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

Aqeedah 401 Assignment (Fall 2017)

Topic:

1. Research the concept of demons in Christianity. Compare it to the Islamic belief in Jinn,
explaining both similarities and differences between the two.

Or

2. Research the story of Harut and Marut. Mention the two traditional views on this story, and
explain which of the two views is stronger, and why.

Word limit: 1000 to 1400

Expectations:

1. Please check the assignment due date and plan accordingly. Assignments will not be accepted
via email, or after the late submission date.

2. You must choose ONE of the two topics, not both. This is very clear, and you will be penalized
if you do both topics.

3. Please stick to the word count.

4. Please research and reference your assignments properly.

5. Please provide a bibliography for your assignments.

6. Do NOT copy, work together or share assignments. It needs to be an individual effort. Any
copying, plagiarism, or copy-paste jobs will result in a zero.

7. The rubric for assignments for this course is as follows:

Content - 40%

Spelling and Grammar - 10%

References and Authenticity - 30%

Bibliography - 10%

Word Count - 10%

Total – 100%

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 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:
 Attempt Count: (1 or 2) [Type 1 if it is your first attempt. Type 2 if you are uploading a
revised version of your assignment after checking the plagiarism percentage.]

2. Please upload as a Word Document only; do not make a PDF file and upload it as this hampers
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
and your attempt count. E.g., if a student is uploading AQD 101 assignment for the first time, then
the file name should be as follows: AQD101_FirstName_1

4. Students who wish to re-submit their assignments are requested to re-upload their assignment
files and change the attempt count. For example if the file name was AQD101_firstname_1, you
may rename it as AQD101_FirstName_2. Assignments re-uploaded with the same file name as the
original file will not be scanned well by the VeriCite system resulting in the same similarity index
value instead of reflecting the new percentage. After you re-upload (which is your second
attempt), please also email your course faculty, informing them about it so that they can verify
and grade your work accordingly.

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 Important Instructions Regarding the Second
Attempt

1. Please note that when you first 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, note this point seriously and proceed accordingly.
2. As soon as you have clicked on the Submit button, your first attempt has been utilized.
Your plagiarism score will be available within 24 hours in the same page, in sha Allah.
From the time you submit the first attempt, you have exactly 5 days to review your
plagiarism percentage and re-upload your revised assignment file following the steps
mentioned above in point 1. Failure to do this will result in missing your opportunity to
utilize the second attempt. Please note that the countdown displaying the remaining time
will appear on your assignment page.
3. When you avail your second attempt count, the uploaded file will again appear in “draft”
mode. Please ensure to click the Submit button to submit your newly uploaded file.
Otherwise the file will remain in “draft” mode and will not be considered for grading.

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 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 details before attempting any assignments at IOU.

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, "He who deceives us is not one of us." (Saheeh
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 Islamic Online 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 Islamic Online 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:

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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 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.

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