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English
(Examination
tips) |
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Examination tips
20
tips for muslim students for exams
Praise be to Allaah and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger
and upon his family and companions.
The Muslim student puts his trust in Allaah when facing the tests
of this world, and he seeks His help whilst following the prescribed
means, in accordance with the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him): "The strong believer is better and is
more beloved to Allaah than the weak believer, although both are good.
Strive to attain that which will benefit you and seek the help of
Allaah, and do not feel helpless." (Saheeh Muslim, hadeeth no.
2664)
Among those means are the following:
- - Turning to Allaah by making du'aa' in any way that is prescribed
in Islam, such as saying, "Rabbiy ishrah li sadri wa yassir
li amri (O my Lord, expand my chest and make things easy for me)."
- - Getting used to sleeping early and going to exams on time.
- - Preparing all required or permitted equipment such as pens,
rulers and setsquares, calculators and watches, because being
well prepared helps one to answer questions.
- - Reciting the du'aa' for leaving the house: "Bismillaah,
tawakkaltu 'ala Allaah, wa laa hawla wa laa quwwata illa Billaah.
Allaahumma inni a'oodhu bika an adilla aw udalla, aw azilla aw
uzalla, aw azlima aw uzlama, aw ajhala aw yujhala 'alayya (In
the name of Allaah, I put my trust in Allaah, and there is no
strength and no power except with Allaah. O Allaah, I seek refuge
with You lest I should stray or be led astray, lest I slip (commit
a sin unintentionally) or be tripped, lest I oppress or be oppressed,
lest I behave foolishly or be treated foolishly)." Do not
forget to seek your parents' approval, for their du'aa' for you
will be answered.
- - Mention the name of Allaah before you start, for mentioning
the name of Allaah is prescribed when beginning any permissible
action; this brings blessing, and seeking the help of Allaah is
one of the means of strength.
- - Fear Allaah with regard to your classmates, and do not be
affected by their anxiety or fear just before the exam, for anxiety
is a contagious disease. Instead, make them feel optimistic by
saying good words as prescribed in Islam. The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) was optimistic when he heard
the name of Suhayl (which means "easy") and he said:
"Things have been made easy for you." He used to like
to hear the words 'Yaa Raashid, when he went out for any purpose.
So be optimistic that you and your brothers will pass this exam.
- - Remembering Allaah (dhikr) dispels anxiety and tension. If
something is too difficult for you, then pray to Allaah to make
it easy for you. Whenever Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah
have mercy on him) found something too difficult to understand,
he would say, "O You Who taught Ibraaheem, teach me; O You
Who caused Sulaymaan to understand, cause me to understand."
- - Choose a good place to sit during the exam, if you can. Keep
your back straight, and sit on the chair in a healthy manner.
- - Look over the exam first. Studies advise spending 10% of the
exam time in reading the questions carefully, noting the important
words and dividing one's time between the questions.
- - Plan to answer the easy questions first, then the difficult
ones. Whilst reading the questions, write notes and ideas which
you can use in your answers later.
- - Answer questions according to importance.
- - Start by answering the easy questions which you know. Then
move on to the questions which carry high marks, and leave till
the end the questions to which you do not know the answers, or
which you think will take a long time to produce an answer or
which do not carry such high marks.
- - Take your time to answer, for the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) said: "Deliberation is from Allaah
and haste is from the Shaytaan." (A hasan hadeeth. Saheeh
al-Jaami, 3011).
- - Think carefully about the answer and choose the right answer
when answering multiple-choice questions. Deal with them in the
following manner. If you are sure that you have chosen the right
answer, then beware of waswasah (insinuating whispers from the
Shaytaan). If you are not sure, then start by eliminating the
wrong or unlikely answers, then choose the correct answer based
on what you think is most likely to be correct. If you guessed
at a correct answer then do not change it unless you are sure
that it is wrong – especially if you will lose marks for
a wrong answer. Research indicates that the correct answer is
usually that which the student thinks of first.
- - In written exams, collect your thoughts before you start to
answer. Write an outline for your answer with some words which
will indicate the ideas which you want to discuss. Then number
the ideas in the sequence in which you want to present them.
- - Write the main points of your answer at the beginning of the
line, because this is what the examiner is looking for, and he
may not see what he is looking for if it is in the middle of the
page and he is in a hurry.
- - Devote 10% of the time for reviewing your answers. Take your
time in reviewing, especially in mathematical problems and writing
numbers. Resist the desire to hand in the exam papers quickly,
and do not let the fact that some people are leaving early bother
you. They may be among the people who have handed in their papers
too early.
- - If you discover after the exam that you answered some questions
incorrectly, then take that as a lesson in the importance of being
well prepared in the future, and not rushing to answer questions.
Accept the will and decree of Allaah and do not fall prey to frustration
and despair. Remember the hadeeth of the Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him), "If anything befalls you, do not
say, 'If only I had done such and such.' Rather say, 'Qadar Allaah
wa maa sha'a kaan (the decree of Allaah and what He wills happened),'
for saying 'if only' opens the door for the Shaytaan." (Saheeh
Muslim, and the first part of this hadeeth was mentioned above).
- - Note that cheating is haraam whether it is in foreign language
tests or any other tests. The Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said, "Whoever cheats is not one of us."
It is wrongdoing and it is a haraam means of attaining a degree
or certificate, etc., that you have no right to. The consensus
is that cheating is a kind of cooperation in sin and transgression.
So do without that which is haraam, and Allaah will suffice you
from His bounty. Reject all offers of haraam things that come
to you from others. Whoever gives up a thing for the sake of Allaah,
Allaah will compensate him with something better. You have to
denounce and resist evil, and tell the authorities about any such
thing that you see during the exam, or before or after it. This
is not the forbidden kind of slander rather it is denouncing evil
which is obligatory.
Advise those who buy or sell questions or post them on the Internet
etc., or who prepare cheat notes. Tell them to fear Allaah, and
tell them of the ruling on what they are doing and on the money
they earn from that. Tell them that the time they are spending
in preparing these haraam things, if they spent it in studying,
or answering previous exams, or helping one another to understand
the subject before the exam, that would be better for them than
doing these haraam things.
- - Remember what you have prepared for the Hereafter, and the
questions of the examination in the grave, and how to be saved
on the Day of Resurrection. Whoever is saved from the Fire and
admitted to Paradise will indeed have succeeded.
We ask Allaah to make us succeed in this world and cause us to
be among those who are victorious and saved in the Hereafter,
for He is the All-Hearing Who answers prayer.
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