six essentials of islamic belief

Islamic Law and Ethics Slide 1

Six Essentials of

Islamic Belief


Six Essentials of Islamic Beliefs

1. Existence and Unity of God

2. Existence of Angels

3. Books of Revelation

4. Messengers of God

5. Resurrection for an Afterlife

6. Divine Determination (Qadar)


Syllabus:

Outline the implications of

Tawhid for Muslim belief


1. Existence and Unity of God


Existence of God

• The most important belief in Islam is the belief in the existence and unity of God. This is usually termed as tawhid.

• Tawhid literally means “unification”. It marks the unity and existence of God.

“Say: He is God, the One and Only; God, the Eternal, Absolute; He begets not, nor is He begotten; and there is none like unto Him.” (Qur’an, 112:1-4)


Existence of God

•In many places in the Qur’an

natural phenomena are depicted,

saying that there are signs in these

for people who “think”, “reflect”,

“understand” and so on.

• It does so because the Qur’an

wants people to arrive at belief

and faith through reason.

• The universe and the natural world

becomes an objective point of

reference for us to test the veracity

of faith propositions.


Knowing God

• In Islam God is personal and transcendent.

• God gave humanity His attributes in a very limited fashion so that humanity could get to know God.

• In Islam, God has many names, including a list of 99 names. This list includes such names as All-Merciful, Most Compassionate, The Mighty, All-Knowing, The Loving, The Caring, The Living, The Bringer of Peace, The Avenger of Evil, The Generous, and so on. Through these names we get a feel for God and see His presence in everyday life, in nature and the universe.


Implications of Tawhid

• Tawhid is the foundation of Islam.

― All beliefs and practices build on tawhid.

• Tawhid means a Muslim believes that God has knowledge of all things and has power over all things.

― This worldview will become clearer when discussing Divine determination.

• As a result of tawhid, Muslims associate no partners with God.


Syllabus:

Outline the principal beliefs

about Angels


2. Belief in Angels


Belief in Angels

• The second tenet of faith for Muslims is belief in angels.

• Angels are conscious beings who are created from noor (light), hence they do not eat or drink as humans do.

• Angels are genderless, neither male nor female. Consequently, they do not reproduce.


Belief in Angels

• Angels follow all commands of God and do not

have the capacity to sin. However, angels are not

robots. They have consciousness and intelligence.

“…who (angels) disobey not, (from executing) the

commands they receive from God, but do that

which they are commanded.” (Qur’an, 66:6)


Belief in Angels

• God does not need angels to do His work. Angels

study both the material and immaterial dimensions

of God’s dominion in adoration and get a

satisfaction from observing the manifestations of His

Grace and Majesty.

“... and the angels glorify the praises of their Lord…”

(Qur’an, 42:5)


Belief in Angels

• There are countless angels across the universe and on earth.

• There are four archangels, Jibra’il (Gabriel), Mikha’il (Michael), Azra’il (Angel of Death), and Israf’il (Raphael).

• There are angels assigned to every human being who records the good and bad deeds of that person.

• In short, angels are pure beings who follow the commands of God. They witness the glory of God when His commands show their effect in the universe. Therefore they exalt and praise God constantly.


Spiritual Ranks of Various Creations

Rank of Jabrail

Fixed Rank of Animals

0 line

Rank of Satan

Fixed ranks of angels of

various types

Rank of Prophet

Muhammad


Syllabus:

Examine the role of the Books

of Allah and prophecy in Islam


3. Books of Revelation


“And who believe in the Revelation sent to you

(Muhammad), and sent down before you, and

they believe with certainty in the resurrection.”

(Qur’an, 2:4)


Books of Revelation

• Belief in revelations is the third tenet of the Islamic

faith. It requires Muslims to believe in revelations sent

by God to all people throughout human history.

• The Qur’an mentions that God has revealed four

major holy books:

― The Torah to Moses

― The Psalms to David

― The Gospel to Jesus

― The Qur’an to Muhammad


The Holy Quran

• For Muslims, the Qur’an is the latest preserved

revelation of God.

• The essential core message of these revelations were

the same:

“We assuredly sent among every people a messenger

with (the command): ‘Serve God and avoid evil’”

(Qur’an, 16:36)


Lesley Hazelton Comments on the

Qur’an

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y2Or0LlO6g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y2Or0LlO6g












The Role of Books

• The books of Allah are seen as a means of guidance for humanity throughout history.

• Although there have been many revelations, the core message of all the revelations are the same; belief in one God.

• Muslims believe the Qur’an is the final revelation. It is used as a reference point in all aspects of life.


4. Messengers of God


Messengers of God

“For every people there is a messenger. When their

messenger comes, the matter is judged between

them with justice, and they are not wronged.”

(Qur’an, 10:47)

• If there is revelation, then there must be a revelation

bearing messenger who is charged with the role of

conveying this message to people. Belief in them as the Messengers of God is the fourth tenet of Islamic

faith.

* After speaking about any Prophets (including

Muhammad, Jesus, Moses, Noah, Abraham and all

the Prophets) Muslims say “Peace be upon him”

(pbuh)


Messengers of God

• The Qur’an mentions five “great” messengers:

Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad.

• The Qur’an mentions 25 prophets by name. It also

says that there were many more whose names are

not mentioned.

• Every nation received one or more messenger of

God to guide humanity. No people on earth were

neglected.

― “Before you We sent (apostles) to many nations…”

(Qur’an, 6:42)


Messengers of God

• The Prophets were not raised only in the Middle East.

• We can only speculate that Confucius, Buddha, or

even Socrates were possibly Prophets.

• When we go to the core of these religions, we find

many similarities with Islam.


Responsibilities and Attributes of Prophets

• Prophets had the most difficult job “description”

without any monetary reward.

• They were expected to convince people to believe in them being the officers of God and transform people’s beliefs, habits and centuries old customs.

• Prophets also need to have exceptional qualities to be able to represent the message of God to people and be successful in the role they fulfill.

• The Qur’an mentions that many prophets were sent to humanity before Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).


The Role of Prophecy

• Prophets are very important in Islam as they are seen as the messengers between God and humanity.

― This does not mean humans cannot communicate with God directly. They can but it is a different type of communication.

• Prophet Muhammad is of particular importance to Muslims;

― He is considered the last prophet

― He is the ‘tool’ through which the Qur’an was revealed

― He is a role model for Muslims in every facet of their life


Syllabus:

Outline the principal beliefs

about life after death and

fate/predestination


5. Resurrection for the Afterlife


Resurrection for the Afterlife

• Belief in life after death is the fifth tenet of Islamic faith.

“Then contemplate (O man!) the memorials of Allah's

Mercy!- how He gives life to the earth after its death: verily

the same will give life to the men who are dead: for He has

power over all things?” (Qur’an, 30:50)

• It would be the most important after the belief in the

existence and unity of God.

• In the Islamic context, resurrection refers to coming

back to life one more time after death in flesh and

spirit for an everlasting life.

“Does man think that we shall not assemble his bones?”

(Qur’an, 75:3)


Journey of Life

• Spiritual existence before birth

• Earthly life - NOW

• Questioning in the grave and spiritual life in the intermediate world

• Resurrection and gathering before the Divine Court

• Giving account of one’s life on earth

• Receiving the final book of deeds

• Weighing of good deeds against bad deeds

• Crossing over a bridge that spans over Hell.

• Residing in the final destination, Paradise or Hell


Judgement Process

• The following points are important in the judgement

process:

• Salvation ultimately is received out of God’s grace

(rahma).

• God will consider both faith and good deeds.

• Actions are judged according to intentions.

• Since the heart is the seat for both faith and intention

(for deeds), a sound heart is important.

• Both good deeds and bad deeds are qualitatively

and quantitatively measured.

• God does not forgive human rights or associating

partners with Him.


6. Divine Determination (Qadar)


Divine Determination (Qadar)

• The Arabic term qadar literally means measure and

amount.

• Qadar means that God Almighty, through His infinite

knowledge, knows and specifies all beings and

events together with their states and attributes, all

the powers & abilities they possess and the times

and places they all enter into existence.

• Muslims believe that God’s Knowledge and Will is all-

encompassing.


Divine Determination (Qadar)

• As far as humanity is concerned, on the other hand, there is freedom of choice.

• While qadar (Divine Determination) refers to God’s knowledge, God knowing our future acts does not force a person to commit those acts. God knows because He is not bound by time as we are.

• The Qur’an recognises human free will but says that all creative power resides with God.


Good and Evil

• Responsibility and accountability is attached to the freedom of choice. In this way God, manifests His justice and compassion.

• In Islam, God creates both good and evil; however, evil is

created as a consequence of human choice. Creation of

evil or allowing evil to happen is not evil, but choosing evil is

evil.

• If humans have choice, they must have the option of evil

otherwise there would not be any difference between

humans and angels. Our good actions are more valuable

because of the possibility of evil.


Questions?

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