Islam beliefs

• Six Articles of Faith in the Sunni tradition of Islam


  • Tawhid; this includes Muslim beliefs about Allah and the supremacy of Allah's will
  • Beliefs about angels of Allah
  • Beliefs about the books of Allah
  • Beliefs about the messengers of Allah - the rasul
  • Akhirah and the Day of Judgement
  • Al'Qadr (predestination)
• Iman


  Belief in the Six Articles of Faith in the Sunni tradition
• The Usul ad-Din (five principles of the Shi'a tradition of Islam)


  • Belief in Oneness and Unity of Allah: Al-Tawhid
  • Belief in Divine Justice: Al-Adl
  • Belief in Prophethood: Al-Nubuwah
  • Belief in Imams: Al-Imamah
  • Belief in the Day of Resurrection: Al-Ma'ad
• Tawhid


  The oneness
• Akhirah


  Belief in life after death
• Usul ad-Din


  Principles of faith in Shi'a Islam
• Sunni and Shi'a traditions share a belief in the oneness of Allah, prophethood and the Day of Judgement
• Sunni and Shi'a traditions disagree over the leadership of the faith (Al-Imamah) and belief in divine justice (Al-Adl)
• The core beliefs are of upmost importance to Muslims because through them they are able to understand all that Allah wants them to know about him. Through this they are then able to worship Allah by relying on his words sent through the prophets
• The core beliefs also give Muslims a sense of their own place before Allah and an understanding of life after death
• Tawhid


  The belief that Allah is The One God, he alone created the earth and he alone sustains it
• Key Muslim beliefs about Allah


  • He is infinite-as The One God he is without beginning or end, he was not created and nor can he be destroyed
  • He is omnipotent and omniscient-Allah created the whole universe, controls everything in it and will one day bring the world to an end
  • He sees all creation
  • He is merciful and benevolent-he helps humans by sending messengers in the form of the prophets to help people understand how to live a life following his will
  • He is transcendent but also immanent
  • He is fair and just-Muslims believe that this life is a test for what will happen to them after death
• Shirk


  Placing anything above Allah, considered the worst of all sins
• The belief in Tawhid means that Muslims think the Christian understanding of God as the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is completely wrong in seeing God as three persons rather than one
• Some Sunnis believe that Shi'a Muslims do not fully believe in Tawhid because Shi'a Muslims believe in the twelve Imams who have special characteristics and are often seen as semi-divine
• Al-Imamah


  The Shi'a belief in the twelve Imams chosen by Allah, all of whom were direct descendants of Muhammad, beginning with Ali
• The Imams are believed to be infallible and inspired by Allah. Their role was to preserve the religion of Islam
• The first eleven Imams were martyred. The twelfth is believed to be still living but in occultation, waiting to reappear at a time appointed by Allah
• Shi'a believe there will be many signs before the twelfth Imam is sent back as Messiah and one of these signs will be the Second Coming of Jesus
• The Imamate is chosen by Allah, another revelation of his supremacy and authority. The existence of the Imamate, originating from Allah, is further evidence of Tawhid, his oneness and unity
• The guidance and instructions provided through the Imamate are of Allah himself. All of this comes from him and is to cause his followers to rightly worship him in all aspects of their lives
• Al-Adl


  Belief in Divine Justice (one of the Usul ad-Din for Shi'a Muslims)
• Shi'a beliefs about divine justice


  • There is an objective framework of right and wrong
  • Allah is perfect and always acts in a way that is right
  • Humans are able to use their reasoning to work out what is the right way to act
  • Humans should use their free will to act in the right way
  • At the Day of Judgement Allah will judge people according to this moral framework
  • Allah will send the righteous to heaven and the wicked to hell
  • There is no such thing as predestination-humans have free will, which is why Allah can judge them
• Sunni Muslims question these Shi'a beliefs about divine justice. They argue that there is no objective right or wrong, and that everything Allah does is right simply because he does it. They do believe in predestination
• Risalah


  Prophethood, the means of communication between Allah and humans
• Beliefs about the prophets


  • A prophet is a messenger, chosen by Allah to teach, guide and train people to follow him
  • The messengers of Allah are themselves human and they are not to be worshipped
  • Through them Allah calls all people to worship him alone
  • They give guidance on how to follow Allah and live in a way that pleases him
  • Every prophet is of equal status - none is more significant or important than any other
  • The messengers have been sent to every nation at various times so that people can be brought back to follow Allah's will
  • The first prophet was Adam. Sunni Muslims believe that Muhammad was the final prophet. He is referred to in the Qur'an as the 'seal of the Prophets'
• It is through Muhammad that the Qu'ran was revealed
• Pharaoh's wife


  Miraculously she hired Musa's mother as his nanny
• Muslims believe this demonstrates Allah's care over Musa and his power to protect whom he chooses
• Musa became the leader of the Israelites under the guidance of Allah
• Through Allah, Musa freed the Israelite slaves from the power of the pharaoh
• Allah revealed the Tawrat (Torah) to Musa and gave him the Ten Commandments
• The Qur'an records Musa as a grateful servant of Allah and he is given honour by Allah in the Qur'an
• Dawud


  Prophet and king of the Israelites, a position given to him by Allah
• Heroic things Dawud did


  • Killing the giant Goliath, part of the Philistine army
  • The rest of the Philistine army were too scared to fight him
• The Zabur, or book of Psalms, was revealed to Dawud by Allah. The book contains lessons of guidance for the Israelites
• Hanif


  Believer in one God
• After Ismail's mother's death Ibrahim visited the site and together they built the Kaaba. The Kaaba is now at the centre of the Grand Mosque in Makkah
• It is the centre of Islam and all Muslims pray facing Makkah five times a day
• Muslims believe that Isa is the Messiah (or Mahdi) who will return at the end of the world and bring together true Muslims