The articles of faith

 

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. - islamweb.net