Assessment 2 G12 Mark Scheme

(a) Explain how belief in angels can help Muslims in their lives.
Answers may include some of the following ideas, but all valid material must be credited.
• Muslims are required to believe in the angels, as it is one of the six articles of faith.
• Muslims believe that God created the angels to perform some specific tasks. Jibreel, the
chief of angels is the messenger who brought messages from God to the prophets, Mikhail is
the angel responsible for sustenance. There are other angels whose task is only to ask
forgiveness for human beings and to assist them in their lives. Munkar and Nakir are the
angels responsible for asking questions in the grave and Kiraman Katibeen write all actions
of humans in the book of records. Israfeel is the angel responsible for blowing the horn to
announce the end of the world.
• By believing in Kiraman Katibeen Muslims are strengthening their belief in life after death
and acknowledging that their life on earth is a test and that they should try to abide by the
rules of God and lead a good life. Muslims do not want their sins to be recorded by these two
angels. In the same way they will increase their good deeds as these will weigh heavily in
their scale on the Day of Judgement.
• Belief in Israfeel and Munkar and Nakir strengthen their belief in the hereafter (akhirah)
and creates a sense of fear of God (taqwa) as they realise that they will be judged for their
actions and incur either reward of paradise or punishment of hellfire.
• Being aware that there are angels who have the task to ask for forgiveness for humans make
Muslims more eager to seek forgiveness from God.
• Also knowing that there are angels whose tasks are to protect the believers and watch over
them, provides a feeling of security and a sense of gratefulness to God.
(b) ‘For Muslims, belief in the revealed books is dependent on belief in prophets.’
Evaluate this statement.
Answers may refer to any religious theory or teaching. Students may propose, analyse and
evaluate some of the following arguments. All relevant arguments must be credited.
Candidates could start by explaining how both belief in the revealed books and the prophets
form part of the articles of faith, without which a Muslim comes out of the fold of Islam.
However, the question to be discussed here is whether one is dependent on the other.
Opinion 1: Agree
Candidates could agree with the statement and say that belief in the prophets is dependent
and bring evidence to support their points of view.
• Since the prophets were the ones who explained and exemplified the messages in the books
to the people, the belief in the books depend on believing in the prophets. For example, in a
hadith the Prophet Muhammad is said to be the ‘living Qur’an’.
• The Prophet (pbuh) was an honest and convincing character, who helped people believe that
the Qur’an was the real message from God. Therefore, the belief in the Qur’an was dependent
on his prophethood.
• Earlier prophets brought holy books to people in different times. Candidates could mention
which books were revealed to each messenger, such as Zabur for Daud, Injeel for Isa, Taurah
for Musa and the Qur’an for Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The books addressed the needs of
those people, so they were also integral to the mission of those prophets. Therefore, belief in
the books were dependent on belief in the prophets.
• If it were not for prophets, the books might have been discarded and not followed. Since
God does not appear in any physical form, therefore it is necessary to have prophets to
deliver the messages.
Opinion 2: Disagree
Candidates could disagree and explain that belief in books is not dependent on belief in
prophets.
• One argument could be that prophets were humans and were subject to death, whereas the
messages were permanent and cannot be destroyed with time, so belief in the books cannot
therefore be dependent on belief in the prophets but should be the other way round.
• Another argument could be that Muslims often refer to articles of faith separately and not
being dependent on each other. Some candidates can also say that the prophets are not the
author of the books as they are the words of God, therefore belief in the books has no
relationship with belief in prophets.
• Furthermore, the Qur’an can be quoted as a source on its own and hadith does not need to
be quoted alongside it, which proves that belief in one is not dependent on the other.
• Moreover, Muslims can view the two beliefs as complimenting each other, in showing
guidance to mankind, but not necessarily being dependent on each other.
• It could also be argued that being dependent on the other might imply an inferiority and this
cannot be said for the articles of faith, as they are all equal in importance.
• Another view could be that all the other articles of faiths are dependent on the belief in God,
since negating the unicity of God can take one from the folds of Islam.
Conclusion: Candidates should arrive at a conclusion whether they agree or disagree with the
statement, or they can present a balanced view on the statement, not agreeing or disagreeing
completely since it is a matter of how each article of faith is viewed in relation to the other.

Assessment 2 G12 Mark Scheme

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(a) Explain how belief in angels can help Muslims in their lives.

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