Islam Flashcards
, explain two of gods qualities
God is immanent/ present everywhere in the world and the universe/ involved with life on earth/ God is transcendent/ beyond and outside the universe
God is fair and just/ will judge all people equally on the Day of Judgement/
God is merciful/ cares for people and understands their suffering/ forgives people who are truly sorry/
God is omnipotent/ has the power to create and sustain everything in the universe/ is aware of all human actions and thoughts.
Explain two ways in which belief in predestination influences Muslims toda
They will take comfort in the fact that all good and bad comes from Allah / it gives them hope knowing that the outcome of any action (good or bad) happens only by the will of God / ‘God says be, and it is’ suggests that Allah has power over all things and as such humans are limited in their control in what they can do
Muslims believe they have free will and will choose their actions accordingly- examples of good actions are creditwor
Explain two ways in which belief in God’s justice (Adalat) influences Muslims toda
They carry out their duty to God by praying and completing the Five Pillars so can be rewarded in afterlife
They treat people fairly as they know that Allah will judge them on the day of judgement and bring people to justice / ‘Whomsoever
does an atom weight of good will finds its reward
Explain two reasons why Muhammad is considered to be the most important prophet in Isla
Muhammad received the anal revelation of Islam/the Qur’an from God/ which is the highest source of authority for all matters relating to Muslim teachings.
Last ever prophet. “Seal of all prophets” helped establish Islam
Explain two meanings of the concept of Twahid.
there is no God but Allah’/this is the first part of the Shahadah/the Muslim declaration of faith/so Tawhid is at the heart of every Muslim’s faith, etc.
Tawhid is a fundamental belief within Islam/the Qur’an describes this as a duty for all humans. Making good is one “no one is comparable to him”.
Explain two Muslim teachings about angels.
angels were created of light: the Qur’an describes them as messengers with wings. “God created angels with two three pairs if wings
They are sinless have no free will.
deeds of a person’s life in the book that will be read at the final judgement; others are guardian angels who protect people
Explain two Muslim beliefs about the role of prophets.
To be role models for future generations.
Prophet’s primary role is to establish monotheistic beliefs: ‘Say He is Allah the One, the only’ 112:1-3) / example of the work of Ibrahim and Muhammed to establish the oneness of Allah on earth
Explain two Muslim beliefs about the Imamate in Shi’a Islam.
Shi’as believe that Muhammad named Ali as his successor ; ‘There is no God but Allah. the prophet Muhammad is his messenger and Ali is the friend of Allah / and so Ali became the first imam.
Some Shi’as believe there have been twelve imams
‘Islam will continue to prevail through twelve caliphs.’
One is missin who will return before the day of judgement with Jesus to bring justice and equality (hadit
The Qur’an contains all the guidance that Muslims need to live a perfect Muslim life’
Arguments in support
The Qur’an is God’s word/ as passed on by the angel Jibril to Muhammad/ so must include everything God wants Muslims to know about how to live a good life in obedience to him. “A guidance for those concious of Allah”
The Qur’an is accepted as the highest authority in Islam/ e.g. the authority of the holy books is one of the six articles of faith in Sunni Islam/ so Muslims should always look to the Qur’an for guidance on how to live a perfect Muslim life. “This is my path leading straight so follow it
Major Muslim practices stem from the Qur’an, such as fasting during Ramadan (Qur’an 2:18)/ giving Zak ah (Qur’an 2:215)/ undertaking Hajj (Qur’an 3:97). “You shall complete the number of days and you shall be grateful for his guidance”
OTHER
Shi’a Muslims believe the Imams are necessary to help explain the teachings in the Qur’an/ as the Qur’an was written hundreds of years ago so needs interpreting for the modern world/ as the Qur’an can be interpreted in different ways.
the lives of the prophets are necessary for guidance who were sent to earth to help make sure people followed God’s path/ act as good role models to Muslims.
‘For Muslims, Adam is a more important Prophet than Ibrahim.’
Ibrihim - was obedient “i had a dream i should sacrifice thee
Taken as a friend from god “good to inrihim as a friend”
Adam- shows Muslims how to be forgiven
M
Adam is the father of all human beings/Allah created him out of clay/and breathed life into him/as the first human, this means that Allah created him first, suggesting that he had unique role and an importance that Ibrahim did not possess
For Muslims, the prophets make better role models than angel
prophets lived a mortal life so some muslims would argue that it is easier to follow their example so are better role models. For example Adam throughout his life made mistakes but was eventually forgiven by God as he recognised his wrong doings and made up for it out of his own freewill.
- ibriham is a better example as he is a human and was obedient to god. “God saw Abraham as a friend” after ibrahim discouraged people from worshiping idols. Ibriham obeyed gods commands out of his own free will and was rewarded for it. Prophets are better role models as they have consciously chosen to follow gods commands and his religion whereas angels do not get a choice.
DISAGREE
- angels dont commit sins whereas adam did so some would argue that angels are better role models as they should aim to constantly be good and by aspriring towards angels, they could not go wrong.
- “praise be to god creator of heaven and earth who have made angels”
Muslims would argue angels make better role models as god has created them himself. God has created the angels with all of the ideal qualities and for specific reasons. Muslims would look up to gods messangers as they are a guide made for muslims to follow and have come directly from god.
To describe God as ‘omnipotent’ is the best way to understand God
• God’s power means that he is in control of all things – seen in Creation/power to sustain creation/Muslims believe that all that happens takes place because God wills it – inshallah comfort them
• word Islam means submission and so describing God as allpowerful accords with this belief, etc. “no one is comparable to him” - discouraged others from worshipping idols because he is most paraful
DISAGREE
Complicated idea because of the presence of evil and suffering/but there are certain things that God chooses not to do – and is ‘unable’ to do eg to lie.
• all descriptions of God are inadequate/humans need many different descriptions to try to summarise what God is 99 names
The Qur’an is the only authority a Muslim needs in life.’
The Qur’an is the direct word of Allah and cannot be distorted. Means recital. Gods word. Revealed to Muhammad on mount hira.
The Qur’an covers all aspects of human life and is a comprehensive code of life. “A guidance for those conscious of allah” teaches everything they needed to go to achieven jannah
DISAGREE
The Qur’an does not include details of how to compete certain rituals like Salah and Zakah, the Hadith is needed to show how these rituals are to be performed. These are five pillars so are necessary to know about
Other authorities exist which help to guide people / parents help to nurture and guide their children / youth workers, councillors, friends are all other forms of guidance that are needed / they understand who we are and are able to guide us personally
Belief in angels is no longer relevant for Muslims in the modern world.’
The other articles of faith are more important in the modern world e.g. prophets , holy books etc.. not oart of five roots of sunni islam
Angels cannot be seen / so that makes it difficult to accept that they exist.
• Scientifically there is no evidence to support their existence / modern advancements have not shown any evidence of their existence so they can be real or relevant.
• According to many scientists creatures cannot be created of light and nourished by light.
Without angels, how was the Qur’an revealed to Muhammad? / without angels there would be no Islam, so it remains appropriate to believe in them.
• Many aspects of faith involve belief in things that cannot be verified / belief in angels is one of those.
Each person has two angels recording their deeds and so this is a vital part for Muslims even today.
• ‘There are two scribes, one each sitting on the right and the left, recording everything’ (50:17) / in the grave people will be questioned by two an etc.
Zakah is most important
some muslims would agree as it helps muslims acknowledge that everything comes from god and belongs to him. in the Quran it says “when allah blesses you financially, dont raise your standards of living, raise your standards of giving.” this says to muslims that they should use their wealth to give to those in need instead of keeping it for themselves because that was not gods intention.
-some muslims would agree with this statement and argue that as although not all muslims are able to give zakah, there are alternatives that still class as almsgiving for those less fortunate. Sadaqa is where muslims who cannot afford to give 2.5% of their savings to charity, they instead can give up their own time dedicating it to helping others eg work in local food banks. some would argue this is the best way to understand poverty because anyone can do it.
DISAGREE
- some muslims would disagree and argue that sawm is the best way top understand poverty. this is because during Ramadan muslims have to fast during daylight hours which serves a reminder that the poor feel this way constantly. this greater awareness inspires many muslims to help the poor in different ways such as… so therefore muslims would disagree with this statement as sawm helps muslims feel empathetic towards poverty instead of just giving.
some would argue to disagree as not every muslim can give zakah. it is compulsory for muslims to give 2.5% of their wages to charity if they earn a specific amount. this would help muslims argue that although there is alternatives, alsmsgivningbis not because not everyone can afford to give.
