Write about Muslim belief in: • divine books, and • prophets.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2020). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [10] (a) A straightforward descriptive account of belief in divine books and prophets is being looked for in answers. Responses for each belief could contain the following:
2. [10] (a) Divine Books: Were sent to different prophets to guide humanity. They were meant to teach people their obligations to God and their fellow human beings.
3. [10] (a) Belief in divine books revealed to earlier prophets before the revelation of the Qur'an is an essential aspect of Muslim faith. The books in order of revelation are:
4. [10] (a) (i) The Scrolls (Suhuf) of Ibrahim;
5. [10] (a) (ii) The Torah (Taurat) revealed to Musa;
6. [10] (a) (iii) The Psalms (Zaboor) revealed to Dawood;
7. [10] (a) (iv) The Gospel (Injeel) revealed to Isa; and
8. [10] (a) (v) The Qur'an revealed to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
9. [10] (a) The central message of all revealed books was the worship of the One true God. Divine books other than the Qur'an were for a specific time and community whereas the Qur'an is for all times and for all humanity.
10. [10] (a) Earlier scriptures have been lost or tampered with and none exist in their original form or in the language they were revealed in except for the Qur'an. God has taken it upon Himself to protect the Qur'an from alteration and corruption.
11. [10] (a) Prophets: Belief in prophets is an Article of Muslim faith. Prophethood is a gift from God and all prophets possessed some common features. These are:
12. [10] (a) Prophets were both morally and intellectually superior to their nations.
13. [10] (a) God bestowed some of His prophets with miracles.
14. [10] (a) Every prophet confirmed that he was preaching the words of God and confirmed what was revealed before him and what may be revealed after him, thus confirming that the message of all prophets in essence was the same.
15. [10] (a) The line of prophets started with Adam and ended with the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). All prophets are to be respected without making any distinction amongst them.
16. [10] (a) They were all human. They ate, drank, slept and lived normal lives and spoke the language of their communities. They were sent to guide humanity towards the worship of their Creator and to lead righteous lives. They also acted as role models for humanity.
17. [10] (a) The mark is not divided equally between the two parts and the answer has to be read as a whole and an overall mark needs to be given.
18. [4] (b) Each answer has to be read and marked on its own merits. Answers could say that: Belief in all of them is important because they were all sent by God; or it could be said that it is written in the Qur'an that we should make no distinction between them, al Baqarah, 2:285.
19. [4] (b) The Qur'an tells us stories of the various prophets of God sent over the ages which teaches Muslims respect for other revealed religions and promotes religious tolerance.
20. [4] (b) Every prophet carried the legacy of the prophet before him and the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) carried this legacy in totality.
21. [4] (b) Though belief in all prophets is essential in Islam the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has the distinction of being the last prophet of God and was the one on whom the religion was perfected.
22. [4] (b) All valid responses to be credited.