Islam Depth Study

In SoR II you study three religious traditions in depth. Two are examined in Section II (15 marks each, a short-answer question in three parts, usually about 2–3, 4–5 and 8 marks) and one in Section III (a 20-mark extended response of about 800 words). You must use a different tradition for Section III. Each depth study has three parts, and any of them can be examined in either section:

• Significant people and ideas: the contribution of ONE significant person or school of thought, other than the Prophet Muhammad and the four Rightly Guided Caliphs, to the development and expression of Islam, and its impact.
• Ethics: the principal ethical teachings, applied to ONE of bioethics, environmental ethics or sexual ethics.
• Significant practices: ONE of Friday prayer at the mosque, the funeral ceremony or Hajj, and how it expresses Islamic beliefs.

Use the terms Muslims use (Allah, the Qur'an, the Prophet Muhammad). Many Muslims add 'peace be upon him' after the Prophet's name; in an exam you may write it or not, but write respectfully.

• Tawhid: the absolute oneness of Allah, the central belief of Islam.
• The Qur'an: the word of Allah revealed to the Prophet Muhammad through the angel Jibril from 610 CE.
• Prophethood (risalah): Allah sent prophets from Adam through Ibrahim, Musa and Isa to Muhammad, the final prophet.
• Akhirah: the Day of Judgement and life after death; every person is accountable for their deeds.
• Qadar: Allah's decree.
• The Five Pillars: shahadah, salah, zakat, sawm and Hajj.
• Islam as submission: the word _islām_ means submission to Allah, and shares its root with _salām_, peace.

Questions ask about development (how Islam's teaching or structure changed), expression (how Muslims live and worship) and often impact.

Writing about impact

Organise by areas of impact. For al-Ghazali, for example: the inner meaning of worship (sincerity, _ikhlāṣ_), the acceptance of Sufism, the debate on faith and philosophy, and his continuing influence in teaching today. Then judge the extent, including debates (some historians once blamed him for a decline in science, a view many scholars now reject).

Principal ethical teachings

Islamic ethics is part of the Shari'ah, Allah's guidance for the whole of life.

• Sources: the Qur'an; the Sunnah (the Prophet's example, recorded in hadith); ijmāʿ (consensus of scholars); qiyās (analogy). For new questions, qualified scholars use _ijtihād_ (independent reasoning) and issue fatwas.
• The five categories of action: obligatory (_farḍ_/_wājib_), recommended (_mandūb_), permitted (_mubāḥ_), disliked (_makrūh_), forbidden (_ḥarām_).
• Key principles: humans as _khalifah_ (stewards, 2:30) holding an _amānah_ (trust, 33:72); justice ('stand firm for justice', 4:135); the purposes of the Shari'ah (_maqāṣid_), often listed as protecting religion, life, intellect, lineage and property.
• Schools of law: Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali among Sunni Muslims; Ja'fari among Shi'a Muslims. Rulings can differ in detail.

Applying the teachings

Friday prayer at the mosque

Congregational midday prayer on Friday (_ṣalāt al-jumuʿah_), replacing the usual midday prayer, based on Qur'an 62:9. The imam gives a sermon (_khuṭbah_) in two parts and leads two rak'ahs. It is obligatory for adult men who are able to attend; women may attend. Worshippers usually perform _ghusl_ (strongly recommended), wear clean clothes and stand shoulder to shoulder facing the qiblah.

Beliefs expressed: tawhid and submission (all bow to Allah alone); the unity and equality of the ummah; remembrance of Allah in the middle of daily life (62:9–10 tells Muslims to return to work after the prayer); guidance through the khutbah.

The funeral ceremony

The dying are encouraged to say the shahadah; at a death, Muslims say 'to Allah we belong and to Him we return' (2:156). The body is washed (_ghusl_), wrapped in a plain white shroud (_kafan_), prayed over by the community (_ṣalāt al-janāzah_, a communal obligation) and buried quickly, on its right side facing the qiblah. Cremation is not permitted.

Beliefs expressed: return to Allah; equality before Allah; the dignity of the body and its resurrection; the Day of Judgement; patience and acceptance of Allah's decree; the duties of the ummah to one another.

Hajj

The fifth pillar, obligatory once in a lifetime for those who are able (3:97), from 8 to 13 Dhu al-Hijjah: ihram and the talbiyah; tawaf around the Ka'bah; sa'y between Safa and Marwah; standing at Arafat (9th, the essential rite); Muzdalifah; stoning the jamarat at Mina; the sacrifice (Eid al-Adha); cutting hair; further tawaf.

Beliefs expressed: tawhid; equality of all believers (identical ihram clothing); the example of Ibrahim, Hajar and Isma'il; forgiveness and the Day of Judgement (Arafat as a foretaste of standing before Allah); the global ummah.

Worked example

_Outline how ihram expresses Islamic beliefs. (3 marks)_

Name the practice and link it to beliefs. Ihram is the state of ritual purity a pilgrim enters before Hajj, marked for men by two plain white unstitched cloths. Because every male pilgrim dresses the same, ihram expresses the belief that all people are equal before Allah, whatever their wealth or nationality. Its restrictions (no arguing, no hunting, no perfume) express submission and the setting aside of worldly concerns. The white cloth also recalls the burial shroud, reminding pilgrims of death and the Day of Judgement.

• Treating Shari'ah as a single written code rather than guidance derived from sources by scholarly method.
• Translating _jihād_ only as 'holy war'.
• Saying 'Islam bans IVF' (inaccurate for the main Sunni position) or giving one school's ruling as the only view.
• Describing Friday as a 'Muslim Sabbath'; the Qur'an tells Muslims to return to work after the prayer.
• Writing a biography of a significant person with no explanation of their contribution or impact.

• Use Qur'an references (surah:verse) and named hadith collections where you can; short references are enough.
• 8-mark answers must explain the link the question names (for example, how a practice _expresses_ belief). Use a belief word in every paragraph.
• In Section III, plan a judgement about the extent of impact or how far teachings guide adherents, and support it with dated evidence.

• Religion and Peace: the Qur'an and Hadith on peace, and Muslim peace initiatives such as _A Common Word_ (2007).
• Australia post-1945: the growth of Islam through immigration (3.2% of Australians in 2021) and interfaith dialogue.
• Religion and Non-Religion: global distribution of Muslims.