Islamic Studies for Competitive Exams: What to Study and How
A structured guide to the Islamic Studies portion of PPSC and FPSC General Ability tests: the core areas, high-yield facts and ways to avoid common mix-ups.
By the World MCQ Forum Editorial Team · 27 October 2026 · 2 min read
Islamic Studies is one of the most dependable sections of a General Ability paper. The questions are factual, the core content does not change, and most candidates already know much of it from school. The challenge is precision: dates in Hijri years, names of Companions, and terms that sound alike.
Non-Muslim candidates are usually given general knowledge or ethics questions instead, so check the instructions in your own syllabus.
The five core areas
1. The Holy Quran
- 114 Surahs; the longest is Al-Baqarah
- The first revelation: the opening verses of Surah Al-Alaq, in the Cave of Hira
- Ayat-ul-Kursi is verse 255 of Surah Al-Baqarah
- Surah At-Tawbah is the only Surah that does not begin with Bismillah
- Compilation: first collected into one volume under Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA); standard copies distributed under Hazrat Usman (RA)
2. Seerah of the Holy Prophet (PBUH)
Learn the life as a sequence, from birth in the Year of the Elephant, through the first revelation at 40, the migration to Abyssinia, the Year of Grief and the Hijrah in 622 CE, to the Treaty of Hudaibiyah (6 AH), the conquest of Makkah (8 AH), the Farewell Sermon (10 AH) and his passing (11 AH).
3. Ghazwat and early history
| Event | Year |
|---|---|
| Battle of Badr | 2 AH |
| Battle of Uhud | 3 AH |
| Battle of the Trench (Khandaq) | 5 AH |
| Treaty of Hudaibiyah | 6 AH |
| Conquest of Khaybar | 7 AH |
| Conquest of Makkah, Battle of Hunain | 8 AH |
| Expedition of Tabuk | 9 AH |
Then the four Rightly Guided Caliphs and one or two signature achievements of each.
4. Pillars and practices
The five pillars, Zakat (2.5% of savings above the Nisab), Ushr on agricultural produce, the 17 Fard rak’ats of daily prayer, the acts of Wudu, Tayammum, and the months and days of Hajj.
5. Hadith, Fiqh and terms
The six major Hadith collections (Sihah Sittah) and their compilers, the four Imams of Fiqh, and terms such as Ijma (consensus), Qiyas (analogy) and Ijtihad (independent reasoning).
The mix-ups that cost marks
- Compiling the Quran vs standardizing copies. Abu Bakr (RA) collected it into one volume; Usman (RA) distributed standard copies.
- Titles of the Caliphs. Al-Siddiq (Abu Bakr), Al-Farooq (Umar), Zun-Nurain and Ghani (Usman), Asadullah and Haider-e-Karrar (Ali).
- Khalilullah vs Kalimullah. Ibrahim (AS) is the Friend of Allah; Musa (AS) is the one Allah spoke to directly.
- Hijri vs Gregorian years. Read the question carefully: “2 AH” and “624 CE” both refer to the year of Badr.
A note on accuracy
Some dates in early Islamic history are recorded differently by different historians. For exam purposes, learn the commonly accepted view, and don’t be thrown if you meet a slightly different date elsewhere. When an exam question uses one of the disputed dates, the other options are usually far enough apart that the intended answer is clear.
How to practise
Study one core area per session, then test it the same day. Our Islamic Studies sets cover each area with short explanations: Quran and Basics, Seerah, Ghazwat and History, and Hadith, Fiqh and Terms.