A muslim believes in ONE GOD, Supreme and Eternal,
Infinite and Mighty, Merciful and Compassionate, Creator
and Provider. God has no father nor mother, no sons nor
was He fathered. None equal to Him. He is God of all
mankind, not of a special tribe or race.
God is High and Supreme but He is very near to the pious
thoughtful believers; He answers their prayers and help
them. He loves the people who love Him and forgives their
sins. He gives them peace, happiness, knowledge and
success. God is the Loving and the Provider, the
Generous, and the Benevolent, the Rich and the
Independent the Forgiving and the Clement, the Patient
and the Appreciative, the Unique and the Protector, the
Judge and the Peace. God's attributes are mentioned in
the Quran.
God creates in man the mind to understand, the soul and
conscience to be good and righteous, the feelings and
sentiments to be kind and humane. If we try to count His
favours upon us, we cannot, because they are countless.
In return for all the great favours and mercy, God does
not need anything from us, because He is Needless and
Independent. God asks us to know Him, to love Him and to
enforce His law for our benefit and our own benefit and
our own good.
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 Quran
mentions the names of 25 messengers and prophets and
states that there are others. These include Noah,
Abrahim, Ishmael, Isaac, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. 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 law; i.e., to become a Muslim.
A Muslim believes in all scriptures and revelations of
God, as they were complete and in their original
versions. Allah, the Creator, has not left man without
guidance for the conduct of his life. Revelations were
given to guide the people to the right path of Allah and
sent down to selected people, the prophet and messengers,
to convey it to their fellow men.
The message of all the prophet and messengers is the
same. They all asked the people of their time to obey
and worship Allah and none other. Abrahim, Moses, David,
Jesus and Muhammad who were revealed their own book of
Allah, were sent at different times to bring back
straying human being from deviation to Right Course.
The Quran is the sacred book of the Muslims. It is the
last book of guidance from Allah, sent down to Muhammad,
peace be upon him, through the angel Jibraeel (Gabriel).
Every word of it is the word of Allah. It was revealed
over a period of 23 years in the Arabic language. It
contains 114 Surahs (chapters) and over 6000 verses.
The Quran deals with man and his ultimate goal in life.
Its teachings cover all areas of this life and the life
after death. It contains principles, doctrines and
directions for every sphere of human life. The theme of
the Quran broadly consists of three fundamental ideas:
Oneness of Allah, Prophethood and life after death. The
success of human beings on this earth and in the life
hereafter depends on obedience to the Quranic teaching.
The Quran is unrivalled in its recording and prservation.
The astonishing fact about this book of Allah is that it
has remained unchanged even to a dot over the past
fourteen hundred years. No scholar has questioned the
fact that the Quran today is the same as it was revealed.
Muslims till today memorize the Quran word by word as a
whole or in part. Today, the Quran is the only authentic
and complete book of Allah. Allah is protecting it from
being lost, corrupted or concealed.
There are purely spiritual and splendid beings created by
Allah. They require no food or drink or sleep. They have
no physical desires nor material needs. Angels spend
their time in the service of Allah. Each charged with a
certain duty. Angle cannot be seen by the naked eyes.
Knowledge and the truth are not entirely confined to
sensory knowledge or sensory perception alone.
A Muslim believe in the Day of the Judgement. This world
as we know it will come to an end and the dead will rise
to stand for their final and fair trial. On that day, all
men and women from Adam to the last person will be
resurrected from the state of death for judgement.
Everything we do, say, make, intend and think are
accounted for and kept in accurate records. They are
brought up on the Day of Judgement.
One who believe in life after death is not expected to
behave against the Will of Allah. He will always bear in
mind that Allah is watching all his actions and the
angles are recording them.
People with good records will be generously rewarded and
warmly welcomed to Allah's Heaven. People with bad
records will be fairly punished and cast into Hell. The
real nature of Heaven and Hell are known to Allah only,
but they are described by Allah in man's familiar terms
in the Quran.
If some good deeds are seen not to get full appreciation
and credit in this life, they will receive full
compensation and be widely acknowledged on the Day of
Judgement. If some people who commit sins, neglect Allah
and indulge in immoral activities, seem SUPERFICIALLY
successful and prosperous in this life, absolute justice
will be done to them on the Day of Judgement. The time
of the Day of Judgement is only known to Allah and Allah
alone.
A Muslim believes in Qadaa and Qadar which related to the
ultimate power of Allah. Qadaa and Qadar means the
Timeless Knowledge of Allah and His power to plan and
execute His plans. Allah is not indifferent to this
world nor is He neutral to it. It implies that
everything on this earth originates from the one and only
creator who is also the Sustainer and the sole source of
guidance.
Allah is Wise, Just and Loving and whatever He does must
have a good motive, although we may fail sometimes to
understand it fully. We should have strong faith in
Allah and accept whatever He does because our knowledge
is limited and our thinking is based on individual
consideration, whereas His knowledge is limitless and He
plans on a universal basis. Man should think, plan and
make sound choice, but if things do not happen the way he
wants, he should not lose faith and surrender himself to
mental strains or shattering worries.
A Muslim believe that the purpose of life is to worship
Allah. Worshipping Allah does not mean we spend our
entire lives in constant seclusion and absolute
meditation. To worship Allah is to live life according to
His commands, not to run away from it. To worship Allah
is to know Him, to love Him, to obey His commands, to
enforce His laws in every aspect of life, to serve His
cause by doing right and shunning evil and to be just to
Him, to ourselves and to our fellow human beings.
A Muslim believes that human being enjoys an especially
high ranking status in the hierarchy of all known
creatures. Man occupies this distinguished position
because he alone is gifted with rational faculties and
spiritual aspirations as well as powers of action. Man is
not a condemned race from birth to death, but a dignified
being potentially capable of good and noble achievements.
A Muslim also believes that every person is born muslim.
Every person is endowed by Allah with spiritual potential
and intellectual inclination that can make him a good
Muslim. Every person's birth takes place according to the
will of Allah in realization of His plans and in
submission to His commands. Every person is born FREE
FROM SIN. When the person reaches the age of maturity and
if he is sane, he become accountable for all his deeds
and intentions. Man is free from sin until he commits
sin. There is no inherited sin, no original sin. Adam
committed the first sin, he prayed to Allah for pardon
and Allah granted Adam pardon.
A Muslim believes that man must work out his salvation
through the guidance of Allah. No one can act on behalf
of another or intercede between him and Allah. In order
to obtain salvation, a person must combine faith and
action, belief and practice. Faith without doing good
deeds is as insufficient as doing good deeds without
faith.
Also, a Muslim believes that Allah does not hold any
person responsible until he has shown him the Right Way.
If people do not know and have no way of knowing about
Islam, they will not be responsible for failing to be
Muslim. Every Muslim must preach Islam in words and
action.
A Muslim believes that faith is not complete when it is
followed blindly or accepted unquestioningly. Man must
build his faith on well-grounded convictions beyond any
reasonable doubt and above uncertainty. Islam insures
freedom to believe and forbids compulsion in religion
(one of the oldest synagogues and one of the oldest
churches in the worlds is in Muslim countries).
A Muslim believes that the Quran is the word of Allah
revealed to prophet Muhammad through the Angel Gabriel.
The Quran was revealed from Allah on various occasions to
answer questions, solve problems, settle disputes and to
be man's best guide to the truth. The Quran was revealed
in Arabic and it is still in its original and complete
Arabic version until today. It is memorized by millions.
A Muslim also believes in a clear distinction between the
Quran and the Traditions (called Hadits) of the Prophet
Muhammad. Whereas, the Quran is the word of Allah, the
Traditions of Prophet Muhammad (hadits i.e.: his
teachings, sayings, and actions) are the practical
interpretations of the Quran. Both the Quran and the
Hadits of Prophet Muhammad are the primary sources of
knowledge in Islam.
