O Level Islamiyat: Paper 1 Revision Notes (Cambridge 2058)

Condensed for the final weeks. For the full explanation, use the O Level Islamiyat Paper 1 study guide.

Paper 1’s exact shape — memorise this first

1½ hours, 50 marks. Five questions; answer Question 1, Question 2, and two others from Questions 3–5.

Question	Sub-topic	Marks	Format
1	1.1 Major themes of the Qur’an	8	Three passages set; choose any two
2	1.2 History and importance of the Qur’an	14	Essay-length, usually multi-part
3	1.3 Life and importance of the Prophet (pbuh)	14	Essay-length, one or two questions set
4	1.4 The first Islamic community	14	Essay-length, one or two questions set

Because Q1 and Q2 are compulsory, you cannot avoid a sub-topic you are weak on if it lands there — breadth across all four sub-topics matters more than depth in only two or three.

How the marks split — AO1 vs AO2

• AO1 Recall, select and present — 68% of the qualification. Knowledge parts: max 4 marks on Question 1, max 10 marks on Questions 2–5.
• AO2 Understanding — 32% of the qualification. Understanding parts: max 3–4 marks, rewarding candidates who use their own reasoning to engage with the question, not just descriptive recall.

What separates the top band from the middle band: the top AO1 band is “likely to quote Qur’an verses and Hadiths to support points made” — a fact-only answer with no supporting reference caps out below the highest marks even if factually accurate.

The Qur’an — key facts

• Revealed over 23 years (610–632 CE), beginning in the Cave of Hira, through the angel Jibril.
• 114 surahs: Makkan (generally shorter — tawhid, the afterlife, moral conduct) or Madinan (generally longer — law, community, social order).
• Compiled under Abu Bakr after the Battle of Yamama, when many huffaz were killed; Abu Bakr commissioned Zayd ibn Thabit to collect the written and memorised Qur’an into a single copy, which was later kept by Hafsah. Standardised under Uthman, after dialect disputes arose among Muslims in different regions during campaigns in Armenia and Azerbaijan; Uthman had Hafsah’s copy reproduced using the dialect of the Quraysh, sent official copies to the main centres, and had variant texts destroyed.

Themes of the Qur’an

Tawhid (God’s oneness) · prophethood · the afterlife and judgement · guidance for personal conduct · law and social justice · relations with earlier scriptures. For Question 1, be ready to name a theme and attach it to a specific passage or example — an unsupported label scores little.

The Prophet’s life — sequence

570  Birth in Makkah
610  First revelation, Cave of Hira
613  Public preaching begins; persecution follows
615  First migration to Abyssinia
619  Year of Sorrow -- deaths of Khadijah and Abu Talib
622  HIJRA to Madinah -- start of the Islamic calendar
     (pledges of Aqabah secured support; Ali slept in the Prophet's
     bed as a decoy; the Prophet and Abu Bakr sheltered three days
     in the cave of Thawr before completing the journey)
622  Constitution of Madinah
624  Battle of Badr      -- victory
625  Battle of Uhud      -- setback; archers left their post
627  Battle of the Trench -- siege withstood
628  Treaty of Hudaybiyyah
630  Conquest of Makkah  -- general amnesty granted
632  Farewell Sermon; death of the Prophet

The first Islamic community

• Constitution of Madinah — defined rights and duties of Muslims, Jews and other groups; established Madinah as a single community with the Prophet as arbiter.
• Muhajirun (migrants from Makkah) paired with the Ansar (helpers of Madinah) — a practical response to destitution and a model of brotherhood.
• The Farewell Sermon set out equality regardless of race, the sanctity of life and property, the rights of women, and the abolition of usury and blood feuds.

Exam traps

• Narrating events without stating their significance when a question asks for it — the AO2 half carries real marks on its own.
• Abu Bakr collected; Uthman standardised. These are two distinct stages — do not conflate them.
• Uhud was a setback, not a total defeat.
• The Hijra marks the start of the Islamic calendar, not the Prophet’s birth.
• Forgetting that Question 1 offers a choice of passages — read all three before deciding, since one may suit your prepared examples better than another.
• Running out of time on Questions 3–5 because Question 1 or 2 was over-written relative to its marks.

Self-test

1. Which two questions on Paper 1 are compulsory, and how many more must be answered from the rest?
2. How many marks is Question 1 worth, and what choice does it offer?
3. What specifically pushes an AO1 answer into the top band?
4. Who compiled the Qur’an, and who standardised it?
5. Why was the Constitution of Madinah significant?

Answers: 1. Question 1 and Question 2 are compulsory; two more must be answered from Questions 3–5. 2. 8 marks; candidates choose any two of three set passages to write on. 3. Quoting Qur’an verses and Hadiths to support the points made, alongside detailed and accurate knowledge. 4. Abu Bakr compiled it after Yamama; Uthman standardised it and distributed official copies. 5. It bound Muslims, Jews and other groups into one community with defined rights and duties, and established the Prophet as arbiter — the first written constitution of the Islamic state.

Related resources

• O Level Islamiyat: Paper 1 study guide — the full explanation this page condenses
• Paper 1 practice questions — original exam-style questions in the real Q1–Q5 format, with full worked answers
• IGCSE Islamiyat: Paper 1 (Cambridge 0493) — the equivalent paper at IGCSE, identical in sub-topic structure