Praise be to Allah and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger and upon his family and companions.
The Muslim student puts his trust in Allah 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 Allah be upon him): “The strong believer is better and is more beloved to Allah than the weak believer, although both are good. Strive to attain that which will benefit you and seek the help of Allah, and do not feel helpless.” (Sahih Muslim, hadith no. 2664)
Among those means are the following:
1. Turning to Allah by making du’aa’ in any way that is prescribed in Islam, such as saying, “Rabbi ishrah li sadri wa yassir li
amri (O my Lord, expand my chest and make things easy for me).”
2. Getting used to sleeping early and going to exams on time.
3. Preparing all required or permitted equipment such as pens, rulers and setsquares, calculators and watches, because being
well prepared helps one to answer questions.
4. Reciting the dua’ for leaving the house: “Bismillahi, tawakkaltu ‘ala Allah, wa laa hawla wa laa quwwata illa Billah.
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 Allah, I put my trust in Allah, and there is no strength and no power except with Allaah. O Allah, 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.
5. Mention the name of Allah before you start, for mentioning the name of Allah is prescribed when beginning any permissible
action; this brings blessing, and seeking the help of Allah is one of the means of strength.
6. Fear Allah 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 Allah 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.
7. Remembering Allah (dhikr) dispels anxiety and tension. If something is too difficult for you, then pray to Allah to make it
easy for you. Whenever Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) found something too difficult to
understand, he would say, “O You Who taught Ibraaheem, teach me; O You Who caused Sulayman to understand, cause me
to understand.”
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. Answer questions according to importance.
12. 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.
13. Take your time to answer, for the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Deliberation is from Allah and
haste is from the Shaytan.” (A hasan hadith. Sahih al-Jami, 3011).
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. 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 Allah and do not fall
prey to frustration and despair. Remember the hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), “If
anything befalls you, do not say, ‘If only I had done such and such.’ Rather say, ‘Qadar Allah wa maa sha’a kaan (the
decree of Allah and what He wills happened),’ for saying ‘if only’ opens the door for the Shaytan.” (Sahih Muslim, and the
first part of this hadith was mentioned above).
19. Note that cheating is haram whether it is in foreign language tests or any other tests. The Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allah be upon him) said, “Whoever cheats is not one of us.” It is wrongdoing and it is a haram 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 haram, and Allah will suffice you from His bounty. Reject all offers of haram things that come to
you from others. Whoever gives up a thing for the sake of Allah, Allah 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
Allah, 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 haram 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 haram things.
20. 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 Allah 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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