key teachings of islam/islamic beliefs Flashcards
(35 cards)
Al-Ikhlas: “He is Allah, The One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He has no children, Nor was he born; And there is none like him.”
- Idea of tawhid (oneness of Allah)
- Allah doesn’t have a father so there isn’t any higher being than Allah
- No one can be compared with Allah
- He was there in the beginning, before anything else was made
- Nothing caused Allah, he’s the cause of everything else
“Only what God has decreed will happen to us. He is our Master: let the believers put their trust in God.” Qur’an 9:5
Allah wills everything to happen, so everything happens for a reason and you need to trust him - supremacy of God’s will
“God does not change the condition of a people [for the worse] unless they change what is in themselves.” Qur’an 13:11
God is just and loving, so won’t make anything worse for someone without reason or if they didn’t do anything wrong
“Praise be to God, Creator of the heavens and earth, who made angels messengers with two, three, four [pairs of] wings.” Qur’an 35:1
Belief in angels is in the 6 articles of faith for Sunni Islam, and also God is omnipotent as he created everything
What are the 6 articles of faith?
They’re for Sunni Islam, and are:
- Only one God (Tawhid)
- Belief in angels (who are God’s messengers)
- The Qur’an has the most authority in Islam
- Muhammad is the most important prophet
- Everyone will be judged on the Day of Judgement
- The supremacy of God’s will
What are the 5 roots of Shi’a Islam?
- Tawhid
- Muhammad was the final prophet; all his revelations are true
- God is just and wise and will hold humans accountable for their actions
- The twelve Imams are the leaders of Islam and guard the truth of the religion without error
- After death, they’ll be resurrected to be judged by God
What are the five pillars of Islam?
- Shahada - profession of faith. the belief that there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God
- Salah- prayer, which should be done 5 times a day
- Zakah - giving 2.5% of savings each year to the poor/charity
- Sawm - fasting during the month of Ramadan
- Hajj - pilgrimage to Makkah that every Muslim should try to make at least once in their life
what are the 10 obligatory acts?
they’re for shi’a islam, and are:
- salah - prayer
- hajj
- sawm - fasting
- zakah- charitable giving
- khums - 20% tax on income once all expenses are deducted, half to charity & half to shi’a religious leaders
- jihad
- Amr-bil-Maruf - encouraging people to do what is good
- Nahi Anil Munkar - discouraging people from doing what’s wrong
- Tawallah - to be loving towards friends of God, including Muhammad & Imams
- Tabarra- disassociating from enemies of God
what is Amr-bil-Maruf?
one of 10 obligatory acts, encouraging people to do what is good for them
what is Nahi Anil Munkar?
one of 10 obligatory acts, discouraging people from doing what’s wrong
what is Tawallah?
one of 10 obligatory acts, to be loving towards the friends of God, including Muhammad & the Imams
what is tabarra?
one of 10 obligatory acts, disassociating from the enemies of God
what is the role of the angel Jibril?
- angel most familiar to christian’s, jews, muslims
- archangel
- angel who relayed Qur’an to Muhammad from God
what is the role of the angel Mika’il?
- angel of mercy
- God assigned him to reward righteous people for good they do during lives
- also, responsibility for sending rain, thunder & lightning to earth
what are the beliefs about angels?
- bring word of God to prophets or messengers of God
- supernatural beings, created by God from light
- receive God’s words directly & pass them on to prophets of God bc they’re pure & sinless, also no free will
- wings
what are the traditional attributes of God?
- omnipotent
- omniscient
- beneficent
- omnipresent
- transcendent
- immanent
- creator
- merciful
- justice (adalat in Shi’a Islam)
what do sunni muslims believe about predestination in Islam?
- God already determined everything that’ll happen in universe
- God written down everything that’ll happen in a ‘book of decrees’
- supremacy of God’s will
what do shi’a muslims believe about predestination?
- God knows everything that’s gonna happen, but doesn’t mean he decides what’ll happen
what do muslims believe about life after death?
- death not end but beginning of new stage of life called Akhirah
- after death person still has conscious existence in grave where they’ll enter state of waiting called ‘barzakh’ (barrier)
- here they await day of judgement
- as they lie in grave, God sends 2 angels to question them about faith
- how they answer will determine rewards or punishments
what do muslims believe about heaven?
- described as gardens of happiness
- reward for faith & good deeds
what do muslims believe about hell?
place of fire & torment, punishment for those who reject god & do evil
(heaven & hell) true or false: some muslims interpret verses literally, others think they’re symbolic of spiritual life a person will live after death (in presence/absence of god)
true
what do muslims believe about judgement?
- on judgement day angel Israfil will blow trumpet to announce that world will be destroyed
- present world transformed into new one (akhirah)
- everyone resurrected & judged by god
- given new bodies as book of their life read out to them
- if people given book of deeds in right hand = heaven, left hand = hell
- god sorts souls by making them cross narrow ‘Sirat Bridge’ that spans fires of hell - good ppl transported across it quickly & enter heaven
what do muslims believe about prophethood/risalah?
- provides method of communication between God & human beings
- most important prophets called messengers or apostles - including Adam, Ibrahim, Musa, Isa, Muhammad
