Articles of Faith

Belief in Allah

Islam's fundamental theological concept is tawheed—the belief that there is only one God. The Arabic term for God is Allāh. The first of the Five Pillars of Islam, tawheed is expressed in the shahadah (testimony), which declares that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is Allah's messenger. In Islamic theology, God is beyond all comprehension; Muslims are not expected to visualize God but to worship and adore him as a protector. God is described in the chapter 112 of the Qur'an as "…God, the One and Only; God, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him."

Belief in the Angels

Belief in angels is crucial to the faith of Islam. The Arabic word for Angels (malak) means "messenger", like its counterparts in Hebrew (malakh) and Greek (angelos). According to the Qur'an, angels do not possess free will, and worship God in perfect obedience. Angels' duties include communicating revelations from God, glorifying God, recording every person's actions, and taking a person's soul at the time of death. They may also be sent to help humans as God wills.

Belief in holy books sent by God

The Islamic holy books are the records dictated by God to prophets. They are the Suhuf Ibrahim (commonly the Scrolls of Abraham), the Tawrat (Torah), the Zabur (the Psalms), the Injeel (the Gospel), and the Qur'an. The Arabic word 'Kutub' literally means 'books' and the Qur'an uses this word to refer to revealed scriptures. Belief in all these books is a fundamental tenet of Islam. However, Islam states that the first four of the aforementioned books and all other books sent by God have been lost or corrupted, and that the Qur’an is the final and complete version of God's word. Muslims also believe the Quran is the exact word of God told to Muhammad by the Angel Jibra'il (Gabriel).

Belief in all Prophets and Messengers sent by God

A Muslim believes in all the Messengers and Prophets of God without any discrimination. All messengers were mortals, human beings, endowed with Divine revelations and appointed by God to teach mankind. The Holy Qur’an mentions the names of 25 messengers and prophets and states that there are others and the hadeeths state there are 124,000. These include Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon all of them). Their message is the same and it is Islam and it came from One and the Same Source; God, and it is to submit to His will and to obey His laws.

Belief in Resurrection (life after death) and the Day of Judgement

Belief in the Yawm al-Qiyāmah (Day of Resurrection) is also crucial to Muslim beliefs. The time of Qiyāmah is preordained by God but unknown to man. The trials and tribulations preceding and during the Qiyāmah are described in the Qur'an and the hadeeth, and also in the commentaries of Islamic scholars. The Qur'an emphasizes bodily resurrection, a break from the pre-Islamic Arabian understanding of death. It states that resurrection will be followed by the gathering of mankind, culminating in their judgment by God.

The Qur'an lists several sins that can condemn a person to hell, such as disbelief, usury and dishonesty. Muslims view paradise as a place of joy and bliss, with Qur'anic references describing its features and the physical pleasures to come.

Belief in Predestination

In accordance with the Islamic belief in predestination, or divine preordainment, God has full knowledge and control over all that occurs. This is explained in Qur'anic verses such as "Say: 'Nothing will happen to us except what Allah has decreed for us: He is our protector'…" For Muslims, everything in the world that occurs, good or evil, has been preordained and nothing can happen unless permitted by God. In Islamic theology, divine preordainment does not suggest an absence of God's indignation against evil, because any evils that do occur are thought to result in future benefits people may not be able to see. According to Muslim theologians, although events are pre-ordained, man possesses free will in that he has the faculty to choose between right and wrong, and is thus responsible for his actions. According to Islamic tradition, all that has been decreed by God is written in al-Lawh al-Mahfūz, (The Preserved Tablet)