Articles of Faith

Believe In Allah – Firstly a Muslim has to believe in Allah as the Lord of this universe and whatever is
in it. No matter whatever a Muslim says from the tongue, this belief should be instilled and engraved
in the heart of a Muslim.
Believe in Angels – Secondly, a Muslim has to believe in angels as the creation of Allah Almighty.
These angels are servants of Allah and all they do is carry out His orders and praise and worship
Him.
Believe in Prophets – Besides Muhammad (PBUH) a Muslim has to believe in all the other Prophets
that Allah Almighty sent for the guidance of mankind and give them equal respect and reverence.
Believe In Divine Books – Like other Prophets, a Muslim has to believe in all the other books that
were revealed to those Prophets for the guidance of their nations. Therefore, in addition to Quran,
the other divine books are also to be believed in by a Muslim.
Believe in Judgment Day – A Muslim is to have the belief that the Judgment day is inevitable and
once it arrives, all the people will be held accountable for their deeds which they committed in this
world.
Believe in Destiny – A Muslim must also believe that there are some things that are beyond human
power and comprehension and should be regarded as elements of destiny or faith.
Believe In Resurrection – A Muslim must believe that there is life after death and once a person dies,
he or she will rise again and the life that will be given to a person then will be the eternal life with no
end.
Conclusion:
In a nutshell, in order to be a true Muslim and complete in belief, a Muslim has to believe in and
practice the core fundamentals of Islam. The personification of these fundamentals can be seen in
the personality of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), therefore, every Muslim must find guidance from His
Sunnah

There are six pillars of Faith in Islam:

1. Belief in Allah (God),

2. Belief in His Angels,

3. Belief in His Books,

4. Belief in His Messengers,

5. Belief in the Last Day, and:

6. Belief in the Divine Preordainment and Divine Decree (Qadhaa' and

Qadr).

1- Belief in Allah:

This article means to believe that Allah is the One God, to whom worship is
due; that He is the Creator and the Sustainer of everything; that it is He
who gives life and causes death, and that He is Unique in His Names and
Attributes.

2 - Belief in His Angels:

Allah has created the angels from light. They are honorable slaves of Allah;
they obey Him and execute His Commands; Allah describes them by
saying: "…They do not disobey Allah in what He commands them but
do what they are commanded." [Quran: 66:6]

Allah created them to worship Him, and only Allah knows how many they
are in number. Among them are:

- Jibreel (Gabriel) who is charged with delivering Divine revelations to the

Prophets and Messengers of Allah,

- Meekaa'eel (Michael) who is charged with sending the rain,

- The Angel of Death who is charged with collecting human souls,

- The bearers of the Throne of Allah and

- The guards of Paradise and Hell.

Besides these, there are angels who guard humans, others who record
people's deeds and utterances, and still others who are charged with
various other duties and tasks.

3 - Belief in His Books:

Belief in His Books is believing that Allah the Exalted did in reality reveal
Books to His Messengers to convey them to their people. Those Books
comprise the Speech of Allah. These were doubtlessly pure at the point of
revelation, and whenever a Book or Scripture was revealed, it abrogated
the preceding one. The known Divine Scriptures are:

1. The Torah, the Book that Allah revealed to Moosa (Moses), may Allah
exalt his mention.

2. The Psalms, the Book revealed to Daawood (David), may Allah exalt his
mention.

3. The Gospel, revealed to 'Eesa (Jesus), may Allah exalt his mention.

The Books in the hands of the Christians and Jews today, that is the Torah
and the Bible with the Old and the New Testaments, are not authentic
because they have been distorted, altered and tampered with. Moreover,
they have been abrogated by the last of Allah's Books, the Quran.

4 - Belief in His Messengers:

Muslims attest that Allah did send Messengers to every nation inviting them
to worship Him Alone. This belief also entails denouncing all gods that are
worshipped besides Allah or instead of Him, and that all Messengers were
truthful and discharged their duty in the best manner. Allah sent many
messengers, and only Allah knows how many. It is incumbent upon all
Muslims to believe in all the Prophets and Messengers. He who denies one
of them denies all. The first messenger that Allah had sent to mankind was
Nooh (Noah), may Allah exalt his mention and the last one was
Muhammad . Allah says (what means): {And We certainly sent into
every nation a messenger, [saying]: 'Worship Allah and avoid
Taaghoot (i.e., false deities)...} [Quran: 16:36]

All Prophets and Messengers were human beings. Allah distinguished

them by commissioning them as Prophets and Messengers and supported
them with miracles. They had no Divine qualities, and had no access to the
Unseen world. However, Allah sent Prophet Muhammad to all mankind;
Allah says (what means): {Say [O Muhammad]: 'O mankind! I am the
Messenger of Allah to you all....'} [Quran: 7:158]

Of all the Messengers, there are five who were the most persevering and
determined to do what Allah had enjoined upon them. They were Nooh,
Ibraheem (Abraham), Moosa, 'Eesa and Muhammad .
Muhammad was the last and the best of them all, and remains the best
of all human beings.

5 - Belief in the Last Day:

Muslims attest to the truth of everything Allah or His Messenger said

about death. Allah has not created His creation in vain. He created men
and jinn to worship Him and promised paradise as a reward to those who
obey Him and His Messengers, and promised Hellfire to those who disobey
Him or His Messengers. He has set a certain period for the whole universe,
whose end will be the Final Hour. During the Final Hour, humans will be
questioned about their deeds in this world. Those deeds will be weighed for
them. One whose good deeds overweigh his evil deeds will prosper, while
him whose bad deeds outweigh his good ones will be condemned to
Hellfire - unless he died in the state of Islam. Then, Allah would either
forgive him or punish him, and eventually he would enter paradise. Islam is
the precondition for the acceptance of any good deed.

The Description of Paradise:

Paradise, or Jannah in Arabic, is the abode that Allah has prepared for
believers. It holds means of everlasting bliss that no eyes have ever seen,
no ears have heard of and no human has imagined. In it are pure female
mates, rivers of milk, rivers of wine, rivers of pure honey and every kind of
delicious fruit and meat. Its residents will not experience exhaustion,
boredom or death.

The Description of Hell:

Hellfire is the abode that Allah has prepared for the infidels who deny Him
and His Messengers. Its food is intolerantly bitter, and its drink is the pus
exuding from the skins of its inmates. Its depth is unfathomable. The
infidels and the hypocrites will live in it forever.

6 - Belief in the Divine Preordainment and Divine Decrees (Qadhaa'

and Qadr):

Doom (Qadhaa') is the general Decree of Allah that every human shall die,
whereas a Divine Decree (Qadr) is a particular Decree of Allah or the
execution of Qadhaa', that a certain person is to die at a particular time and
place. Hence, believing in this article entails believing that Allah has
created everything and has foreordained its proper measure.

The Facets of Qadr:

1. Allah is well acquainted with everything taking place, and His Knowledge
encompasses everything.

2. Allah has pre-assigned portions of everything in the Preserved Tablet.

3. Nothing takes place in the heavens or on the earth without the Will of Allah
and His Wish. Whatever Allah wills, takes place and whatever He does not
will, does not take place.

4. Allah is the Creator of all things. There is no other creator beside Him.

Islam – A Comprehensive Way of Life

To understand the essence of Islam is to understand the very essence of

humanity. More than a religion, Islam is a complete and comprehensive
way of life leading to a balanced way of living. Islam brings civilization and
happiness to man. Islamic principles and teachings can provide realistic,
fair and objective solutions to the prevention of individual, familial, social
and international problems which are threatening the existence of human
communities throughout the world.

A spiritual belief that does not deal with social behavior, economic relations
and international organizations is as erroneous as the social doctrine that
does not consider spiritual belief, morality and behavior. Such social
doctrines are abortive attempts, incapable of total human guidance or of
achieving any coherence or accord among human beings.
Both the individual and the society are in dire need of a belief that
accommodates and directs all their vital activities towards construction and
growth. When the individual and society adopt such a belief and apply it to
life, humanity can accomplish seemingly miraculous achievements which
can only occur when man unites himself with the Eternal Power that
channels his personality -potential in the right direction.
History has shown that Islam is unique in its ability to provide guidance for
the entire range of human activity. It does not separate spiritual and secular
life as unrelated entities.
Islam integrates all domains of human life, just like the different systems in
the human body integrate to provide a complete human being. If one
system does not work properly, it has got to affect the whole body.
Likewise, Islam proposes systems of laws that integrate all parts of human
society to bring happiness and peace to all its members. There is no other
way or system that urges the active worship of Allah in its general and most
comprehensive sense other than Islam. Fox example, Islam teaches that
Muslims should fast for a month every year (i.e. Ramadan) in order to
acquire piety and self-discipline and to develop awareness of the needs
and problems of others who are starving or are in desperate need of food.
Such an awareness of the needs of others is not enough on its own.
Therefore, Zakah (obligatory charity) is prescribed to be distributed among
the segments of society that are in need of individual and communal
assistance.
A very important universal concept in Islam is “Ummah” (Nation). Ummah
transcends all limitations implied by the term ‘nation’ by encompassing all
people regardless of race, color, or sex. Allah emphasized this great
Islamic principle in the verse (which means);
"Mankind was [of] one religion [before their deviation]; then Allah sent
the prophets as bringers of good tidings and warners and sent down
with them the Scripture in truth to judge between the people
concerning that in which they differed. And none differed over it [i.e.
Scripture] except those who were given it-after the clear proofs came
to them-out of jealous animosity among themselves. And Allah
guided those who believed to the truth concerning that over which
they had differed, by His permission. And Allah guides whom He wills
to a straight path." [Quran 2:2 13]

Moreover, Islam has a unique understanding for the concept of Ummah.

Ummah is the field for knowledge, ethics, government and positivism.
Ummah in Islam is a system in which people integrate, even if they belong
to different belief systems. It is a system of universal justice and peace that
accommodates everyone who believes in freedom of thinking and in calling
people to the truth-whether they are individuals or communities.
Indeed, Ummah in Islam is an apparatus which is more advanced than that
developed by the West, the UN., or those apparatuses established by the
American-European block merely to bring about a “new world order,” but
which in reality often are geared only to maintain Western control over
Third World human and material resources.
The Prophet Muhammad proposed a constitution for the city of
Madeenah during the first days of his emigration from Makkah.
He included the rights of both Jews and Christians, thereby
safeguarding their freedom and beliefs. History has never known a
constitution that represented minorities as this constitution of the Islamic
state did. Ummah as an Islamic concept will, Allah willing, bring the advent
of universal peace as well as an internal social system. Ummah is the field-
ground for civilization to take place. Such an Ummah can be integrated and
united, if it derives its doctrines, constitutions, morals, values and the whole
perspective of life from the same united source: belief in the only true Allah.
This is known as the concept of Tawheed (Monotheism).
The value systems of Western societies will continue to collapse, since
they are built on shifting grounds. The Sunday Times of London, in its
September 1994 issue, reported about a revolt by women against the
values prevailing in Britain: ‘‘British women seek new morality in its
religious affairs” correspondent Lesley Thomas stated.
According to the report, this is not the case of British women who are
favoring Islam. “Thousands of British women are becoming Muslims in a
trend that baffles feminists and causes concern to Christians.” The report
continues that “of the estimated 10,000 British converts to Islam over the
past decade, most are single, educated women, doctors, college lecturers
and lawyers.” The educated in the west are beginning to see that the “full”
life is found only in Islam, the universal religion.
And what about the present day Muslim world? Unfortunately, some
“educated” Muslims now pay only “lip-service” to Islam. They think that
Islam is a slogan to be raised or a word to be uttered. Islam is the way of
life that should be implemented in all spheres of life. These hypocrites have
forgottenthat Allah dislikes those who brag about things that they do not
practice. When man’s deeds are not commensurate with their words, their
conduct is odious in the sight of Allah.
"O you who have believed, why do you say what you do not do? Great
is hatred in the sight of Allah that you say what you do not do." [Quran
61:2-3]

May Allah let the Muslim World never forget that Islam provides a complete
and comprehensive way of life. Islam creates harmony in the mind, the soul
and the body in a marvelous way. The need for Islam emerges from the
humanity’s search for a constitution that provides guidance and satisfaction
in all spheres of life. It is a code of life that is not limited to partial needs,
but rather a way of life that penetrates all barriers to interact with people’s
needs in this life and beyond. It is a way of life where there is no
discrimination between what is sacred and what is secular.
Islam is unique among the religions and civilizations the world has known.
In contrast to the other religions of the world, Islam defines religion itself as
the very business of life, the very matter of space-time, the very process of
history, and the gift of Allah. Therefore, all these work together to constitute
them.
Islam is a divine guidance wherein humans of all nations, colors and
tongues feel linked to a Supreme Power and Justice. Its teachings are kept
intact and authentic. It is the only way to happiness, dignity, and universal
peace. Islam is so unique in its method for solving the problems of
humanity. I can say with confidence that the twenty first century will be the
century of Islam. The everlasting miracle of Islam, THE QURAN, is a
standing challenge to the intellect of all peoples at all times. In Islam’s four
abiding principles - equality, tolerance, promotion of science, and solution
to the world’s problems - its universality asserts itself. It calls to all mankind,
if only mankind will listen.
"Then do they not reflect upon the Quran? If it had been from [any]
other than Allah, they would have found within it much
contradiction." [Quran 4:82]