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ISC213 · Lecture 2 Comprehensive Exam
Lecture 2 · Practice exam
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Lecture 2 Comprehensive Exam

9 multiple-choice questions and 6 written questions covering Lecture 2. Try each question before revealing its explanation or model answer. Based on the course materials.

9multiple choice
6written questions
Lecture 2coverage
Part one · Lecture 2

01 Multiple choice — 9 questions

One attempt per option. A correct answer locks the question and explains itself; a wrong one only disables that option, so you can keep trying. The running score sits at the bottom of the page.

Part two · Lecture 2

02 Written questions — 6 questions

Answer each in full before opening its model answer. The model answers are written at the length a full-mark response needs.

L2 · Block 1

1. List the nine qualifications a researcher must meet before attempting ijtihad on an emerging financial issue.

Show model answer

Comprehensive understanding of the Qur'an; comprehensive understanding of the Prophetic Hadith; knowledge of legal consensus (ijma'); deep mastery of the Arabic language; the skill of ijtihad itself; honesty in word and action; awareness of the higher objectives of religion (maqasid al-Shari'ah); the ability to elicit rulings from contemporary scholars' books; and an understanding of lived reality and its surrounding circumstances.

Group them as Q.H.I.A. (the knowledge base) plus S.H.M.R.U. (the practical qualities).

The instructor's slides group the same content into six conditions; answer with the notes' nine.

L2 · Blocks 3–8

2. Draw the full classification of rights from the top down, ending in the three financial rights.

Show model answer

Rights — an exclusive entitlement by which the Law establishes an authority or an obligation — divide into Political (organising governance; election and nomination) and Civil (establishing the individual's interests directly).

Civil rights divide into General (inherent personality rights: bodily safety, the inviolability of one's residence) and Private (arising from bonds between individuals).

Private rights divide into Family (custody, divorce) and Financial (rights that could be evaluated with money).

Financial rights are Personal (a relation between two people, like creditor and debtor), Material (direct authority over a physical thing — property), and Incorporeal (authority over something intangible — the rights of innovation).

L2 · Block 1

3. Define ijtihad and explain all nine qualifications of a researcher, including character and practical knowledge.

Show model answer

Resolving an emerging financial issue depends on ijtihad — the total effort of a qualified jurist (mujtahid) to deduce a ruling from detailed scriptural evidence. Nine requirements gate that.

Q
Qur'an
Comprehensive understanding of it.
H
Hadith
Comprehensive understanding of the Sunnah.
I
Ijma'
Knowledge of legal consensus, so no ruling contradicts a settled one.
A
Arabic
Grammar, rhetoric, vocabulary, linguistic nuance.
S
Skill of ijtihad
A jurisprudence talent for understanding fiqh issues.
H
Honesty
In word and action — avoiding major sins, not persisting in minor ones.
M
Maqasid awareness
Preserving faith, life, intellect, lineage, and wealth.
R
Research ability
Eliciting rulings from contemporary scholars' books.
U
Understanding reality
Lived circumstances, so rulings apply effectively.
Mnemonic — two groups
Knowledge base QHIA (Qur'an, Hadith, Ijma', Arabic), then practical qualities SHMRU (Skill, Honesty, Maqasid, Research, Understanding reality).
Common mistake
Listing only the book knowledge and dropping the character items. Honesty, maqasid awareness, and lived reality are graded just as often.
From the slides — answer with the notes
The slides pack the same content into six conditions: (1) knowledge of the Qur'an, the Sunnah, the issues of consensus and controversy in jurisprudence, the fundamentals of jurisprudence, and Arabic; (2) being self-jurisprudent — a jurisprudence talent; (3) honest in speech and just in his religion, avoiding major sins and leaving minor ones; (4) aware of the Shari'a's purposes; (5) able to elicit rules from established rulings; (6) familiar with reality. Two small extras: knowing where scholars disagreed, and the fundamentals of jurisprudence. Exam questions follow the notes, so list the nine.
L2 · Block 2

4. List the eight steps to reaching a ruling in order. Explain when personal opinion is considered and what to do if no legitimate ruling is reached.

Show model answer

Sequence matters — questions ask what comes right after a given step.

  1. Pray to Allah for inspiration and right foresight on the case.
  2. Understand the subject deeply — what allows a confident judgment.
  3. Search the legal texts: the Qur'an and the Sunnah.
  4. Examine the case against the Companions' sayings and arguments.
  5. Search the jurisprudence of the four imams / schools.
  6. Search new sources — recent scholars' articles.
  7. Use his own opinion, if steps 1–6 have not settled it.
  8. If no legitimate rule can be reached at all: refrain from ruling — no fatwa.
Mnemonic
"Pious Understanding Searches Companions, Imams, Sources, forms an Opinion, or else Refrains."
Common mistake
Personal opinion is the second-to-last resort, not an early step. And if opinion cannot produce a legitimate rule, the correct move is to refrain — not to guess.
From the slides — answer with the notes
The slides show seven steps: they skip "use his own opinion" and go straight from new sources to refraining, and word step 3 as "collating the case to the legitimate texts." Exam questions follow the notes, so give all eight in order.
L2 · Block 3–6

5. Define a right and reconstruct its classification from political and civil rights down to family and financial rights, giving examples.

Show model answer
"An exclusive entitlement by which the Law (Sharī'ah) establishes an authority or an obligation."Definition of Rights

Two possible shapes: an authority (you are empowered) or an obligation (someone else is bound toward you). Everything below is just: which kind of authority, over what.

  • Political rightsOrganise governance and its authorities — the right of election and nomination.
  • Civil rightsEstablish the individual's interests directly.
    • General rightsInherent personality rights — bodily safety, inviolability of one's residence. Denying them degrades human dignity.
    • Private rightsArise from bonds between individuals, under private law.
      • Family rightsGoverned by personal-affairs rules — custody, divorce.
      • Financial rightsRights that could be evaluated with money.
Mnemonics down the chain
Political = you and the state; Civil = you and your own interests. General = rights you hold just by being human; Private = rights that need a second party. Family = cannot be priced; Financial = can be priced.
From the slides
Who assigns rights? Rights in Islam are divine grants drawn from the sources of Shari'a rulings. There is no legitimate right without evidence, so the origin of every right is Allah — there is no ruler but Him and no legislation but His.
Authority can be over a person (child custody — ḥaḍānah — guardianship, a ruler's authority to govern) or over a specific object (ownership).
Obligation can be financial (repaying a debt) or a performance (an employee doing contracted work, a parent raising their children).
L2 · Block 7

6. Compare personal, material and incorporeal financial rights. Classify a debt owed, land ownership and an innovation, explaining each choice.

Show model answer
P — People
Personal rights
A law relation between two people, like creditor and debtor. Also called "commitments."
M — Matter
Material rights
A direct authority given by law over a material thing. Also called "property rights."
I — Ideas
Incorporeal rights
The "rights of innovation" — authority over something non-physical, like intellectual creations.
Common mistake
Personal and Material get confused because both seem to involve another person. The test: does the right point at a person's obligation (Personal — someone owes you money) or at a thing (Material — you own the land)? If neither a physical thing nor another's debt is involved, it is Incorporeal.
From the slides
The slides' rights diagram calls material rights "material / corporeal" and hangs the three incorporeal rights off that branch: copyrights, patents, trademarks — Lecture 3 in one picture.