Write an account of how the Hadiths of the Prophet stress upon the unity of the Islamic community. Use at least four set Hadiths from the syllabus to develop your answer.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2017). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. 2(a) In this answer candidates need to bring out the fact that those who accept the guidance of the Prophet (pbuh) and accept Islam as their religion form a separate community of Islamic fraternity commonly known as the umma. The Prophet (pbuh) went to great lengths to stress to the members and different groups within the umma, the need to behave kindly towards each other and help one another and to fulfil the obligations upon them which was brought on them by their common faith. This emphasis of the Prophet (pbuh) was especially important as the umma constituted of members from different countries, races, tribes and social ranks, each with its own ethnic, linguistic and temperamental features.
2. 2(a) The Prophet (pbuh) demonstrated this unity when he arrived in Madina by forming brotherhood between the muhajireen and the ansars. He stressed that it was incumbent for a Muslim to protect the honour and dignity of another Muslim and also to protect and guard another Muslim from any evil or danger that he himself may be unaware of.
3. 2(a) Muslims should wish for their fellow Muslims what they wish for themselves. Candidates could give one of the Hadiths from the syllabus here, ‘None of you believe until he wants for his brother what he wants for himself. Muslims are also told that the bonds of unity should not be broken between them. It is the duty of a Muslim to make peace with his fellow believer. Every Muslim is also told to not only do what is right, but to spread good and virtue according to the moral standards of Islam and discourage evil. Some candidates could develop this point and say that though unity should be maintained, terrorism should never be supported as it is against the teachings of both the Qur'an and the Prophet (pbuh).
4. 2(a) Candidates as asked in the question should refer to any four Hadiths from the syllabus. The ones that are clearly most relevant to this question are Hadiths 2,3,10,11,14,15,16.
5. 2(b) Here we are looking to credit all evaluative responses, the higher the degree of evaluation, the better the mark will be. Candidates could say that the concepts of equality and unity are the essence of Islamic values and Muslims are encouraged to maintain unity within the Islamic community to strengthen it. The community being united in practising faith and following its teachings will increasingly lead to social justice and harmony. By practising unity the vulnerable are cared for and nobody gets left behind and on account of this society as a whole prospers. All valid points to be credited.