Islamic Studies - CSS 2026 Paper Solved

See how a complete Islamic Studies answer is planned

This solved paper from CSS With A CSP answers questions two to eight of the CSS 2026 Islamic Studies paper in full. It shows the planning behind each answer: what the question is asking for, how the headings follow from it and where each Quranic reference supports the argument.

Each solution starts with a five-point plan, called a blueprint, so you can see how a few lines of planning grow into an answer of around seven hundred words.

What is inside

The questions cover human rights in Islam compared with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Two-Nation Theory in the light of Indian and Kashmiri Muslims, Western influence on Muslim societies, rational arguments for the existence of Allah, accountability under the Khulafa-e-Rashidin, sectarianism in the Muslim world, and the challenges facing the family.

• Seven model answers, each written to the length of a twenty-mark response.
• Two key Quranic references set out with each answer, giving the Surah and verse, and more references explained within the argument.
• References given in short English renderings with little Arabic, written from a balanced, non-sectarian approach.
• A one-page method for a twenty-mark question, with a time plan, an answer outline you can reuse and a list of habits to avoid.

Use each reference to prove a point

The answers use a verse as evidence, not decoration. In the question on accountability, for example, the command to return trusts and judge with justice comes first. The answer uses it to show that power in Islam is held as a trust, or Amanah, and then turns to the practice of the four Rightly Guided Caliphs.

The pack's method page suggests about three to five relevant Quranic references in an answer, each with its English meaning, its verse number and a sentence on what it proves. It also warns against listing verses without explaining them, using too much Arabic and using sectarian language.

Attempt, compare and revise

You learn most from the answers after trying the question yourself. Take one question per sitting.

1. Read the question and underline its command words, such as explain, discuss or demonstrate with examples.
2. Plan your main point and six to eight headings, then write the answer within the thirty-five to thirty-eight minutes the method page suggests.
3. Compare your headings with the blueprint and note any part of the question your plan missed.
4. Read the model answer and mark each reference. Then check whether each of your own references was followed by a sentence explaining it.
5. Rewrite your weakest section in your own words, using the argument rather than copying it.
6. Return to the same question a week later and outline it again without the pack.

Who will find it useful

Candidates preparing the compulsory Islamic Studies paper who want complete answers to a recent paper and a clear view of the planning behind them. It is particularly useful if your answers tend to list verses without explaining them, or lose their structure halfway through.