SPM Turath Al-Quran & Sunnah cheat sheet

Makharij al-huruf number 17 points of articulation grouped into 5 general regions: al-jawf (empty space), al-halq (throat, 3), al-lisan (tongue, 10), al-shafatan (lips, 2), al-khayshum (nasal cavity, 1).

Idgham bi-ghunnah applies to nun sakinah/tanwin before ya, nun, mim, waw (yanmu); idgham bila ghunnah applies before lam and ra.

Ikhfa' haqiqi: nun sakinah/tanwin before any of the 15 remaining letters; the ghunnah is held roughly two harakat with the mouth shaped for the following letter.

Iqlab: nun sakinah/tanwin before ba converts to a mim sound with ghunnah; written with a small mim above the nun.

Izhar halqi: nun sakinah/tanwin before the six throat letters hamzah, ha, 'ayn, ha, ghayn, kha - pronounced clearly with no ghunnah.

Qalqalah letters are qaf, ta, ba, jim, dal (qutb jad); strongest when the letter carries sukun at the end of a verse or waqf, lighter mid-word or mid-verse.

Madd tabi'i is exactly two harakat; madd munfasil and madd muttasil extend to four or five harakat depending on the riwayah, and madd lazim to six.

Waqf signs: lazim (must stop), mamnu' (do not stop), ja'iz (either), waqfah (brief pause), and the three dots (mu'anaqah) meaning stop at one of the two marked points only.

The Qur'an has 114 surahs, 6,236 verses in the Hafs 'an 'Asim count, and 30 ajza'; each juz' is 20 pages in the standard Madani mushaf.

Surah al-Fatihah is 7 verses; al-Baqarah is the longest at 286 verses; al-Kawthar is the shortest at 3 verses.

The 28 surahs beginning with disjoined letters (al-huruf al-muqatta'ah) include al-Baqarah (alif lam mim), Maryam (kaf ha ya 'ayn sad) and Sad (sad).

Mutashabihat are verses with near-identical wording; anchoring them by preceding verse, surah order, and page position prevents substitution errors during recitation.

The five surahs named after prophets in sequence are Yunus, Hud, Yusuf, Ibrahim, and Muhammad; the seven long surahs (al-sab' al-tiwal) open with al-Baqarah.

Al-Mufassal begins at Surah Qaf (some say al-Hujurat) and runs to al-Nas; it is the section most heavily memorised in the early hifz curriculum.

Sajdah verses number 15 in the Hafs count, including al-A'raf 206, al-Ra'd 15, al-Nahl 49-50, and al-'Alaq 19.

Makki surahs generally address 'aqidah, resurrection, and prophetic stories in short rhythmic verses; Madani surahs address law, the family, war, and community regulation in longer verses.

Nasikh wa mansukh: abrogation operates on rulings, not on the recitation of every verse; Surah al-Baqarah 106 is the foundational verse on abrogation.

Asbab al-nuzul reports the occasion that triggered a verse; knowing them disambiguates pronoun reference and restricts a general wording to its context.

Muhkam verses are clear and self-standing; mutashabih verses admit multiple readings, and recourse is to the muhkam (Ali 'Imran 7).

Isra'iliyyat are reports from Jewish and Christian sources; classical mufassirun accept them only where they do not contradict the Qur'an or sound hadith.

The four recognised tafsir methods are tafsir bi'l-ma'thur (Qur'an, sunnah, companions), bi'l-ra'y (reason), bi'l-ishari (mystical), and 'ilmi (scientific).

Qira'at: the seven mutawatir recitations (qira'at sab') are transmitted through chains reaching the Prophet; Hafs 'an 'Asim is the dominant reading in most of the Muslim world today.

The hadith of intentions ('innama al-a'mal bi'l-niyyat') opens Sahih al-Bukhari and is classed as one of the pivots of the religion.

'Actions are judged by intentions, and each person will have what he intended' - the wording continues with the migration clause (fa man kanat hijratuhu ila Allah wa rasulihi...).

The hadith 'Whoever treads a path seeking knowledge, Allah will make easy for him a path to Paradise' is reported by Muslim from Abu Hurayrah.

'None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself' - Bukhari and Muslim, from Anas ibn Malik.

'The halal is clear and the haram is clear, and between them are doubtful matters' (Bukhari, Muslim) is the hadith of the mashbuhhat, from al-Nu'man ibn Bashir.

'Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him speak good or remain silent' is part of a longer hadith on hospitality and neighbourly rights, from Abu Hurayrah.

Memorisation of matn requires the isnad and the companion narrator to be fixed first; the wording is then anchored by repetition in salah and by writing.

Sahih: a connected chain of trustworthy, precise narrators free of shudhudh (contradiction of a stronger narrator) and 'illah (hidden defect).

Hasan: like sahih but with a narrator of lesser precision; it is acceptable as proof though below sahih in strength.

Da'if: fails at least one condition of sahih, such as a break in the chain, a weak narrator, or a hidden defect.

Categories of da'if by break: mursal (tabi'i omits the companion), munqati' (any link missing), mu'dal (two consecutive links missing), mu'allaq (link at the top omitted).

A hadith is mutawatir when narrated by a large number at every level such that collusion is impossible; it yields certain knowledge, unlike the ahad report.

Al-Jarh wa al-ta'dil: narrators are graded by reliability; a jarh (disparagement) is accepted only when explained, and the ta'dil of a trustworthy critic outweighs an unexplained jarh.

The six canonical books are Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa'i, and Ibn Majah; al-Muwatta' of Malik is often ranked alongside them.

Tawhid divides into three: tawhid al-rububiyyah (lordship), tawhid al-uluhiyyah (worship), and tawhid al-asma' wa al-sifat (names and attributes).

Tawhid al-uluhiyyah is the subject of the prophets' call (la ilaha illa Allah); the mushrikun of Quraysh affirmed rububiyyah yet were fought over uluhiyyah.

The names and attributes are affirmed as they came, without tahrif (distortion), ta'til (denial), takyif (asking how), or tamthil (likening) - the position of Ahl al-Sunnah.

The six pillars of iman: belief in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and divine decree (qadar) with its good and bad.

The attributes of Allah are divided into thubutiyyah (affirmed, e.g. knowledge, hearing) and salbiyyah (negated, e.g. freedom from sleep and fatigue).

The greatest shirk is major shirk (directing worship to other than Allah); minor shirk includes showing off (riya') and swearing by other than Allah.

The angels are created from light, have no free will, and are described by function: Jibril (revelation), Mika'il (provision), Israfil (the trumpet), and the recording angels.

The five rulings (al-ahkam al-khamsah): fard/wajib, mustahabb/sunnah, mubah, makruh, and haram.

Fard 'ayn binds each individual (five prayers); fard kifayah binds the community collectively (funeral prayer, jihad of defence).

Wudu' obligations (arkan): intention, washing the face, arms to the elbows, wiping the head, washing the feet, and order with continuity.

Conditions of salah: purity, facing the qiblah, covering the 'awrah, correct time, and intention; the salah is invalidated by speech, intentional eating, and loss of purity.

Zakat is due at 2.5% on wealth held for a lunar year above the nisab (85g gold or 595g silver); the nisab of silver is the lower and therefore the safer threshold for cash.

Sources of law in order: Qur'an, sunnah, ijma' (consensus), qiyas (analogy), then maslahah, 'urf, and istishab in the Maliki and Shafi'i usul.

The five maqasid al-shari'ah: preservation of religion, life, intellect, lineage, and property.

The Prophet was born in 570 CE (the Year of the Elephant), received revelation at 40 in the cave of Hira, and made hijrah to Madinah in 622 CE.

Key dates: Battle of Badr (2 AH), Uhud (3 AH), the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah (6 AH), the conquest of Makkah (8 AH), and the farewell pilgrimage (10 AH).

The first revelation was Surah al-'Alaq 1-5; the last complete revelation is generally held to be al-Baqarah 281, though Surah al-Nasr is also cited.

The Prophet's children: al-Qasim, 'Abdullah, Ibrahim (sons) and Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthum, Fatimah (daughters); only Fatimah outlived him.

Adab with parents: the Qur'an places kindness to parents immediately after tawhid (al-Isra' 23), and the hadith ranks the mother three times before the father.

Husn al-khuluq: the Prophet said he was sent to perfect noble character; the heaviest thing on the scales is good character and the best of people are the best to their families.

Adab of the student of knowledge: sincerity, humility toward teachers, patience with hardship, and acting on what is learned before transmitting it.