Islamic Studies & Compulsory Papers — Glossary

The ABO blood group system classifies human blood into types A, B, AB, and O based on the presence or absence of A and B antigens on the surface of red blood cells.

Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān ibn Thābit (c. 699–767 CE) was the founding jurist of the Ḥanafī school, the earliest and most widely followed Sunnī school of Islamic law.

An advisory is a non-binding recommendation or guidance issued by an authority that informs or counsels action without imposing legally enforceable obligations on the recipient.

Ahl-i-Hadith is a Sunni revivalist movement that rejects taqlīd of the four legal schools and derives rulings directly from the Qur'an and authenticated Hadith.

Ahmad ibn Hanbal (780–855 CE) was a Baghdad-born traditionist and jurist, founder of the Hanbali school of Sunni jurisprudence and compiler of the Musnad.

Ākhirah is the Islamic doctrine of the Hereafter, the eternal afterlife following bodily resurrection, divine judgement, and final consignment to Paradise (Jannah) or Hell (Jahannam).

Al-Aḥzāb 33:35 is a Qurʾānic verse that enumerates ten spiritual qualities and promises forgiveness and great reward equally to believing men and women.

Al-Balad 90:13 is the Qur'anic verse "Faqqu raqabah" ("the freeing of a slave"), defining one of the steep ascents to salvation.

Verses 275–279 of Sūrat al-Baqarah are the principal Qur'anic passage prohibiting ribā (usury/interest), declaring war on those who persist, and permitting recovery of only the principal.

Al-Hashr 59:7 is a Qur'anic verse on the distribution of fay' (war gains acquired without fighting) that establishes a redistributive principle preventing wealth from circulating only among the rich.

Al-Khwārizmī was a 9th-century Persian polymath of the Abbasid House of Wisdom whose works founded algebra and transmitted the Hindu-Arabic numeral system to the world.

Al-Risāla is the Islamic doctrine of prophethood, affirming that God communicates guidance to humanity through chosen messengers (rusul) bearing revealed law.

Al-Shāṭibī was a 14th-century Andalusian Mālikī jurist who systematized maqāṣid al-sharīʿa, the doctrine of the higher objectives of Islamic law.

The Amman Message is a 2004 declaration issued under King Abdullah II of Jordan affirming the validity of eight Islamic schools of law and forbidding takfīr (declarations of apostasy) among Muslims.

An application is a formal written request submitted to a competent authority seeking a specific official action, benefit, redress, or decision under an established rule, statute, or procedure.

Articles 203A–203J of the Constitution of Pakistan establish and govern the Federal Shariat Court, empowering it to examine whether laws conform to the Injunctions of Islam.

Articles 228 to 231 of the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973, establish the Council of Islamic Ideology and govern its composition, functions, procedure, and reporting duties.

Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution of Pakistan (1973) prescribe the positive qualifications and negative disqualifications for membership of Parliament (Majlis-e-Shoora) and the Provincial Assemblies.

Asia Bibi is a Pakistani Christian agricultural worker whose 2010 blasphemy conviction and 2018 Supreme Court acquittal became a landmark case on Pakistan's blasphemy laws.

Astronomy is the systematic study of celestial bodies and the universe, historically advanced by Muslim scholars who refined Greek models and produced enduring astronomical tables and instruments.

Biology is the natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, evolution, distribution, and classification.

Blasphemy provisions are penal laws criminalising insult to religion, sacred figures, or scripture, most prominently Sections 295 to 298 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The Cairo Declaration was the November 1943 Allied statement by China, the United Kingdom and the United States pledging to strip Japan of conquered territories and restore Chinese lands.

Calendar problems are quantitative-aptitude exercises that compute the day of the week for any given date using the concept of odd days, leap-year rules, and century codes.

Clock problems are quantitative aptitude questions that compute the angles, relative positions, and coincidence or overlap times of a clock's hour and minute hands.

The Council of Islamic Ideology is a constitutional advisory body in Pakistan that recommends to Parliament and provincial assemblies ways to bring laws into conformity with Islamic injunctions.

Current affairs is the body of recent national and international events, policies, and developments that competitive examinations test to assess a candidate's awareness of contemporary governance and global trends.

Data interpretation is the skill of reading, analysing, and drawing valid inferences from numerical, tabular, and graphical information to answer quantitative reasoning questions.

The DNA double helix is the two-stranded, antiparallel spiral structure of deoxyribonucleic acid, the molecule that stores hereditary information in nearly all living organisms.

The eight Zakah recipients are the categories of beneficiaries enumerated in Qur'an 9:60 (Sūrah al-Tawbah) to whom obligatory charity may lawfully be disbursed.

The Farewell Sermon (Khuṭbat al-Wadāʿ) is the address delivered by the Prophet Muhammad during his Farewell Pilgrimage in 10 AH (632 CE) on the plain of ʿArafāt.

The Federal Shariat Court is a constitutional court in Pakistan empowered to examine whether laws conform to the injunctions of Islam.

Ijmāʿ is the consensus of qualified Muslim jurists (mujtahidūn) of a particular era on a question of Islamic law, recognised as the third source of the Sharīʿah after the Qurʾān and Sunnah.

Islamic Studies is the academic discipline examining the Qur'an, Sunnah, Islamic jurisprudence, history, and civilisation, constituting a compulsory paper in Pakistan's CSS examination.

Pakistan Affairs is a compulsory CSS examination subject covering Pakistan's ideological foundations, freedom movement, constitutional history, geography, economy, and foreign relations.

Qiyas is analogical reasoning in Islamic jurisprudence, the fourth source of Sharia, extending a ruling from a textual case to a new case sharing the same effective cause.

The Qur'an is the central religious scripture of Islam, regarded by Muslims as the verbatim word of God revealed to the Prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel.

The Second Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan, passed in 1974, declared Ahmadis to be non-Muslims for the purposes of the Constitution and law.

Sunnah is the recorded normative practice of the Prophet Muḥammad—his sayings, actions, and tacit approvals—serving as the second primary source of Islamic law after the Qurʾān.

UN Security Council Resolution 242, adopted unanimously on 22 November 1967, set the land-for-peace framework for resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict after the Six-Day War.