Beliefs and teachings of Islam Flashcards
The six articles of faith are called Iman and were revealed by allah and are recorded in the Quran.
Name the 6 And what they mean
Tawhid-oneness of allah angels of Allah books of Allah Messengers of Allah Akhirah-life after death Al-qadr-predestination
Usul ad-din (principles of faith) for the Shia tradition
There are 5 articles of faith name them and what they are about
Al-tawhid - oneness of Allah Al-adl - belief in divine justice Al-nubuwwah - belief in prophethood Al-imamah - belief in imams Al-ma’ad - belief in the day of resurrection
Both Shia and Sunni agree on what…?
Oneness of Allah
Prophethood
Day of judgement
Sunni and Shia disagree on what…?
Leadership of faith (al-imamah) Divine justice (al-adl)
Tawhid is the most important belief and is shared between both Shia and Sunni Muslims.
What is the belief of tawhid?
The belief that Allah is the one god and he alone created and sustains the earth
Key Muslim believes about Allah
List them:
He is infinite- no beginning or end and cannot be destroyed
Omnipotent
Omniscient
Merciful- as he sent prophets to help people live a life following his will
Fair and just- life is a test for what happens to them after death
Belief in the successor of Muhammad
Sunni and Shia Muslims are split based on the disagreement of who should have been Muhammad’s rightful successor
What do Sunni and Shia Muslims believe?
Sunni- Abu bakr was the caliph (successor to Muhammad) as they were from the same tribe, and Ali was the fourth caliph.
Shia- Ali should’ve been the first caliph as he was part of Muhammad’s family, therefore the three before Ali aren’t acknowledged.
Shia - al imamah
What is it and the belief about the twelfth imam and what imams are for
It is the belief in the 12 imams chosen by Allah who were direct descendants of Allah beginning with allah.
The twelfth imam is in occultation, living but hidden waiting to appear at Allahs will. He will bring peace and co-existence at the end of the world.
Imams are for Interpreting the Shari’ah (Muslim) law that was told to Muhammad by allah. Imams are infallible (without error).
Shia Muslim believe in divine justice. Explain what is meant by this.
Allah sends the righteous to heaven and the wicked to hell
No such thing as predestination, humans have free will
Humans use free will to determine what is right and wrong
Humans should use free will to act in the right way
Sunni Muslims don’t believe in divine justice
Why?
They believe there is no right or wrong, as Allah does everything right. They believe in predestination
Prophethood - Risalah
What are prophets and why are they important
A prophet is a messenger chosen by allah
The prophet is human but should not be worshipped
They give guidance on how to follow allahs will and live in ways that please him
Who was the first and last prophet in Sunni beliefs
The first prophet was Adam and the last Muhammad. Muhammad is referred to in the qur’an as the ‘seal of prophets’ and through Muhammad the qur’an was revealed
Prophets importance and roles of them
Adam- story and importance
Adam- adam was allahs Khalifa, someone how acts for allah on earth, but he was disobedient and kicked out of al-Jannah (heaven), but allah gave him his guidance. All humans are descendants from Adam and his wife hawwa (eve)
Ibrahim - story and importance
Father of the Arab people and prophets. He was a hanif, someone who believes in one god.
Allah tested him by telling him to sacrifice his son isma’il. Iblis (Satan) tempted him 3 times not to. But Ibrahim was loyal to allah. As a reward allah gave Ibrahim a ram instead.
Muslims honour Ibrahims life to commitment to the faith. In hajj he is commemorated.
Isma’il - story and importance
Son of Ibrahim, he was left in a deserted place (Makkah), at allahs request. All their food and water ran out, hajar Ibrahims wife ran between two hills 7 times in search of water. Isma’il then kicked the ground and water came out. Hajar died and isma’il and Ibrahim built the Kaaba there at the centre of the grand mosque. Muslims pray facing towards it 5 times a day.
Musa - story and importance (Moses)
He was adopted by the pharaohs wife of Egypt, as it protected him from the pharaoh himself who was killing all the Israelites. The nanny who raised Musa was his mother, but one day Musa killed and Egyptian and he was banished. But on allahs command he returned to Egypt to demand the release of the Israelites. 10 plagues occurred and allah separated the Red Sea and drowned the Egyptian soldiers. Allah reveals the tawrat to Musa and gave him the 10 commandments.
Dawud(David)- Story and importance
Prophet and eventually king of Israelites. Dawud killed Goliath and became king after the king at the time was killed by his enemies. Under dawuds rule, everyone worshipped Allah as the one true god.
The Zabur (book of psalms) were revealed to him and it contains lessons of guidance for the Israelites.
Isa - story and importance
Isa performed many miracles in his life, and that Muslims believe he will return on the day of resurrection and he will make war with all religions until only Islam exists.
Muhammad and his importance to Muslims
Known as the seal of prophets as he provided the final revelation to allahs people, the qur’an and the qur’an is the one true word of Allah and it is what all Muslims follow.
The night of power
Explain what it is and what happens
Angel jibra’il came to Muhammad and asked him to read, and Muhammad said he is not a reader, the angel squeezed him, this happened three times and on the third Muhammad recited the first verses to the qur’an and he was declared the messenger of Allah. The night of power is said to be during the last of the ten nights of Ramadan.
The night journey - explain what happend
An angel woke Muhammad and he flew on a winged horse to Jerusalem. His heart was taken and purified, and he saw both paradise and hell. He spoke to past prophets and he and Musa agreed that Muslims must pray 5 times a day. Then he entered the presence of Allah and then he was returned back to Makkah but no time passed.
Some believe that it wasn’t a journey physically but a spiritual one. SUFI Muslims say they can experience it themselves if they are close to Allah.
The hijrah (emigration) Explain what happens
As Muhammad preached the words of Allah his followers grew in numbers and so did his enemies.
After an assassination attempt he left Mecca and travelled to a city. The moving of him and many Muslims began the Muslim calendar. Islam thereafter became more organised with charity fasting and pilgrimage.
After there were battles between medinah and Mecca but eventually medinah won and Mecca was reclaimed as the holy city.
After a while Muhammad spoke at the mount of mercy and spoke to 140,000 Muslims and said his farewell speech. He asked if he had fulfilled his mission and the crowd replied, In simple terms, yes. Muhammad died at the age of 63 after becoming ill.
Books - Kutub Tawrat - revealed to Musa (torah) Zabur - revealed to dawud (psalms) Injil - revealed to isa (gospel) suhuf-I-Ibrahim - revealed to Abraham (Scrolls of Abraham) Qur’an - muhammad
Muslims believe that the final revelation the qur’an is allahs words. All the other books have been distorted and are no longer true of Allah.
Sunni Muslims believe the qur’an is eternal like Allah and has always existed.
Shia Muslims believe that it was created by Allah and IMAMs can add to it and interpret its message.
Other sources of authority other than kutub
They are used to tell how Muslims should behave to problems in the modern world.
List and explain what they are…
Sunna of the Prophet - Records what Muhammad did
Hadith of the prophet - records what Muhammad said
Some Muslims think that they aren’t the words of god and so should not be used
