, used the Year of the Elephant as a point of reference for dating other events.
4. Rise in the honour of the Quraysh: After the defeat of Abrahah, the Quraysh and the custodianship of the Ka'bah gained greater respect throughout Arabia.
5. Confirmation of Tawhid: The miraculous defeat of a powerful army reminded the Arabs of the might of Allah and prepared the ground for the message of monotheism the Prophet would later bring.
6. Lesson of humility: It teaches that no power, however great, can prevail against the will of Allah, and that arrogance leads to ruin.

Suratul Fatihah (The Opening) is the first chapter of the Qur'an and is recited in every unit of the daily prayers. A comment on its first four verses is as follows:

Verse 1: Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim (In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful).

• The believer begins every good act in the name of Allah, seeking His help and blessing.
• Two of Allah's beautiful names appear here: ar-Rahman, whose mercy embraces all creation in this world, and ar-Rahim, whose special mercy is reserved for the believers in the Hereafter.

Verse 2: Al-hamdu lillahi Rabbil-'alamin (All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds).

• All genuine praise belongs to Allah alone, for He is the source of every blessing.
• He is Rabb, the Creator, Sustainer and Nourisher of all the worlds, of men, jinn, angels, animals and everything that exists.

Verse 3: Ar-Rahmanir-Rahim (The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful).

• The two attributes of mercy are repeated to emphasise that Allah's dealing with His creation is founded upon mercy rather than harshness, encouraging the servant to hope in Him.

Verse 4: Maliki yawmid-Din (Master of the Day of Judgement).

• Allah is the sole Owner and Ruler of the Day of Recompense, when every soul will be requited for its deeds.
• The verse instils the fear of accountability and balances the hope raised by His mercy, so that the believer worships Allah between hope and fear.

General lessons: the verses teach the Oneness of Allah (Tawhid), gratitude to Him, hope in His mercy, and awareness of the final reckoning.

Suratun-Nasr (Qur'an 110)

Arabic text:

1. إِذَا جَاءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ
2. وَرَأَيْتَ النَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا
3. فَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ وَاسْتَغْفِرْهُ ۚ إِنَّهُ كَانَ تَوَّابًا

Transliteration:

1. Idha ja'a nasrullahi wal-fath.
2. Wa ra'aytan-nasa yadkhuluna fi dinillahi afwaja.
3. Fasabbih bihamdi Rabbika wastaghfirh, innahu kana tawwaba.

English translation:

1. When the help of Allah and the victory come,
2. And you see people entering the religion of Allah in crowds,
3. Then glorify the praises of your Lord and seek His forgiveness. Truly, He is ever ready to accept repentance.

Commentary:

This is a Madinan surah, understood to have been revealed near the end of the Prophet's life, around the time of the conquest of Makkah. The "victory" refers principally to the conquest of Makkah, after which the Arab tribes accepted Islam in large numbers. The surah carries the following points:

1. All victory and help come from Allah; success is His gift, not the product of human strength alone.
2. The mass conversion of people fulfilled the Prophet's long struggle and confirmed the truth of his message.
3. At the peak of triumph the Prophet is commanded to respond not with pride but with glorification (tasbih), praise (hamd) and seeking forgiveness (istighfar), teaching humility and gratitude.
4. Learned companions such as Ibn 'Abbas understood the surah as a subtle announcement that the Prophet's mission was nearly complete and his return to his Lord was near.
5. It reminds every believer to remain humble in success and to turn constantly to Allah, the Accepter of repentance (At-Tawwab).

This text is part of the sixth Hadith in the collection of Imam an-Nawawi, narrated by an-Nu'man ibn Bashir (R.A.). The Prophet (S.A.W.) said: "The lawful (halal) is clear and the unlawful (haram) is clear, and between the two are doubtful matters which many people do not know. So whoever avoids the doubtful matters clears himself in regard to his religion and his honour, but whoever falls into the doubtful matters falls into the unlawful."

Explanation of the key phrases

• The lawful is clear: Allah has plainly stated what is permissible, such as lawful food, honest trade and lawful marriage. A believer needs no doubt about these.
• The unlawful is clear: Allah has equally made plain what is forbidden, such as intoxicants, usury (riba), adultery, theft and the eating of pork and carrion.
• The doubtful matters (mushtabihat): Between the two lie matters whose ruling is not obvious to the ordinary person, either because the evidence is unclear or because scholars differ over them. Many people do not know their true ruling.

Lessons and significance

1. A cautious Muslim keeps away from doubtful things to protect both his religion (din) and his reputation from blame.
2. The Prophet (S.A.W.) likened one who grazes near a forbidden pasture to a shepherd who may soon let his flock stray into it; so one who indulges in the doubtful is likely to slip into the clearly unlawful.
3. Every ruler and every heart has its protected sanctuary (hima); Allah's hima is the things He has forbidden.
4. The Hadith ends with the reminder that in the body there is a morsel of flesh, the heart, and that when it is sound the whole body is sound. Piety therefore begins with the purification of the heart.

The Hadith is a foundation of caution (wara') in Islamic law and teaches self-restraint, scrupulousness and the guarding of one's faith and honour.

For a Hadith to be accepted as authentic (sahih) and used as evidence in Islam, the scholars of Hadith laid down strict conditions. These conditions concern both the chain of narrators (sanad) and the text (matn).

1. Continuous chain (Ittisal al-Sanad): The chain of transmission must be unbroken, each narrator having actually received the report directly from the one before him, going back to the Prophet (S.A.W.).
2. Uprightness of the narrators ('Adalah): Every narrator must be a trustworthy Muslim, of good character, pious, and free from major sins and public misconduct.
3. Accuracy and retention (Dabt): Each narrator must have a sound memory or accurate written record, so that he transmits exactly what he heard without error.
4. Freedom from irregularity (absence of Shudhudh): The Hadith must not contradict a report by more reliable and more numerous narrators.
5. Freedom from hidden defect (absence of 'Illah): The Hadith must be free of any subtle, concealed weakness that only expert critics can detect.
6. Agreement with the Qur'an and established Sunnah: The text must not contradict the clear teachings of the Qur'an, sound reason, or well-known authentic traditions.

When all these conditions are fully met the Hadith is classed as Sahih. If the memory of a narrator is slightly weak it is Hasan (good), and if any essential condition is missing it becomes Da'if (weak). These standards protected the Sunnah from forgery and error.

Tawaf is the act of circling the Ka'bah seven times as part of the rites of Hajj (and 'Umrah). Its performance is described below.

1. Purity: The pilgrim must be in a state of ritual purity (wudu'), with the awrah covered. For men in Ihram the right shoulder is bared (idtiba') during the arrival Tawaf.
2. Starting point: Tawaf begins at the corner of the Black Stone (al-Hajar al-Aswad). The pilgrim faces it, and if possible kisses or touches it, or points towards it, saying Bismillahi Allahu Akbar.
3. Direction: The Ka'bah is kept on the pilgrim's left, and he moves round it in an anticlockwise direction.
4. Seven circuits: The pilgrim completes seven full rounds, each beginning and ending at the Black Stone.
5. Ramal: In the first three rounds of the arrival Tawaf the men walk briskly with short quick steps (ramal); they walk normally in the remaining four.
6. Supplication: Throughout the Tawaf the pilgrim engages in du'a, dhikr and recitation of the Qur'an. Between the Yemeni corner and the Black Stone he says: Rabbana atina fid-dunya hasanah wa fil-akhirati hasanah wa qina 'adhaban-nar.
7. The Yemeni corner: The pilgrim touches the Yemeni corner if able, but does not kiss it.
8. After Tawaf: He offers two rak'ahs of prayer behind Maqam Ibrahim (the Station of Ibrahim), if possible, then drinks from the well of Zamzam.

Tawaf symbolises the unity of the Muslims and the centrality of Allah, around whom the believers' lives revolve.

Conditions that necessitate Ghusl and how it is performed

Ghusl is the ritual bath in which the entire body is washed to remove a state of major impurity (janabah) and restore purity for worship.

Conditions that make Ghusl obligatory:

1. Emission of semen (maniyy) with desire, whether during sleep (wet dream) or while awake.
2. Sexual intercourse, even if there is no emission, once the two circumcised parts meet.
3. End of menstruation (haid) in a woman.
4. End of post-natal bleeding (nifas) after childbirth.
5. Death of a Muslim, in which case the living are obliged to wash the corpse.
6. Some scholars add a non-Muslim embracing Islam as an occasion for a recommended bath.

How Ghusl is performed:

1. Make the intention (Niyyah) in the heart to purify oneself from major impurity, and say Bismillah.
2. Wash both hands up to the wrists three times.
3. Wash the private parts and remove any impurity from the body.
4. Perform a complete ablution (Wudu') as for prayer.
5. Pour water over the head three times, running the fingers through the hair so the water reaches the scalp.
6. Wash the whole body, starting with the right side then the left, ensuring water reaches every part of the skin, including the armpits, navel and between the toes, so that no dry spot remains.

Once completed correctly, the person is purified and may pray, touch and recite the Qur'an, and enter the mosque.

(a) Definition of Shirk

Shirk means associating partners with Allah, that is, ascribing to any created being the qualities, powers or rights of worship that belong to Allah alone. It is the opposite of Tawhid and is described in the Qur'an as the gravest and only unforgivable sin if a person dies upon it without repentance (Q.4:48; Q.31:13).

(b) The two types of Shirk with three examples each

1. Major Shirk (Shirk Akbar): This takes a person out of the fold of Islam and, if unrepented, condemns him to Hell forever. Examples:

1. Worshipping idols, statues or images beside Allah.
2. Supplicating, sacrificing or vowing to the dead, saints, spirits or jinn.
3. Believing that any being besides Allah creates, gives life and death, or independently controls the affairs of the universe.

2. Minor Shirk (Shirk Asghar): This does not expel a person from Islam but is a serious sin that diminishes the purity of one's faith and deeds. Examples:

1. Showing off (Riya'): performing acts of worship to be seen and praised by people rather than for Allah.
2. Swearing by other than Allah, such as swearing by one's father, the Prophet or the Ka'bah.
3. Saying "whatever Allah and you will," or wearing charms and amulets believing they in themselves bring benefit or ward off harm.

Both types must be avoided, but minor Shirk in particular is subtle and requires constant sincerity (ikhlas) to guard against.

The role of Huffaz in the preservation of the Qur'an

Huffaz (singular Hafiz) are those who memorise the entire Qur'an by heart. From the time of the Prophet until today they have played a central role in preserving the Qur'an:

1. Oral preservation during revelation: As each portion was revealed, the Prophet recited it to his companions, who committed it to memory. Companions such as 'Abdullah b. Mas'ud, Ubayy b. Ka'b, Zayd b. Thabit, Mu'adh b. Jabal and Abu Zayd were among the leading Huffaz in his lifetime.
2. Guarding accuracy alongside writing: Although scribes wrote the revelation on materials such as parchment, palm-leaves and bones, the written pieces were scattered. The memory of the Huffaz preserved the correct wording, pronunciation and order, complementing and verifying the written record.
3. Safeguarding after the Battle of Yamamah: When many Huffaz were killed in the wars of apostasy (notably at Yamamah), 'Umar advised Abu Bakr to compile the Qur'an into one written volume for fear that its memorisers were dying. The task was carried out by Zayd b. Thabit, cross-checking the written verses against the memory of the Huffaz. This shows how the two methods reinforced each other.
4. Standardisation under 'Uthman: When differences in recitation appeared as Islam spread, Caliph 'Uthman produced standard copies (Mushaf) and sent a reciter (Hafiz) with each copy to teach the correct recitation, ensuring uniformity across the Muslim world.
5. Continuous transmission (Tawatur): In every generation large numbers of Huffaz have memorised and taught the Qur'an to the next generation, transmitting it by an unbroken mass chain that makes any alteration impossible.
6. Living guarantee today: Millions of Huffaz across the world today preserve the same text, fulfilling Allah's promise: "Indeed, it is We who sent down the Reminder and We will surely guard it" (Q.15:9).

How 'Uthman b. 'Affan earned the title Dhu-Nurayn

The title Dhu-Nurayn means "Possessor of the Two Lights." 'Uthman b. 'Affan, the third Rightly-Guided Caliph, earned it because he was honoured to marry two daughters of the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.), one after the other.

1. Marriage to Ruqayyah: 'Uthman first married Ruqayyah, a daughter of the Prophet. He was an early convert to Islam, and he migrated with her to Abyssinia and later to Madinah for the sake of their faith.
2. Death of Ruqayyah: Ruqayyah fell seriously ill at the time of the Battle of Badr. The Prophet permitted 'Uthman to remain in Madinah to nurse her instead of joining the battle, and she passed away shortly after.
3. Marriage to Umm Kulthum: After the death of Ruqayyah, the Prophet gave 'Uthman another of his daughters, Umm Kulthum, in marriage. It was because he married these two daughters of the Prophet that he was given the honorific Dhu-Nurayn.
4. Significance: The Prophet is reported to have remarked that had he possessed even more daughters he would have given them to 'Uthman, a mark of the great trust and honour in which 'Uthman was held. The title reflects both this unique privilege and 'Uthman's outstanding piety, generosity and modesty.