Islam Beliefs , Teachings Flashcards
What are the 6 articles of faith in Sunni tradition ?
1) Tawhid ( oneness of Allah ) + Risalah ( prophethood )
2) Angels of Allah
3) books of Allah
4) messengers of Allah - prophets ( Rasuul )
5) Akhirah afterlife - day of judgment
6) Al-Qad’r ( predestination tee ) - everything in universe follows a masterplan set by Allah
What are the 5 roots of Usul ad-Din in Shi’a tradition ?
belief in :
- oneness and unity of God ( Al-tawhid )
- Divine Justice ( Al-adl )
- Prophethood ( Al - Nubuwwah)
- Imams ( Al-Imamah )
- Day of Resurrection ( Al-Ma’ad )
Difference between belief in successor after Muhammad
- Regard Ali as Muhammad’s true successor ; don’t acknowledge the previous three caliphs
- Sunni believe Abu Baker is Muhammad’s true successor
What do Shi’a Muslims believe about Imams
- successors of Muhammad
- belief in 12 Imams chosen by Allah , direct descendants of Prophet Muhammad
- imams preserved to religion after Muhammad’s death
- protected by Allah from commuting sins to keep religion pure
- role : Interpret Shari’ah law told to Muhammad by Allah and to explain any issues arising from it
What happened to the first 11 imams ? Belief in 12th Imam ?
- first 11 martyred
- 12 Imam in occupation waiting to reappear at Gods appointed time
- still living and a breathing human
- God will send him back as a Messiah to bring justice, peace and coexistence at the end of the world
- before, second coming of Jesus
What do Shi’a Muslims believe about divine justice ( Al-Adl )
- objective framework of right and wrong
- Allah is perfect and always acts in a way that it morally right
- Humans choose to work out what is morally right through free will
- God judges people according to moral framework , day of judgement
What are the key beliefs about the characteristics of Allah ?
- infinite
- omnipotent
- omniscient
- merciful
- transcendent
- immanent
- fair
- just
Bismalah
“ in the name of God , the merciful , the compassionate “
Difference between transcendent and immanent
- transcendent: God is much greater than humans and beyond human understanding
- immanent : close to humans and involved in their lives
What does Tawhid mean forMuslims ?
- Muslims give their whole lives completely to the will of Allah seeking to become a servant of him
- live life in obedience to the commands of Allah
- Allah has knowledge of everything , they will try not to sin
- enables believers to understand everything they habe is by the will of Allah , humble as they can’t do anything without Allah
- Won’t place anything about Allah
- Don’t fear death as it’s set by Allah
- polytheistic religions are completely condemned , coming shirk
What is Risalah ?
- prophethood : means of communication between Allah and humans
- Teach , guide and train people to follow hum
- messengers are humans , hence not worshipped
- Each prophet is at equal status
Why do humans need Allahs guidance ?
Humans are limited in their knowledge and are imperfect
What is the last and most important book of Allah’s guidance ?
Qur’an , revealed to prophet Muhammad
What’s significant about the Quran compared to the other books ?
- Only book that exists in original form ( exact words of Allah )
- written in Arabic and entirely unchanged
- only true word of God
- contains guidance on what Muslims should believe + how they should live thief lives
- Other books became distorted no longer accurate
Describe the prophet Adam
- First man created by Allah + first prophet
- created as Gods “ vicegerent “ or “ Khalifa” : Act for him on earth
- Created Adam using dust off ground , combined with water to form clay
- Gave knowledge , ability to reason
- Iblis believed he was better than Adam , didn’t bow to respect , therefore expelled from his presence
- Iblis tempted Adam and Hawwa to eat from forbidden tree , sent out of Al-Jannah
Describe the prophet Ibrahim
- “ Man of truth “ , only believed in one true god despite being born in a polytheistic family
- Told father they are wrong to worship carved idols but they rejected this message and sent him out of Babylon
- Command of Allah , Ibrahim + wife travelled to Syria , had sons Ismail and Isaac
- Tested Ibrahim faith , sacrifice sin Ismail , tempted by Iblis three times
- Ibrahim threw stones at Iblis and prepared to dollop instructions
- Allah provided a ram as an alternative sacrifice
- commitment to faith honoured
Describe the prophet Isma’il
- son on Ibrahim as blessing from Allah
- ishamaelite tribe
- Allah asked Ibrahim to leave son with Hajar ( mother ) in Makkah
- Deserted place , no water , or any other life
- Ibrahim remained obedient to Allah despite wife asking
- Flask of Water ran out , Hajar ran seven times between two hills ( Safa and Marwa )
- Ismail begann to kick group with heel and water miraculously began to spurt up
- Father and son rebuilt Kaaba
Describe the prophet Musa
- from the Banu Isra’il - Children of Israel or Israelites
- Pharoah ordered killing all male Israelite children , stop growing + become powerful
- Musas mother , placed Musa in basket in the river Nile
- Landed to rest , picked up by Pharoah’s family , adopted as Son
- grow up , saw Egyptian beating an Israelite
- flee to Egypt , called by Allah to be messenger
- Allah told to go to the Pharaoh and after display of power , Pharaoh released Israelite people
- PH changed mind + sent army after them
- Allah caused Nile to separate to create dry path for Israelites
- then bought river back down , drowning Egyptians
Significance of Musa
- Led the Israelites under Allahs guidance
- Allah revealed the Tawrat ( Torah ) to Moses
- Gave him the 10 commandments
Describe the prophet Dawud
- prophet + eventually king of Israelites
- Killed Goliath ( part of Philistine army )
- rest were too scared to fight
- Talut ( Saul ) king at that time , rewarded Dawud and made him commander of army
- Talut soon became jealous
- After Talut died , everyone agreed Dawud should become king
- nation of Israel prospered + lived with a fear and respect for Allah
Describe the prophet Isa
- law giver ; received the revelations from Allah as recorded in the Injil ( gospel )
- messiah who will truth on the day of resurrection at end of world + bring together true Muslims
- According to Hadith , Isa will establish Islam , in the end times and will make war until all religions except Islam are destroyed
- spoke while still in cradle + performed many miracles in life , healing people , raising the dead etc.
- did not die , Allah took him into presence
Describe the prophet Muhammad
- final prophet ; perfect example of how to obey Allah
- sent by Allah to declare truth of Islam
- parents both died (6) , grandfather died (8)
- trip to Syria , a Christian mock , Bahira , identified he would be a prophet
- grew up + gained reputation
- married Khadijah , wealthy woman who was 40
Explain a Significant moment when Allah brought peace ?
- Kaaba needed rebuilding after bad floods
- carried out by tribes of Quraysh + Muhammad
- Final power was to place the Hajar al-Aswan on the East wall of Kaaba
- Dispute broke out , wanted great honour of placing stone
- Agreed first person the next morning to turn up does it
- Muhammad was there first , delighted , honesty and trustworthiness
- Asked all the tribal chiefs to get hold of the sheet from all around and lift together , everyone participated no blood shed
Describe the night of power
- Night Muhammad receives the first verses of the Quran
- Laylat al-Qad’r
- occurred during the last of the 10 nights of Ramadan
- Time many Muslims devote themselves to prayer and read Quran
- Start of Allahs final revelation significant
What is Hijrah ?
- Journey as Muhammad left Makkah and traveled to the city of Yathrib
- emigration
What is AH ?
“ in the year of the Hijrah “
What is Madinah ?
- city of the prophet
- Muhammad ruled the community of Yathrib
How was the first verses of Quran revealed to Muhammad?
- during a time of mediation in a cave outside Makkah
- angel Jibril came and commanded him to read
- Muhammad replies “ I am not a reader “
- The angel squeezed him so tightly he thought he would die and then released asking to read ( 3 times )
- Muhammad recited the verses as though they had be written on his heart
- These were the first revealed verses of Quran , Angel declares him as the messenger of Allah
Why was Muhammad known as the “ seal of prophets “ ?
Provided the final revelation of Allah to his people in the form of the Qur’an
What are key good characteristics of Muhammad?
- gained a reputation for justice and honesty
- brings peace
- monotheist , rejects all idols and worship only Allah
- After he received revelations , he began to preach publicly and shared the words of Allah
- gave instructions on prayer , fasting and charity , pilgrimage
What is Kutub ?
- Allah provided prophets with instructions on how they should live
- provides guidance and advice on how to act in the correct way
Give examples of the word of God given to certain prophets ?
- The Tawrat ( Torah ) of Musa
- The Zabur ( Psalms ) of Dawud
- The Injil ( Gospel ) of Isa
- Suhuf Ibrahim ( Scrolls of Abraham )
Differences in the belief of the Quran
- Sunni : Quran has always been in existence , not in written form , eternal like God
- Shi’a : dont believe it’s eternal , believe it is the essence of God , can be added to by Imams
What does Sunna and Hadith of the prophet mean ?
Sunna : Records on how Muhammad did
Hadith : records on what Muhammad said
What is the Shari’ah law ?
- governs how a muslims should behave using the Quran ( difficult to interpret , and some issues it doesn’t cover )
- also considers other sources of wisdom such as life of Muhammad using Sunna and Hadith
- Sunna + Hadith don’t cover all areas of behaviour , hence need to consider to Quran
State the names of the angels
Jibril
Izra’il
Mika’il
Israfil
Brief description about angels
- created before humans
- created from Nur ( divine light )
- don’t have free will , exist to carry our the will of Allah
- completely obedient to Allah , free from sin
- don’t have physical needs humans habe such as sleep = immortal
- Allah communicates with messengers through angels
- record everything human does and says ready for the day of judgement
Describe the angel Jibril
- chief angel
- brought God’s message to Muhammad and all other prophets
- sometimes take shape of man
- Muhammad only one who saw in natural form
- described to have 600 wings which covered the sky from the Earth to horizon
Describe the angel Izra’il
- angel of death
- responsible for the ending of each persons life by taking their final breath
- separates humans soul from his/her body at the time appointed to death by Allah
- appearance to non-believer brings with it a sense of dread , new punishment for unbelief
- appearance to obedient belieber = pleasant , takes them to paradise with Allah
Describe the angel Mika’il
- guardian of heaven
- sends rain , thunder and lighting to earth by the command of God
Describe the angel Israfil
- angel of the last judgement
- blows the trumpet to announce the day of resurrection ( command of Allah )
- first blast of trumpet = destroy everything
- second blast = every human who has died will be brought back to life
Who are the honourable scribes ?
Angels that are responsible for records reinforces the deeds of humans , good and bad
- each person has been assigned two recording angels
What does niyyah mean ?
Intention
What is predestination ( al-Qad’r )
- everything that happens in the as Allah has foreknowledge
- Allah wrote this in Al-Laws al-Mahfouz before creation of anything else
- nothing happens unless it’s the will of Allah
- Muslims should be not be disheartened or pray for Allah to change it ; taught to accept
- if something good happens , they shouldn’t boast about it since it is due to the will of Allah
Problems arising with predestination
- if God is responsible for all human actions this means he’s responsible for evil and suffering
- questions whether he is merciful and benevolent
- when Allah judges human actions , humans can’t be judged fairly if Allah predetermine them
School of thought that believes all human actions are predetermined by Allah , humans have no free will ?
Jabariyyah
What do the Mu’tazilah , school of Islamic thought believe about predestination?
- Human free will means there’s no predestination
- free will means human determine what happens in the world no Allah
- day of judgement person judged in their actions taken with their free will
Belief in Divine intercession
- Allah shows mercy to sinner and free them from the fires of hell
- Mu’tazilites disagree as allahs divine justice was absolute , no mercy for those who are sent to hell
What do Shi’a Muslims believe about about predestination ?
- partial free will although Allah has knowledge of all
- Allah may choose to change anything he wills at any time
- human choices and actions can cause changes
What do Ash’ari school of thought believe about predestination ?
- middle way between free will and predestination
- God creates everything + humans actions
- humans make a choice
- believed in divine intercession
- largely reflected in Islam , Allah knows what choices they will make
What is Akhirah ?
- belief in life after death
- how well muslims follow Allah’s guidance decides how they are judged in afterlife
- after death will come day of judgement , the dead will be resurrected to life and judged by Allah
What is Barzakh ?
- between individuals actual death and the day of judgement
- some believe soul’s experience here affected by life the person has led
- others, soul is given a temporary body which is light or dark depending on good or bad
What do muslims believe Isa will do at the end of the world ?
Bring together true Muslims or lead a battle till Islam left as one true religion
- Shi’a believe it’s the hidden 12th Imam that does this
What happens during the day of judgement ?
- Allah judges according to person’s belief and obedience to him
- resurrection that takes place is physical and Allah will re-create the decayed body according to Quran
- Those who die believing “ there is no one true god … “ will be rewarded and go to paradise
- Those who are not Muslims go to hell and lose paradise forever
- bad person may enter paradise eventually , as Allah is merciful
- Only sin of shirk permanently excludes Allah’s forgiveness
What is Siraat ? ( give 2 exceptions )
- narrow bridge passing over hell to reach paradise
- fall = weight of bad deeds
- 2 exceptions : Warriors who die fighting in the cause of God + enemies of Islam sentenced immediately to hell
Belief about Heaven ( al - Jannah )
- beautiful garden where people are young again + happy and enjoy
- believers welcomed by angels delivering a message of peace into their “final home”
- no nastiness , sins , constant state of peace
- has “ beautiful mansions in gardens of everlasting bliss “
What are some of names of the 8 gates in al-Jannah ?
- Baab Al-Sadaqh : often give to charity
- Baab Al-Hajj : completed Hajj
- Baab Al-Iman : constantly work hard to be obedient to Allah
Belief about Hell ( Jahannam )
- place of punishment and eternal suffering
- constant pain , fire describe as “ almost bursting with fury “
- sinful believers = place for purification can more to Al-Jannah
- non believers = eternal punishment
Different beliefs about Heaven and hell ?
- metaphorical description , helps human understand what it may be like as it’s beyond human understanding
- most believe literal description of heaven and hell in Quran
What does it mean by Martydom ?
- person being killied in his defence of or struggle for ( jihad ) their faith
- enter into presence of Allah immediately
- some misunderstand this nature of Jihad , uses teaching of Martydom as a way of justifying suicide bombing
- Quran says otherwise how religion of Islam is not forced upon anyone should be chosen freely
Impact of teachings upon Muslims
- life after death belief means Muslim will aim to do good and be obedient to Allah
- believers shouldn’t be obsessed with possessions or outward appearances , everything they have is by the will of Allah
- eternal punishment for non-believers cause Muslims to share faith so others convert and share place in heaven
