Examine The Examination

In the Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful

"Blessed be He in Whose hands is Dominion: and He over all things hath Power― He Who created Death and Life, that He may try which of you is best in deed: and He is the Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving" [Qur'an 67:1-2]

In this verse of the Holy Qur'an, Allah (swt) says He creates death and life; two universal principles within the cosmos, to set up an examination of the finite time between these two universal states of being, existing and non-existing. Notice how He mentions death before mentioning life, this is fascinating because when we examine the contents of the entire observable universe we see that life is very rare in comparison to the non-living matter. It's important to remember that although matter exists it does not necessarily live. A dead body exists but is no longer living, for example.

Life indeed is rare in the universe, and death is the inevitable end of all things but they themselves are a means to the end or purpose behind which God created them - to test His creatures in their works, deeds or actions. This test has qualitative ranking and is not judged on purely numerical scoring. God knows that a numerical score of ones deeds would result in statistically skewed results where numerous groups of creatures would score high, median, and low based on certain deeds but would not necessarily reflect the true merit (or lack thereof) of those deeds given the context and circumstances in which they were performed, if deeds translated strictly to a numerical value. Rather, God tries us in quality because it is qualitative distinction that will really separate the classes of merits. [See Ch. 56, Surah Waqi'ah] And God, in that distinction of qualitative judgment, is merciful. "He is the Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving" [67:2]

If life is meant to be a test or examination, then we should study the elements of examinations in general to understand the real truths about this life, afterall, if the true purpose of being is to undergo this examination of deeds then the resulting phenomena associated with examinations will be the hallmarks and truths of life itself. We will see if this is true. So let us begin our inquiry into what constitutes examination, testing, trials and the like by asking ourselves a few questions first. 

When we say we have an examination (exam, short) test or trial, what physical behaviors, emotional thoughts, and spiritual practices are associated with that stressful time-frame? The most obvious characteristic of testing is the aspect of inquiry, or asking of questions that will lead to answers. Every age group has questions about life, and each is profound for the time of development. The child asks, "who can I trust?" The teen asks "is this what I believe to be my identity?" The adult asks, "have I lived a meaningful life?" Each question is necessary, each answer as well if one is to live an informed life. Next we can say that one undergoing an exam or about to undergo one is likely anxious for good results. And are we not anxious in life for good results in nearly everything? The answer is obviously, 'yes.' We can also say that an examinee has sensibly prepared for the exam and that the anxiety he/she faces is dependent somewhat upon his/her degree of preparation. In other words, preparation is a key element in successfully passing an exam with good results. We can add to this by saying that one who prepares thoroughly differs in mindset from one who does not prepare, and that the former may have a degree of faith in his/her preparation over the doubts of the latter for the lack thereof in preparation. This we see commonly in the worldly life as well as preparation, training, and hard work not only becomes a source of reward but a source of comfort, security, and meaning for the one who achieves it. These people do not feel as anxious as those who do not prepare do, fear and doubt in expecting good results is something they need not experience. It comes down to trust or faith in their knowledge and belief in a good outcome that gives hope to the prepared ones. Another thing we notice about examinees is the tension, stress, and fatigue they experience as a result of that heightened state of demand where their minds and bodies must give them more to perform at higher levels. This too, is the central element of life, as expectations create demands that push our bodies and minds to their limits, resulting in fatigue, breakdowns, and tensions of all kinds. Further if we look at testing conditions, we see that the examinee is more or less isolated from others. In this world we are each born alone and die alone, set in our graves alone; companionship does not hide this fact for "companionship" is merely the presence of other students in the testing room- you are still left to take the exam yourself, so too in life. Testing conditions also have more stringent rules during examination times, this is to prevent cheating or unlawful advantages during testing and is a way to give every student a fair chance at passing the exam. The same can be said about life, as religious and civil laws are principles meant for creating justice within society and for allowing everyone the chance to be good, moral, and productive citizens of their states and countries. Another element to examine is the brevity of duration and discomfort that all tests share in common compared to non-testing states. Indeed, if we ponder not too excessively, we can already see that life is fleeting and is short, always presenting us with choices between lesser or greater discomforts. Finally, every test has a range of material that is being tested, presented within a certain format to help draw the correct answers from the examinee. Similarly, life tests a range of human 'material' if you will- our patience, generosity, forbearance, acceptance, tolerance, kindness, anger, jealousy, and in a nutshell, our humanity. 

These are just some of the analogous similarities between examinations and life in general. If one contemplates deeper they will find more interesting parallels and fundamental truths about life. To me, this is a valid argument for the case that life itself is a divine test and the heavens and earth are a testing ground to that effect. The biggest thing to realize is that one's faith plays one of the most crucial roles along with their preparation, in determining a good result on the exam. This is why in religion we are told to both have faith and good deeds because you can still feel good about the exam but fail if you didn't prepare well enough or still fail if you prepared but have no faith or confidence in your answers. The final aspect of examination that hasn't yet been mentioned is the desire to finish quickly and celebrate in relief once the testing is over. We all know that feeling of being among the last few students left in the room, finishing up that exam, anticipating the end, submitting the paper and walking out relieved regardless of any faith, preparation, confidence or lack thereof beforehand. The very same can also be said about life, since life is a test, we should be happy to finish our exam when our time comes, submit our papers with hope regardless of how much we did for the exam and just leave the rest up to merciful grading and prayer. And "He is the Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving" [Ibid]