The Holy Books and Angels (1RB0)

Where does your evidence come from?

On this paper you are not asked to list beliefs. You are asked what a Muslim should do about war, about forgiveness, about justice - and to support the answer. A belief only earns marks when you can say where it comes from. That is what the holy books are for here. The Kutub are the sources a Muslim's argument is grounded in, and knowing which one carries the most authority, and why, is the difference between an assertion and evidence. The angels do a second job, and it is easy to miss. Muslims believe angels cannot choose - they carry out Allah's will exactly. Human beings can. That single contrast is why a person's conduct is answerable at all, and why a question about how someone should act has a subject.

Your toolkit, compactly

You need these as tools to reach for in an argument, not as a list to recite:

Match each belief to what it lets you argue

Which source, and why it outranks

Muslims believe that ALL the holy books were genuine revelations from Allah. The Tawrat, the Zabur, the Injil and the Sahifah are not regarded as false books, and a Muslim would not describe them that way. The Qur'an holds the highest authority because Muslims believe it alone has been preserved unchanged since it was revealed, in the language in which it was revealed. That is not a piece of trivia about the books. It is the reason a Muslim citing the Qur'an is citing the strongest evidence available, and it is what you should say when you use it. So the move in an answer is three-part. State the view. Give the belief. Then attribute it and name the source: "Muslims believe X, which is taught in the Qur'an, the source Muslims hold to have been preserved unchanged." The third part is the one candidates leave out, and it is where the marks are.

Which one is evidence?

Four sentences from a student's answer. Three assert. Tap the ONE that uses a source as evidence.

• Muslims think forgiveness is important.
• Personally I think forgiving people is usually the right thing to do.
• Muslims believe forgiveness reflects the nature of Allah, and they would ground that in the Qur'an, which they hold to have been preserved unchanged and therefore to carry the highest authority.
• It says in their holy book that you should be nice to people.

You have room for one citation

You are arguing that a Muslim would treat life as belonging to Allah rather than to any person. Which reference supports that best, and why?

• Surah 32:11, on the angel of death: Muslims believe the soul is taken at the time Allah appoints
• Surah 57:27, on the Injil: it shows that Allah has revealed guidance before
• No reference: the point is obvious enough from the belief itself
• Any surah number, since examiners do not check the reference itself

The one thing angels cannot do

This is the contrast that makes the whole Area of Study possible, and it is usually skipped. Belief in angels is held in common across Sunni and Shi'a Islam, and it is one of the Six Beliefs.

Which TWO follow?

Given that Muslims believe angels have no free will and human beings do, select the TWO conclusions that follow.

• Human beings are answerable for what they choose to do, in a way angels are not
• Guidance matters, because a being that can choose can choose badly and needs something to choose by
• Angels are morally better than human beings, since they never do wrong
• Angels should be honoured with worship because of their obedience

The core you must be able to state

Muslims believe the Tawrat was revealed to _____ and the Zabur to Dawud, and that the Injil was revealed to _____. The _____ was revealed to Muhammad and holds the highest authority, because Muslims believe it alone has been _____ unchanged. The angels, or Malaikah, have no free will, which is why it is _____ beings whose conduct is answerable.

Build one evidenced paragraph

Put the four moves of an evidenced paragraph into the order that earns the marks.

• State the view you are supporting, in one clear sentence
• Give the Muslim belief that supports it, written as what Muslims believe
• Name the source it rests on, and say why that source carries authority
• Say what follows from it for how a Muslim would act in the situation asked about

One of these misuses a source

Three of these sentences use a source properly. Tap the ONE that misrepresents Muslim belief.

• Muslims hold the Qur'an to be the highest authority because they believe it has been preserved unchanged.
• Muslims ignore the Tawrat and the Injil because they believe those books were never really revealed.
• Muslims believe angels carry out Allah's will exactly and are not worshipped.
• The angel of death is referenced at Surah 32:11, which a candidate could cite when writing about the sanctity of life.

Three decisions in an evaluation

You are answering a twelve-mark question about whether a Muslim should ever forgive someone who has wronged them badly.

• You have written "Muslims believe in forgiveness." What does the answer still need?
• You cannot remember an exact surah number. What is the best thing to do?
• A classmate argues that a Muslim has no real choice about how to act, since angels carry out Allah's will anyway. How do you respond?

How should a Muslim respond to wrong?

Explain how a Muslim would decide how to act towards someone who has wronged them, using the holy books and the belief in angels as your evidence.

• State the position you are explaining, in one sentence
• Give the Muslim beliefs that support it, written as what Muslims believe
• Name the source each belief rests on, and say why the Qur'an carries the highest authority
• Use the angels: explain why it is human beings, who can choose, whose conduct is answerable
• Finish with what follows in practice, and reference a source by name rather than quoting it