Please read this document in its entirety, before attempting your assignment.

ISGS101 Assignment (Spring 2024)

Topics
Select only one of the two provided topics below. Consider the one that suits and interests you based
on availability of materials. Please, adhere to the guidelines, important notes, and evaluation rubric
therein.

1. Discuss the provisions of Islam in respect to the Scriptures of Ahl Al-Kitāb (Jews & Christians) in
terms of: (1) belief in their Books, (2) handling the contents, and (3) applying the laws therein.

Or

2. Highlight and discuss the differences between tafsīr and translation of the Qur’ān in terms of: (1)
definitions, (2) methodologies, and (3) purposes.

Guidelines
1. Formatting & Presentation: Adhere to the following:
a. Spacing: 1.5
b. Regular Text: Times New Roman or Calibri
c. Size: 12 (body), 10 (footnote –not footnote referencing--, if any)
d. Alignment: Justified
e. Paper Size: A4
2. Required word limit: 1000 to 1200. Notes: (1) Word count does not include the reference list.
(2) Textual evidence (Qur’an and ḥadīth) should be rendered in English only; the Arabic text
is not necessary to avoid exceeding the required word limit.
3. Writing Format: Your work must have at least 3 major headings:
a. Introduction: This is the first section of the paper. A good introduction should contain
the following elements: (1) Basmalah; (2) Short background of the discourse; and (3)
Denotative proposition of the discourse. The introduction should be between 100 –
150 words.
b. Discourse: This is the main body of your discourse and the second section of your
paper. A good discourse should be well synthesized into distinct paragraphs. Observe
conciseness, correctness, clarity, coherency, and comprehensiveness (5Cs of good
writing) in your work.
c. Conclusion: This is the last part of your paper. It should bear –with conclusive tone--
the summary of your key findings. It should be between 100 – 150 words.
4. Use only relevant Arabic or English primary materials/sources.
5. Use this link: https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/romanization/arabic.pdf for correct
romanization of Arabic transliteration.
6. Your evidences must be authentic, and your argumentation must be characterized by
relevancy and clarity of deductions. Avoid distortion of textual data as much as possible.
7. Provide in-text citation in the body of your work, and a reference list (not bibliography) using
the APA referencing style only. Not adhering to this style would cost loss/reduction of marks.
View the details of this style here: https://apastyle.apa.org/. You may can also make use of
this free online tool (https://www.scribbr.com/apa-examples/website/) for easy generation
of accurate APA style.
8. Make sure to consult other sources besides your prescribed texts. A minimum of 5 sources
should be used and referenced accordingly.

Important Notes

1. Remember the goal is to enhance your research skill and gain further scientific insight on the
assignment topic. Thus, make it count and do not entrust the work to the service of others, paid or
free. This is a cheat, and it will negatively affect your personality and academic developments. Avoid
the use of AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude2, Copilot and others in writing your essay
assignment or optimization of your own contents all together. Passing AI-generated contents as your
work is an academic misconduct and a cheating that will fetch you zero. See IOU’s Plagiarism Policy
below for other related academic misconducts.

2. In case you have any difficulty in understanding the topic you intend to write about, kindly
reach out to me for further guidance and clarification.

Evaluation Rubric

Evaluative Particulars Designated Marks Student’s Mark

Presentation & Formatting 5
Length/Word Count 5
Introduction 10
Discourse 35
Conclusion 10
In-Text Citation & Reference List 20
Relevancy 10
Language Usage, Grammar, & Style 5
Total 100

IOU’s Plagiarism Policy

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the universe and peace and blessing be upon the last messenger
Muhammad and all those who follow his path with righteousness until the Last Day.
Please read and understand this policy in detail before attempting any assignments at IOU.

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, "He who deceives us is not one of us." (Sahih Muslim)

Definition of Plagiarism:

A common form of deception in studies is plagiarism. Plagiarism is sometimes misunderstood to refer

to copying alone; however, plagiarism is much deeper than just copying. It includes quoting without
proper references, collaboration, and stealing other people's ideas while passing them off as one’s
own. Plagiarism is the “failure to acknowledge the ideas or writing of another” or “presentation of the
ideas or writing of another as one’s own” and should be read to cover intentional and unintentional
failure to acknowledge the ideas of others. In this context “others” means any other person including
a student, academic, professional, published author or other resource such as the Internet. The
International Open University believes that failing to acknowledge the use of ideas of others
constitutes an important breach of Islamic and academic values and conventions of the institution.

IOU Stance on Plagiarism

The International Open University will not tolerate plagiarism in any form, and any student caught
plagiarizing will be penalized. Depending on the severity of the plagiarism, the penalty could range
from reduction of marks to rejection of the paper itself.

With respect to the assignments, the following constitutes plagiarism:

1) Copying someone else's assignment

2) Collaboration and working together on an assignment
3) Copying and Pasting entire articles of the internet
4) Quoting someone else’s work without referencing the author
5) Using someone else’s ideas or words without referencing them

To avoid plagiarism, be sure to:

• Use quotation marks around a quote and cite the source.

• Reference all quotations and citations
• Reword/paraphrase. Don’t write word for word what you have read. Take notes first in
your own words, then write your assignment from your notes (not the text).

For more information on how to avoid plagiarism and how to properly cite a source, visit the following
websites:

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/college-success/10314.html

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/plagiarism.html

You may also test your understanding of plagiarism by using this link:

https://ilrb.cf.ac.uk/plagiarism/tutorial/whatis1.html

Similarity Indicator
IOU reserves the right to submit all academic assignments to a plagiarism checker to produce similarity
ratings for each assignment. The similarity indicator provides a rating of how similar text in the
assignment is to resources available on the Internet.

In line with universal academic writing practices, IOU prefers that text be paraphrased in the words of
the student and not quoted directly, with the original author of the knowledge being duly cited and
referenced.

As a University-wide norm, IOU recommends that the similarity indicator does not exceed 20%.

Result of Plagiarism

Assignments that contain a rating higher than or equal to 50% will be automatically rejected and
validated for plagiarism with a manual check by the tutorial assistant or relevant academic. The
student will be given a grade of 0 and there will be no second chances for submitting the assignment.

The Tutorial Assistant or relevant academic will use the similarity rating in determining the final grade
of the submission.

Remember that we are Muslims studying Allah’s religion, and so plagiarizing in Islamic Studies is a sin
and can rob your studies of reward.

May Allah bless you all with success with your coursework. Ameen.

IOU Admin.

Uploading Instructions

1. Create a new MS Word file. Before typing your answer, please add the following information
on the first page:
• Student Name:
• Student ID:
• Course Name/Code:
• Assignment Question:

2. Please upload as a Word Document only; do not make a PDF file and upload it as this hamper
grading and giving comments on your work.

3. Before you upload, you should suffix your name to the file name along with the course code.
E.g., if a student is uploading ISGS101 assignment, then the file name should be as follows:
ISGS101_FirstName

4. Please note that when you upload your assignment file, it is saved in “draft” mode. To
“submit,” you must press the Submit button. If you forget to submit by not clicking on the Submit
button, the file will remain in “draft” mode and will not be considered for grading. Hence, take this
point seriously and proceed accordingly.
5. Please note, students are allowed to make only one attempt of submission. As your first
attempt of submission will be the last. Thus, make sure your assignment is relevant, correct, and
complete in all aspects before uploading it.