Islam: beliefs and teachings

• Tawhid


  Oneness of God
• Sunni and Shi'a Islam - differences

  - Sunni > leader is elected

  - Shi'a > leader is descendant of Muhammad

  
  

  - Sunni > Quran + sunnah can provide religious guidance

  - Shi'a > Quran + sunnah + Shi'a leader have authority to

  
  

  - Sunni > abu bakr rightful leader after Muhammed died

  - Shi'a > Ali (Muhammad's cousin) rightful leader
• Sunni and Shi'a Islam - similarities

  - same God

  - follow the teachings of the Qur'an

  - follow teachings of Sunnah

  - acknowledge importance of prophets
• six articles of faith (sunni)

  - Tawhid > only 1 God

  - angels > belief in Angels

  - holy books > respect for holy books specifically Qur'an

  - prophets > respect for prophets specifically Muhammad

  - day of judgement > everyone is judged by God and sent to paradise or hell

  - supremacy of gods will > nothing happens unless God wants it to
• Five Roots of Usul ad-Din (Shi'a)

  - Tawhid > only 1 God

  - prophethood > respect for prophets specifically Muhammad

  - Justice of God (Adalat) > everyone is judged by God on Day of Judgement

  - Imamate > respect for 12 imams chosen by God to lead Islam after Muhammad died

  - Resurrection > after death, Muslims will be resurrected
• He is God the One'


  - only 1 God

  - God is a unified being
• God the eternal'


  - God has always existed
• He begot no one nor was He begotten'


  - God has no children

  - God was not born
• 'No one is comparable to Him'

  - God is unique

  - Nothing has God's qualities and attributes

  - No one can accurately picture or describe God > nothing can compare to him
• Qualities of God:

  - omnipotent

  - transcendent

  - immanent

  - beneficent

  - merciful

  - fair + just
• Omnipotent

  - all-powerful

  - God has power to create and sustain everything in universe

  - God is aware of everything, human actions and thoughts
• transcendent

  God created the universe > beyond and outside it
• Immanent


  - God is present everywhere in the universe

  - God is within all things
• Beneficent

  - God is benevolent > all-loving

  - God's generosity > humans having everything they need to live on Earth
• Merciful

  - God shows compassion and mercy

  - God cares for people and understands their suffering

  - God forgives people who are truly sorry for what they have done
• Fair and Just

  - God treats everyone fairly and justly

  - God judges all people equally on day of judgement

  - Shi'a Muslims believe people are responsible for their actions, God will reward/punish people based on their choices
• Explain how God can be both transcendent and immanent

  Transcendent > God created universe so is beyond and outside it

  Immanent > God is able to act within universe and is within all things
• Nature of angels:

  - spiritual beings, created by god from light

  - pure + sinless

  - no free will, do what god wants them to

  - able to take human form to deliver messages

  - serve and praise god
• Role of angles:

  - messengers of God > pass God's word onto prophets

  - take care of people

  - record everything a person does > recorded in 'book of deeds' > God uses book on Day of Judgement to decide whether person goes to paradise or hell

  - take people's souls to God > after they die and escort them to paradise or hell
• Jibril

  - angel of revelation

  - purified Muhammad's heart when he was child > later he could receive God's revelation

  - recited Qur'an to Muhammad + passed on God's messages to guide Muhammad throughout his life

  - so Jibril had a important role in communicating final version of Islam to humanity
• Mika'il

  - angel of mercy

  - responsible for rain, thunder and lightning

  - brings nourishment > helps provide food by sending rain to ground

  - reward people who do good deeds
• stages after death:

  - barzakh

  - day of judgement

  - heaven and hell
• Barzakh (barrier)


  - waiting for Day of Judgement

  - when waiting God sends 2 angels to question them about their faith

  - depending on answers, person is either rewarded or punished
• Heaven and hell

  - Heaven

  > those who go kept their faith in God + done good deeds

  > beautiful garden, state of eternal happiness

  > in presence of God

  
  

  - Hell

  > people rejected by God + done bad things

  > place of fire + torment

  > separated from God
• Predestination (Shi'a)


  - God knows everything that is going to happen

  - God knows the choices people will make but they have the free will to make the choices

  - God = creator of time > knows everything that happens in past, present and future

  - 'God does not change the conditions of people [for the worse] unless they change what is in themselves
• Predestination (Sunni)


  - God has determined everything that will happen in the universe

  - God written everything that will happen in 'book of decrees'

  - God's will so powerful > anything he wants to happen will happen

  - humans have no freedom to change destiny but have choice on how they behave

  - 'only what God has decreed will happen to us
• Day of judgement


  Muslims that believe in free will, believe God will judge them based on their choices resulting in reward or punishment
• Importnace of belief in Akhirah

  - encourages Muslims to take responsibility for their actions

  - motivates muslims to follow teachings of Qur'an

  - hope to Muslims suffering > theres something better to look forward to

  - help Muslims accept unjust situations > God will provide justice in afterlife
• Prophethood

  Muslims believe that:

  - prophethood is a gift from God to help humans understand his message

  - if people forgotten, misunderstood or changed God's message, God sends prophets to call people to right path
• Why are prophets important?

  - good role models

  - help Muslims understand how to follow God

  > do this by conveying God's words and setting good examples
• Adam

  - Father of human race

  - First prophet

  
  

  Adam is important to Muslims:

  - God gave him knowledge

  - God taught Adam how to live a good life

  - Adam passes on his knowledge to the rest of the human race
• Why is Ibrahim important?

  - fulfilled all the tests and commands given to him by God

  - showed great faith in God

  - good role model for Muslims

  - Muhammad one of his descendants

  - he believed in 1 god when others believed in many different gods and idols
• How was Ibrahim a good role model?

  - didn't worship idols (statues), instead worshiped 1 God

  > when Ibrahim young, ppl worship many gods + idols

  > questioned their beliefs, decided only 1 God

  > wanted to stop idol worship so destroyed them

  > people furious so he was thrown in big fire

  > he survived, prompted people to follow Allah

  
  

  - rebuilt the Ka'aba (cube-shaped building in Grand Mosquein Makkah, house of God + holiest place in islam)

  
  

  - He was willing to sacrifice his son to God.

  > dream where God said to sacrifice his son to him

  > before he sacrificed him, God stopped him. He said he passed the test

  > During festival of Id-ul-Adha muslims kill animal to remember Ibrahim's willingness to sacrifice his own son out of obedience to God
• Why is Muhammad important?

  - last prophet

  - he is 'God's messenger'

  - many revelations from angel Jibril over many years > combined to form Qur'an

  - after 1st revelation, he told people to follow God's teachings > persecuted > fled to Madinah, united tribes to conquer Makkah converting city to Islam > brought harmony to religion + firmly establish religion

  - Before fled to Madinah, Jibril brought him to heaven > he agreed with God that Muslims should pray 5 times a day > Sunni Muslims follow this
• The Qur'an


  - written in Arabic

  - foundation of every believer's faith

  - contains 114 surahs (chapters)
• Torah

  revealed to:

  - Moses

  
  

  authority in islam:

  - some Muslims think Torah has been altered from original text so doesn't have same authority as Qur'an
• Psalms

  revealed to:

  - David

  
  

  authority in islam:

  - Many Muslims accept Psalms mentioned in Qur'an are similar to the ones in Bible
• Gospel

  revealed to:

  - Jesus

  
  

  authority in islam:

  - Muslims believe the Gospel has been lost but some of its message is found in Bible
• Scrolls of Abraham

  revealed to:

  - Ibrahim

  
  

  authority in islam:

  - text considered to be one of earliest scriptures in Islam and no longer exists
• Imamate (Shi'a)


  - leader of Shi'a Muslims > Imam

  - Imam should be descendent of Muhammad + chosen by God

  - they can interpret the Qur'an and Islamic law without fault