A compilation

Assalamalaikum y’all!

I hope you’re doing well! I have been super busy and stressed lately because it is the last couple of weeks of the semester and I have so many group projects, exams, and finals going on right now. I’ve had 2 major presentations and an exam just this week, and it’s only Wednesday.

There are so many things people have told me they do to keep themselves calm and relaxed such as meditating and doing yoga. Those are all fine and dandy, but honestly, who has the time for 30 minutes of meditating? I sometimes struggle to get my 5 daily prayers in, which by the way, relieve half of my stress. In order to help other students like myself, I’ve compiled a few duas, verses of the Quran, and hadiths that help with exams. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said “The good of this world and the world to come is with knowledge.”

This is probably every Muslim child’s chant during exam season. It is ayah 114 from Surah Taha. I normally recite this all throughout my exam. It is super short and easy to remember.

Rabbi shrah lee sadree. Wa yassir lee amree. Wahlul ‘uqdatan min lisa nee. Yafqahoo qawlee.

Here are 4 more ayahs from Surah Taha that translate to “O my Sustainer! Open up my heart and make my task easy for me, and loosen the knot from my tongue so that they might fully understand my speech.” (Quran-20:25–28). This was a prayer said by Prophet Musa (Moses) before he spoke to the Pharaoh.

Personally, I always get anxiety before major exams, and this dua always calms me down.

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to say this when something upset him.

I found a couple more duas online that I hope will help!

Honestly, just try your best and if you fail these exams, remember that the struggles of this world are only temporary. This one test will seem like the end of the world but as time goes on, you will completely forget about it. I was really stressed out about taking my SATs during high school and wasn’t pleased with the score I got back. I was depressed for a while both before and after the exam, but now in college, the SATs don’t even matter. I feel stupid now for being so stressed about them back then. I’ve learned that by following the sunnah and having a firm faith in Allah, that things always work out and if they don’t, it’s because Allah has something better planned for us.

If all else fails, tell your mom what I always tell mine — “It’s not this life I’m worried about, I care about the hereafter.” I hope you don’t get smacked after saying that like I did though! Let me know how your finals go and if these duas helped you in any way! Also please don’t forget to make dua for my exams as well!