Study Islam: Beliefs, Qur'an and Practice with 192 Flashcards from the Five Pillars to Qira'at

Whether you are preparing a world religions exam or a comparative theology paper, the hard part is the vocabulary: Arabic terms, dates, names and numbers that all need to be exact. The deck Islam: Beliefs, Qur'an & Practice (deck code HG0962, 192 cards) collects that material in two halves — roughly 100 cards on beliefs, practice and history, then 90 cards devoted specifically to the Qur'an. Here is how to memorize it.

Ten cards to test yourself on

Everything the deck covers

• Core beliefs: Tawhid, Shirk, the Day of Judgment, Jahannam, angels (Jibril), Iblis, jinn, Wahy, the Signs of the Hour (Dajjal, Gog and Magog, the return of Jesus)
• Practice — the Five Pillars and beyond: Shahada, the five daily prayers, Sawm, Hajj, the Kaaba, Adhan, Jumu'ah, Tahajjud, Tarawih, Basmala, Alhamdulillah, Halal, the prohibition of alcohol
• Law and scholarship: Sharia, Fiqh, Sunnah and hadith, Jihad (greater and lesser), Madrasa, Dawah, Sufism
• History and people: Muhammad's first revelation at about 40, the migration to Medina, his death in 632 CE, Khadija, Ali and the Sunni–Shia split, the Rashidun, Abbasid (750–1258) and Ottoman (1299–1922) periods, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India as the largest Muslim populations
• The Qur'an: 114 surahs, revealed over 23 years in Classical Arabic, Al-Fatiha, Al-Baqarah, Yasin, Al-Kahf, Al-Alaq (Iqra), Al-Fil, Ayat al-Kursi (2:255), the Uthmanic codex, the Sanaa manuscript, Qira'at, and what the text says about Moses, Mary, Jesus, Noah, Pharaoh, the Queen of Sheba, Dhul-Qarnayn, the Torah and the Gospels
• Festivals and calendar: Eid al-Adha, Ramadan, Laylat al-Qadr, the lunar calendar

Two study tips that fit this deck

Pair every Arabic term with its plain-English function before its definition. The deck defines Sawm as fasting, Hajj as the pilgrimage, Fiqh as jurisprudence, Minbar as a pulpit. On the first pass, answer with one English word only (fasting / pilgrimage / law / pulpit); add the full sentence on the second pass. Term–function pairs stick far faster than term–paragraph pairs, and exam questions usually only need the function.

Build a timeline from the number cards. 610 (first revelation), 622 (Medina), 632 (death of Muhammad), the 23-year span of revelation, Abu Bakr and Zayd ibn Thabit compiling the text, Uthman standardizing it, the Abbasids from 750, the Ottomans from 1299. Write these on one line in order; the deck then becomes a set of points on a line you already know rather than isolated dates.

Suggested sequence

Study the deck in its natural order: beliefs and pillars first, then the Qur'an section, which reuses Basmala, Jahannam, Mary and the Day of Judgment and so doubles as review. Twenty new cards a day covers everything in ten days.

To start, sign in to Flip It and open Islam: Beliefs, Qur'an & Practice (code HG0962) from the library. New to spaced repetition? See our practical guide to learning with flashcards.