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Al- AQEEDAH

THE FAITH

Dr. Muhammad Shabbir Usmani

Imam @ Maidstone Masjid

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MY FAITH

What does Eeman mean?

Eeman is an Arabic word which means „Faith / Belief‟. It is to believe in the heart, to confess

by the tongue and to act accordingly with the parts of the body.

The Declaration of Faith / Shahaadah:

Laa e-laa-ha il-lal-laa-ho Muhammador-rasoo-lollaah.

None has right to be worshiped except Allah and Muhammad is Allah‟s Messenger.

Ash-ha-do al-laa e-laa-ha il-lal-laa-ho wah-da-ho laa sha-ree-ka la-ho wa ash-ha-do anna mo-

hamma-dan ab-do-ho war a-soo-loh.

I testify that there is no god but Allah Alone, there is no partner for Him; I testify that

Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger.

My Basic Beliefs

Q: What does a Muslim believe in?

A: A Muslim believes in six basic beliefs and they are:

(1)- Belief in Allah :

It is called Tawheed „the Oneness of Allah‟. It means to believe in Just One God Alone. He is

the Creator and Controller of the Universe. Allah does not have a father or a mother, neither a

son nor a daughter, nor was he ever born. None is equal to Him. He is the Lord of the whole

world. Mankind must bow down only to Allah Alone. One must never bow to any creature of

Allah. He Alone answers our calls. We must call upon Him Alone during difficulties and

problems and never call someone else other than Allah. People who believe in more than One

God, they commit Shirk. Shirk is opposite of Tawheed. Shirk means associating partners with

Allah or to believe that someone else from among the dead or alive shares Allah‟s power.

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(2)- Belief in the Messengers and Prophets:

It is also called Al-Risaalah which means Messenger-hood or Prophet-hood. This means to

believe in all the Messengers and Prophets of Allah without any discrimination. All Messengers

and Prophets were from among the human being. The first Prophet was Adam may peace be

upon him and the Last Prophet is Muhammad may Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him.

There is no other prophet after Prophet Muhammad and he who claims prophet-hood after

him he is a liar.

(3)- Belief in Divine Books:

This means to believe in Allah‟s all books that were given to the Prophets for the guidance of

their people. There are four major books and their names are Al-Zaboor (Psalms given to

Prophet Dawood „David‟ ), Torah revealed to Prophet Musa „Moses‟ , Injeel (Bible revealed

to Eisa ) and the Holy Qur‟aan revealed to Prophet Muhammad . Qur‟aan is the Last Book

that will remain preserved and unchanged until the Day of Judgement.

(4)- Belief in Angels:

A Muslim believes in angels. The angels are purely spiritual beings, created from light by

Allah. They need no food, drink or sleep. Angels spend their time in the service of Allah. They

are always obedient to Allah and never disobey Allah‟s order.

(5)- Belief in the Day of Judgement:

This means life after death. The world will come to an end. Allah will make us alive again.

Anything we do, say and make will be brought forward and Allah will judge us according to

our good or bad deeds. The good people will be sent to the Heaven and the bad ones to the Hell.

(6)- Belief in the Destiny:

It is called Qadr, it means Allah has full control over the entire world. He the Almighty has

planned the whole system of the universe with his timeless Knowledge. Nothing can happen

without the Will and the Knowledge of Allah.

Tauheed

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What is Tauheed?

It means the Oneness of Allah. The worship is only Allah‟s right. Allah is the only Lord of the

Universe. Allah is Unique in His beautiful Names and Attributes.

Benefits of Tauheed:

The purpose of Tauheed is to turn the mankind just to one single direction, to Allah Almighty.

It is the freedom of the heart and spirit from the slavery of creatures. Tauheed keeps the

believers straight. It teaches them to fear only Allah and only Allah‟s obedience. This will also

protect us from the hellfire on the day of judgement. If the mankind is strong in Tauheed will

not worship any gods or goddesses, as the people bow, prostrate and pray to the creatures of

Allah; all such actions are against Tauheed.

Soo-rah Al-Ikh-laas

This Soorah is also called Soo-rah Tauheed. This Soorah is entirely about Allah‟s Oneness.

Qol ho-wal-laa-ho A‟had. Al-laa-hos-sa-mad. Lam ya-lid wa lam yoo-lad. Wa lam ya kol-laa-

ho Ko-fo-wan A‟had.‟

Say! (O Muhammad!) He is Allah the One and Alone. Allah is the Eternal the Absolute Self-

sufficient. He did not give birth to any one nor was He born. And there is none like Him.

Tauheed is of three types:

1. Tauheed Ra-boo-biyyah:

It means Allah is the only Lord of the whole universe without any partner and assistant. He

is the only Creator and the Master of the world. He is from ever and He is for ever. His

power and authority is supreme and unchallenged. He causes benefits and harms. We must

have full hope from him; we must have full trust in him. None can cause harm or benefit but

He. Allah says in the holy Qur‟aan to the Prophet:

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Say, “I hold not for myself [the power of] benefit or harm, except what Allāh has willed. And if

I knew the unseen, I could have acquired much wealth, and no harm would have touched me.”

[Al-Araaf: 188]

All religions believe in Allah‟s (God‟s) existence and creation except the Buddhists. But only

Muslims faith about Allah‟s Lordship is true. Muslims believe in Allah‟s Special and Unique

Being without dividing him into any parts and without associating any partner with him.

2. Tauheed U-loo-hiyyah:

It means only Allah Alone is worthy to be worshipped out of love and sincerity.

It is said in the Qur‟an:

“Worship Allah, there is no god for you except Him (Allah)” [7:59]

We must worship only the Creator. It is said in Soorah Al-Baqrah:

“O people! Worship your Lord who created you and those who came before you so that you

might earn the righteousness.”

Allah says to the Prophet in Soorah Al-An‟aam:

“Say, Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allāh, Lord

of the worlds.” [162]

3. Tauheed of Allah’s Names and Attributes:

It means Allah‟s Unique and Special beautiful Names and Attributes. These are mentioned

in the holy Qur‟an and in the Sunnah of His Messenger.

It is mentioned in Saheeh Al-Bukhaari, the Prophet said:

“Allah has ninety nine Names; whosoever preserves them will enter the Paradise.”

Some of Allah‟s beautiful Names are:

The Most Merciful

The Most Kind

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The All Knowing

The All Wise

The Most Powerful

The All Mighty

Rising of Allah over the Throne:

We believe that Allah is with us through His Knowledge of all things. He hears and sees us.

Allah is over the Throne which is above the seventh heaven. As Allah Says:

“The Most Beneficent (Allah) rose over the Throne (in a manner that suits His Majesty.” [20:5]

There are many verses of the Holy Qur‟an and the Ahaadith of Prophet which affirms Allah‟s

being over the Throne.

Belief in the Angels

The angels are the creation from the unseen world. They worship Allah and do not have

anyone of the divine qualities such as sharing Allah‟s power or to be worshipped. Allah

made them from light and bestowed them perfect submission and obedience to His orders.

The faith in the angels also means that we believe in their existence. We believe in those

whose names are told to us as well as whose names we do not know. The angels can take the

shape of mankind by Allah‟s order as angel Jibra‟eel [Gabriel] appeared many times in the

shape of mankind.

Some angels have particular task for example:

Jibra’eel: Allah would send him to Prophets and Messengers.

Mikaa’eel: Having duty of rainfall.

Isra’feel: Responsible for the blowing of the Horn on the Day when the Hour /

Qiyaamah will be set up.

Malakol-Maut: Appointed to bring out the souls at the time of death.

The Angels of the Grave: They are appointed to ask questions the dead after the burial.

Two angels come and question the dead person about his Lord, his religion and his Prophet.

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There are many statements of the Prophet about the existence of the angels and one of them

is:

. The Prophet said, „On every Friday the angels take their stand at every gate of the mosque

to write the names of the people according to the time of their arrival. When the Imam sits

(on the pulpit) they fold up their registers and get ready to listen to the sermon.‟ [Bukhaari]

Belief in the Holy Books

It means the books revealed by Allah to His messengers and prophets as a blessing and

guidance for mankind so that they can achieve their happiness in this life and in the

Hereafter.

It is to believe that the revelation of these books is surely from Allah. Some of the holy

books have been mentioned in the holy Qur‟aan with their names and others not but a

Muslim generally believe in all previous divine scriptures and scrolls.

The Holy Qur’aan:

This is a true fact that the revelation of the holy Qur‟aan cancelled all the previous

scriptures.

The Qur‟aan is a judge over all the ancient divine scriptures. The belief in the divine

scriptures brings tremendous benefits. It shows Allah‟s concern for His creation that He sent

a book to every nation to live life by it. The belief in the books is an acknowledgment that

the wisdom of Allah is His law that He gave to every nation what suited its situation.

The final absolute true scripture revealed to the whole mankind is the holy Qur‟aan. Its

revelation to Muhammad began in the Holy month Ramadan in the cave of Hira in the

outskirt of Makkah where Muhammad used to go for meditation and reflection. The original

language of the Qur‟aan is Arabic. This is only scripture that exists in its original form and

language since it was revealed more than fourteen hundred years ago. There are hundreds of

thousand men, women and children who have preserved the Qur‟aan in their memory.

The Qur‟aan has one hundred and fourteen chapters called Soorahs; each Soorah has its

name. The first Soorah is Al-Faatihah and last one is Al-Naas. The Longest Soorah of the

Qur‟aan is Al-Baqarah and the shortest one is Al-Kauthar.

Belief in the Prophets and Messengers

Allah chose some special people from among the mankind who received divine revelation

from Him and they had the obligation to pass it to the mankind. The fist man, Adam the

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father on the mankind was a prophet to. The first amongst the messengers was Nooh (Noah)

and the last one is Muhammad.

There was never a flock of the people without messenger. Allah sent a messenger and the

divine law to every nation. It is said in Soorah Al-Nahal:

. “Surely, We sent amongst every people a messenger (telling them), „worship Allah and

forsake false gods‟.” [36]

Also mentioned in the Qur‟aan:

“There was no nation but a Warner had passed among them.” [35:24]

The messengers and prophets were created as mankind who do not deserve anything of

divinely. Allah said about His beloved Prophet Muhammad who is the noblest Messenger

and the most high in honour among the messengers:

“[O Muhammad!] Say, I have no power over any good or harm to myself except as Allah

wills. If I had knowledge of unseen I should have multiplied all good and no evil should

have touched me.” [7:188]

The qualities that mankind posses, like: illness, death, the need for good, drink and other

human needs affect them. Allah said about the father of the prophets, who admitted saying:

“It is He who gives me food and drink; and when I am ill it is He who cures me; It is He

who cause me to die and then to live again.” [26:79-81]

The Prophet Muhammad said:

I am a mankind like you and I forget like you do. Therefore, when I forget, remind me.”

[Bukhaari]

Belief in the messengers also means that their message is true and is from Allah the

Almighty. So, whoever disbelieves in anyone of them, he is disbeliever in all of them,

When we believe in the messengers of Allah, we must implement their teachings. Because

this is main and fundamental reason that Allah sent messengers to the mankind.

Muslim’s Faith about Esa [Jesus Christ]

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Muslims believe in the virgin birth of son of Maryam (Mary) „Esa ‟. They also believe in the

miracles performed by Esa . He tried his best to convey the message of Allah to the mankind.

He was not a son of God Almighty. Allah has no children or family. He will descend down

before the day of Judgment as follower of Prophet Muhammad , he will rule the world with

justice and finished with the Anti-Christ „Dajjaal‟.

Muhammad is the Last Prophet

Muhammad was sent as last and final Prophet by Allah. He came to confirm the messengers

and their holy books before him. It is fundamental and uncompromised part of Muslim faith.

Allah said in the holy Qur‟aan:

. “He is the Messenger of Allah and the last of the Prophets.” [33:40]

The Prophet said:

. “The Israelis used to be ruled and guided by prophets: Whenever a prophet died, another would

take over his place. There will be no prophet after me, but there will be Caliphs

who will increase in number.” [Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 56, Number 661]

The Holy Prophet said: God has favoured me more than the other prophets in six ways: 1) I

have been endowed with the gift of speech which is brief but full of knowledge. 2) I was

granted victory owing to my awe. 3) The spoils of war were made lawful unto me. 4) The

whole earth has been made the place of worship for me and it has become the means of

purification for me also. 5) I have been sent to the whole world. 6) And the line of

prophets has come to its final end in me [Muslim, Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah]

The Prophet affirmed: “The chain of messengers and prophets has come to an end. There shall

be neither a messenger nor a prophet after me” [Tirmidhi & Ahmad]

There are many other sayings of the Prophet that proves his final-hood.

Anyone who believes in a prophet after Muhammad is not Muslim. After the Prophet

Muhammad, some people claimed prophet-hood, like Bahaa‟ees and Qaadiyaanees or

Ahmadees; all such people are disbelievers.

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Asking for Blessings and Peace upon the Prophet Muhammmad :

It is part of faith that we must love our beloved Prophet. We must respect all his teachings and

the message from Allah. Also we should follow Islam practically. This will bring us the love of

Allah and his messenger. Allah says in the Holy Qur‟aan:

“If you love Allah, then you follow me (his messenger). When you follow the messenger Allah

will love you and forgive you.” [3:31]

It is also a part of our love for the Prophet and an obligation upon us that when we hear his

beautiful name, we should ask blessings and peace upon. It is to say:

Sal-lal-laa-ho a-lay-he wa sal-lamm!

May Allah‟s blessings and peace be upon him!

The Prophet said:

“He who asks blessings and peace upon the Prophet one time, Allah will bless that person ten

times.” [Muslim]

Belief in The Day of Judgement:

The Day of Judgement is the day of reckoning on which people will be judged to achieve

reward and to bear the result of their wrongdoings. On this day, the people of paradise will

settle in their residences and the people of hell will settle in theirs.

A Muslim believes that the existence of the whole universe is not purposeless and particularly

the existence of mankind on this planet. Allah says in the Holy Qur‟aan:

„Do you think that we have created you in jest and that you would not be brought back to Us

(for account)?‟ [23:15]

Without the idea of life after death, Allah would not be the just and wise and Merciful Lord that

He is. Allah created men and made them responsible for their actions. Some men behave well

and others do not. If there is no future life in which the virtuous are rewarded and the vicious

are requited, there would be no justice and there would be no purpose in creating men with a

sense of responsibility and in sending Prophets to them to remind them of these responsibilities.

Actions without purpose are not expected of man known to be rational and just, so how much

more do we expect of the Perfect Creator.

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Life after Death and the Day of Judgment is a system of Allah‟s justice. The people will be

reckoned according to their worldly deeds, righteous will be rewarded while the evil will be

requited. Allah says in the Holy Qur‟aan:

“Or do those who earn evil deeds think that We shall hold them equal with those who believe

and do righteous deeds, in their present life and after their death? Worst is the judgment that

they make. And Allah has created the heavens and the earth with truth, in order that each person

may be recompensed what he has earned, and they will not be wronged.” [45: 21-22]

The belief in the Hereafter also includes the belief in what happens after death:

It is called the affliction of the grave, which contains questions asked from the dead regarding

his Lord-Rabb, his religion and his Prophet. Allah will keep strong those who believed with the

word, which stands strong. A true believer will say: Allah is my Lord, Islam is my relgion and

Muhammad is my prophet. But the wrongdoers will answer: “Haa! Haa! I do not know.” The

hypocrite will answer: “I do not know, I heard the people saying something and I said

likewise.”

Nevertheless LIFE AFTER DEATH is a divine system to reward in full those who obey the

Lord and perform good deeds; and to requite those who defy the Lord and earn evil deeds.

Belief in the Destiny

Qadar, the destiny, is Allah‟s predestination of beings in accordance with His knowledge and

required by His Wisdom.

It includes the following issues:

1. It is the belief that Allah knew everything completely which occurred in the past and is

occurring or will occur in the future and for ever.

2. It is the belief that all created things does not come to life but with Allah‟s will.

SHIRK

Shirk is „associating others with Allah‟, worshiping creatures, bowing, prostrating and praying

to the creatures, seeking help from them. Having fear of harm or benefit from them. In a more

general way it refers to worshipping other than Allah, associating partners with him, giving his

characteristics to others beside him, or not believing in his characteristics. Within Islam, Major

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Shirk is a forgivable sin if one repents from it while one is alive, but according to Islamic texts,

anyone who dies upon this sin will never enter paradise.

Shirk is the biggest sin:

One of the worst and unforgiveable sin is Shirk. Allah says in the Qur‟aan:

„Surely, the Shirk is the biggest sin.‟ [31:13]

The Prophet said:

The biggest sin is to associate a partner with Allah while Allah Alone has created you.‟

[Bukhaari & Muslim]

Categories of Shirk:

Mainly, there are two types of Shirk; major shirk and minor shirk.

Major Shirk:

This form of Shirk occurs when any act of worship is directed to other than Allah. It represents

the most obvious form of idolatry which the prophets were specifically sent by Allah to call the

masses of mankind away from. This concept is supported by Allah's statement in the Qur'aan:

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"Surely we have sent to every nation a messenger saying, worship Allah and avoid false gods.”

Any act of worship prayer, sacrifice, charity, fasting, bowing, prostrating and supplicating are

only for Allah alone. Doing such acts of worship for other than Allah is considered as shirk.

Minor Shirk:

This form of shirk is generally very dangerous and people commit carelessly. Some forms of

this type of shirk are as follow:

Swearing by other than Allah

Swearing by other than Allah is prohibited and this is considered as Shirk. This is only Allah‟s

right.

The Prophet said:

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„Whoever swears by someone other than Allah, he has committed shirk.‟ [Musnad Ahmad]

Wearing rings, stones and amulets as protection or for blessing

Unfortunately, many people and some Muslims as well wear rings, stones, amulets and

Taweedh for protection and blessing. This absolutely wrong and none did in the time of Prophet

Muhammad or his companions.

The Prophet said:

„One who wears amulets [Taweedh or charms] has surely committed an act of shirk.‟ [Maj‟ma]

Showing off ‘Riya’:

The messenger Muhammad said:

. “The thing I fear most for my Ummah is the hidden shirk. The Sahabah then asked him: What

is the hidden shirk? He said: Ar-Riya.” [Saheeh in Fatawa Ibn Baaz 2/29]

Believing in Superstitions:

Everything is from Allah. Nothing of superstitious beliefs effect anything and there is nothing

such as superstitious things. The Holy Qur'an states:

“No misfortune can happen on earth nor (afflict) your souls, but is recorded in a Book (long)

before We bring it into existence; that is truly easy for Allâh” [57:22]

The Prophet said:

“Tiyarah (superstitious belief in omens) is shirk.”

[Tirmidhi (1614), Abu Dawood (3910), Ibn Majaah (3538); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in

Saheeh Abi Dawood.]

Things like: number 13, walking underneath a ladder, Friday the 13th

and so on. All such things

are nothing to do with bad luck. Believing so is an act of Shirk.

Common Faith Errors:

Slaughtering Animals at Graves

Slaughtering Animals in the name of creatures

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Dedicating animals in the name of creatures

Sacrificing animals in any name besides Allah

Distributing sweets at shrines

Calling upon dead for help

Dead visits their family on every Thursday

Calling upon prophets, family of the Prophet and saints for help

Prophets and saints have the knowledge of unseen

Prophets and saints are present everywhere

Seeking help from any other besides Allah

Believing that Prophet Muhammad was part of Allah‟s Noor / light

Bowing or prostrating to the creatures

Family of the Prophet

We love the members of the household of the Prophet, regard them as friends, and protect the

will of the Prophet about them. He said:

“I remind you of Allah about my household.” [Muslim]

We regard the wives of the Prophet with respect, dignity and reverence on the ground that they

wee like Mothers of the believers.

The wives of the Prophet are those with whom he contracted Nikah. The first among these is

Khadijah whom he married in Makkah before being entrusted with Prophethood. The Prophet

was 25 years old at that time and she was older than him by 15 years. He did not marry another

woman during her lifetime. She was the first to have faith in him and provided him with

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strength in sustaining the burden of Prophethood. She died at the age of 65. After her, The

Prophet married other ladies. Khadijah and they are his wives in the Hereafter also.

We express our disassociation from the way of all such people who keep malice against the

companions of Allah‟s Messenger, his household and his wives.

Sahaabah / The Companions are the Best of This Ummah

It is clear and evident from the statement of the Prophet that the Sahaabah were the best men

of their times and even one Mudd (a measure of about 600 grams) of their charity is superior to

the charity of gold equal to the size of Uhud mountain.

Most superior of the Sahaabah is Abu Bakr Siddique then Umar Farooq then Uthman Ghani

and then Ali bin Abi Taalib .

We express our disassociation against anyone who keeps malice against the Sahaabah and

reviles them.