3. The Imamate in Shi’a its role and significance Answer/Mark Scheme of In Shi’a Islam, how many Imams succeeded Muhammad as leaders of early Muslims? a) four (1 27. b) eight mark) c) ten d) twelve Question Number of Answer/Mark Scheme Number ‘Belief in the Imamate is the main difference between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims.’ Evaluate this statement. Argue for and against this statement. You must refer to Muslim teaching. Reach a conclusion that follows from your argument. As with any question that asks you to evaluate or discuss a statement, you need to show that you know what it means. Here, ‘Imamate’. the main term to explain is You must write about what (12 marks) this is and how belief in this makes a difference between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims. This means that you need to write about the Plus a disagreements over who should be the successor of Muhammad possible 5 that led to these two groups forming. However, don’t just tell marks for 43. – the story don’t waste time explaining exactly what happened spelling, historically. Stick to answering the question. (Simply giving the punctuation – names of Sunni and Shi’a successors isn’t doing this apply what and you know to answering the question.) grammar You should know that the issue of the Imamate isn’t the only (SPaG) difference between Sunnis and Shi’as. Others include difference in prayer times/movements, Shi’a belief in the Mahdi (although some Sunni share this), the Shi’a stress on other figures in Islam and martyrdom (e.g. Husayn) that Sunni sometimes disapprove of, and differences in the Shahadah. As with most questions like this, you can either way, but make sure you back up what you say with correct information.
3. The Imamate in Shi’a its role and significance Answer/Mark Scheme of 27. In Shi’a Islam, how many Imams succeeded Muhammad as leaders of early Muslims? a) four b) eight c) ten d) twelve (1 mark) Question Number Answer/Mark Scheme Number of 43. ‘Belief in the Imamate is the main difference between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims.’ Evaluate this statement. Argue for and against this statement. You must refer to Muslim teaching. Reach a conclusion that follows from your argument. As with any question that asks you to evaluate or discuss a statement, you need to show that you know what it means. Here, the main term to explain is ‘Imamate’. You must write about what this is and how belief in this makes a difference between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims. This means that you need to write about the disagreements over who should be the successor of Muhammad that led to these two groups forming. However, don’t just tell the story – don’t waste time explaining exactly what happened historically. Stick to answering the question. (Simply giving the names of Sunni and Shi’a successors isn’t doing this – apply what you know to answering the question.) You should know that the issue of the Imamate isn’t the only difference between Sunnis and Shi’as. Others include difference in prayer times/movements, Shi’a belief in the Mahdi (although some Sunni share this), the Shi’a stress on other figures in Islam and martyrdom (e.g. Husayn) that Sunni sometimes disapprove of, and differences in the Shahadah. As with most questions like this, you can either way, but make sure you back up what you say with correct information. (12 marks) Plus a possible 5 marks for spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG)
Islam-Beliefs-Revision-Guide-Sets-4-and-P-print.docx