Islam Is... Islam and Its Principles

The Six Articles of Faith

A number in parenthesis indicates a footnote which can be found at the end of that section.

3. THE SIX ARTICLES OF FAITH

There are certain tenets one must believe without any doubt in order to be considered a Muslim. These articles of faith are as follows:
a. Belief in God
b. Belief in His Angels
c. Belief in His Books
d. Belief in His Prophets and Messengers
e. Belief in the Day of Judgment
f. Belief in God’s Divine Decree

3a. BELIEF IN GOD

Islam emphasizes that God is The One without partner, The Encompassing of all that exists, and He is unique in every way. Only God, The Most Benevolent, has the right to be worshipped.

3b. BELIEF IN HIS ANGELS

The angels are creations of God. God, The Originator, created them from light. They are powerful, and always do precisely as they are commanded by God.
God has revealed to us the names and the duties of some of the angels. A Muslim must believe in the existence of angels. Gabriel and Michael are among the angels mentioned in the Qur’an. For instance, it is Gabriel’s duty to take God’s revelation to the Prophets and Messengers.

3c. BELIEF IN HIS BOOKS

Muslims believe in all of the original scriptures revealed by God to His Messengers. A Muslim must believe in every scripture mentioned by God in the Qur’an. God, The Giver, revealed them and they were, in their original forms, the actual word of God. The scriptures God mentions in the Qur’an are as follows:
1. The original Scrolls as revealed to Abraham
2. The original Torah as revealed to Moses
3. The original Psalms as revealed to David
4. The original Injeel (Gospel of Jesus) as revealed to Jesus (1)
5. The Qur’an as revealed to Muhammad (which is still available in its original form)
Muslims do not consider the scriptures revealed before the Qur’an, which are presently in circulation in various editions and versions, to be an accurate representation of their original revealed form. According to the Qur’an, people have distorted these scriptures for their own worldly gain. These distortions have occurred in many different ways, such as additions or deletions of text or changes in the meaning or the language. These distortions were adopted over time and what remains is a mixture of the original divine text with manmade interpretation and contamination. Although Muslims believe in all the previous revealed books, the final means by which they judge different matters and seek ultimate guidance is sought through the Qur’an and the authentic traditions of the Prophet Muhammad.

(1) The different gospels in today’s Bible were written after the time of Jesus by other authors. The Injeel mentioned in the Qur’an refers only to the revelations that came through Jesus, the son of Mary.

3d. BELIEF IN HIS PROPHETS AND MESSENGERS

The Prophets and Messengers were individuals who received revelation from God and conveyed it to the people. They were sent to humanity to return people to monotheism, to serve as living practical examples of how to surrender to God, and to guide people to the path of salvation. None of the Prophets and Messengers share in any part of God’s divinity. They were merely human beings. It is forbidden for a Muslim to worship them or to use them as a conduit to God. A Muslim should never invoke them, make supplications to them, or seek God’s mercy and forgiveness through or from them. Therefore, the term “Muhammadanism” is an insult and should never be applied to Muslims. Every single Prophet and Messenger taught that all such acts are polytheistic, and anyone who engages in them is outside the fold of Islam.
Throughout the ages, God, The Bestower of Good, has sent Prophets to people all over the world. A Muslim must believe in all of the Prophets and Messengers sent by God. God has mentioned some of them in the Qur’an. Among those mentioned by name (2) are Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad. (Peace be upon them all)
All the Prophets and Messengers of God brought the teachings of Islam. Throughout history all monotheistic people who submitted to the will of God and followed God’s revelation to the Prophets and Messengers of their time are considered Muslims. The entitlement to Abrahamic inheritance is acquired through one’s adherence to Abraham’s monotheistic faith and surrender to God, not by lineage alone. When Moses came and proclaimed Prophethood, all those who truly followed him in monotheism were Muslims. Likewise, when Jesus came and declared his Prophethood with clear signs and miracles, it was obligatory for everyone to accept him unconditionally if they were to be considered Muslims. All those who rejected Jesus became disbelievers in Islam because of that rejection. (3) Rejecting or disliking any of God’s Messengers disqualifies one as Muslim. Muslims are required to love and respect all the Prophets and Messengers of God who called upon humanity to worship The Creator alone without ascribing to Him any partner. All the Prophets and Messengers surrendered completely to God, which is Islam.
The Prophets, from Adam to Muhammad, were all brothers in faith. They all called people to the same truth. Different Messengers came with different sets of laws sent by God to guide and govern the people, but the essence of their teachings was the same. They all called people away from the worship of created things to the worship of The Creator, The Supreme.
In Islam, Muhammad has the distinction of being God’s final Messenger and the Seal of the Prophets. The reason for this is, first, because God completed His revelations to humanity and perfectly preserved them forever in the Qur’an, and second, His final Prophet and Messenger led an exemplary life for the twenty-three years of his Prophethood, establishing clear guidelines for all generations to follow. God says in the Qur’an that no Prophet or Messenger will come after him. This is the reason Muhammad is known as the Seal of the Prophets. (4) This means the divine law that was revealed and embodied in the teachings of Prophet Muhammad is for all of humanity until the Day of Resurrection (Day of Judgment). To be a believer, it is obligatory to believe in Muhammad and the laws that have been revealed through him, as well as in all the Prophets and Messengers of God who came before. Muhammad and the Prophets and Messengers before him also had to believe in, obey, and surrender to The Almighty God. Although Muslims believe in all the Prophets and Messengers of God, they follow and emulate the teachings and example of the final Messenger Muhammad. God The Most Glorious, states about Muhammad, “And We have not sent you, but as a mercy to the worlds.” [Qur’an 21:107]

(2) The Prophets mentioned in the Qur’an are: Adam, Enoch (Idris), Noah, Hud, Salih, Abraham, Lot, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Shu`ayb, Job, Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, Elias, Elisha, Jonah, Ezekiel, Zachariya, John “The Baptist,” Jesus, and Muhammad (Peace be upon them all).

(3) God revealed to Muhammad, “The same religion has He established for you as that which He enjoined on Noah, that which We have sent by inspiration to thee, and that which We enjoined on Abraham, Moses, and Jesus: Namely, that you should remain steadfast in religion, and make no divisions therein. To those who worship other things than God, hard is the [way] to which you call them. God chooses to Himself those whom He pleases, and guides to Himself those who turn to Him.” [Qur’an 42:13]

(4) Some Muslims refer to the following Biblical verses as the foretelling of the Prophet Muhammad: [Deut. 18:15, 18:18; John 1:19 – 21, 14:16, 14:17, 15:26, 16:7 – 8, 16:12 – 13]

3e. BELIEF IN THE DAY OF JUDGMENT

Muslims must believe, without any doubt, in the Day of Judgment and the physical resurrection when the body will be recreated and the soul will surely be reunited with the body by God’s unlimited power. Just as God, The Gatherer of Mankind, created us the first time, He is surely The Resurrector who will bring us forth from death to stand in perfect judgment before Him. After the Day of Judgment, death will no longer be, and our existence will be forever. The Day of Judgment is when each and every individual will stand before The Creator and be questioned about his or her deeds. On that momentous day, we will each see in detail the results of even the smallest good and the smallest evil we have set forth in this life. On that day, lying and deception will no longer be possible. The ultimate reward is Paradise and the penalty is Hell. Heaven and Hell are literal places that actually exist. They are not symbols or metaphors.
God, The Recognizer and Rewarder of Good, describes Paradise (Heavenly garden) as a wonderful place of pleasure, filled with amazing eternal gardens with rivers flowing beneath. In Paradise, no hot or cold, no disease, fatigue, or evil will exist. God, The Giver of Security, will remove disease from the heart and body of its inhabitants, and everything one wishes for will be granted. It will be said to those who enter Paradise: This Paradise you have inherited as a result of God’s mercy and your good deeds. The greatest of pleasures in the Hereafter will be the believers’ ability to see the face of God, The Most High. Being a Muslim in and of itself does not assure Paradise unless one dies in a state of Islam — submission to The One God alone.
God, The Reckoner, describes Hell as an eternally horrible place, beyond imagination, a fire whose fuel is mankind and stone. When stern angels place people in Hell, they will say, “This is that which you used to deny.” [Qur’an 83:17] We believe God is The Most Compassionate and The Most Merciful; however, He is also severe in His punishment to those who deserve it.
God’s infinite justice is absolute and perfect. On the Day of Judgment, all deeds will be revealed and everyone will be justly treated. We will not enter Paradise because of our deeds alone, but by God’s mercy.

3f. BELIEF IN DIVINE DECREE

God, in His timelessness, knows everything that goes on in His creation. From the perspective of temporal beings like us, this means that God, The Ever Watching, knows everything that happened in the past, everything that is now taking place, and everything that will happen in the future. God’s divine knowledge is perfect. God is The All Knowing, and all that He knows will come to pass.
God, The Subduer, has absolute sovereignty over His creation. Everything that exists within His creation and every event that occurs is a direct result of His creating it. Nothing happens in creation except by His power, His will, and His knowledge.