Muslim Beliefs

Question 1

What are the six articles of faith?

Answer 1

(Sunni muslims) - belief in Allah(Tawhid), belief in his angels, belief in holy books , belief in his messengers , belief in the Last Day and belief in life after death - they believe Muslim must believe in these things to be accepted as a Muslim

Question 2

Explain why the six beliefs are important to Sunni Muslims

Answer 2

Believing in Tawhid shows that Muslims believe God is the only one, the all-powerful creator.

Believing in Angels shows that God can communicate with humans via his special beings.

Believing in Akhirah means people will be judged by Allah at the last day and sent to heaven or hell on the basis of how they lived their lives.

Question 3

Most Sunni Muslim communities believe that the six beliefs mean that:

Answer 3

All people are created equal in the eyes of Allah. No one is superior to another.

people are born free of any sin - at puberty is when people can be held accountable for their actions

Salvation comes through believing the six beliefs and living the Muslim life as set out in the Qur’an and hadith.

Question 4

SOW for the six beliefs of Islam

Answer 4

A hadith of Muhammad said that Muslims must believe in Allah, his angels , his holybooks , his messengers , in the Last Day and life after death - those who do not believe in them are not Muslims

Question 5

What are the Shi’a five roots of faith?

Answer 5

tawhid , belief in Allah’s justice (Adalat) , belief in Allah’s prophets, belief in Allah’s successors - Imams - belief that the descendants of Muhammad were given special powers by God, Belief in the day of Judgement.

Question 6

Why are the five roots important to Shi’a Muslims

Answer 6

they are the basis of Shi’a Islam - it is from the roots that the religion grows

show a person what they must believe to be a Shi’a Muslim

they come from the teachings of the Qur’an and the Twelve Imams which means they are the upmost important to Shi’a Muslims

Question 7

What is the main difference between Shi’a and Sunni Muslims?

Answer 7

In Shi’a Islam they believe the successor of Muhammad was Ali - Muhammad’s closest relative (they believe all Caliph are relatives of Muhammad. Whereas in Sunni Islam they believe Abu Bakr was the rightful successor - he was a friend of Muhammad.

Question 8

SOW the five roots of Shi’a Islam

Answer 8

In the Shi ‘a hadith - if you do not know the Imam of the age than you will die at heathen.

Question 9

Outline 3 Characteristics of God

Answer 9

oneness (tawhid) - this is the basis belief of Islam. Allah’s unity means he has no equals.

omnipotence - Allah created the universe and has complete power over all of it. Islam means submission to God as he is so above us

Omnibenevolence - his mercy is shown when he sent prophets to show people how to liv and will forgive them if they fail to live the perfect Muslim life.

Question 10

Why are the characteristics of God so Important for Muslims?

Answer 10

Tawhid means that one God created everything and so Muslims must preserve the oneness of nature - it also means that Muslims only worship Allah

His omnipotence means Allah is in control of everything

omnibenevolence shows Muslims that they should be loving and forgiving as well

Question 11

SOW for the Nature of Allah

Answer 11

God is the one and only god.
god is loving, self-subsisting and eternal.

Question 12

state the main prophets

Answer 12

Adam
Ibrahim ( Abraham)
Isma’il
Musa (moses)
Dawud (David)
Isa (Jesus)
Muhammad

Question 13

What did each of the prophets do for Islam

Answer 13

Adam - first prophet made by god to look after the earth. the devil tempted him and his wife to disobey god but he forgave. Adam made the Ka’aba.
Ibrahim ( Abraham)- he restored the Ka’aba after it had been destroyed and made it a place of pilgrimage.
Isma’il- helped Ibrahim re-build the Ka’aba - muslims believe him to be the ancestor of Muhammad.
Musa (moses)- Allah called him to bring the Jews out of slavery in Egypt. He was given the Tawrat.
Dawud (David) - was given the book of Zabur (psalms) after the Tawrat was distorted.
Isa (Jesus) - he had a virgin birth and performed many miracles. Allah stopped the Jews from executing him and raised Isa himself so he never dies.
Muhammad- was given the final complete message from Allah in the holy book which could never be distorted - he is the seal of the prophets - perfect examples for Muslims.

Question 14

SOW for the prophets of Islam

Answer 14

Abraham was neither a Jew or Christian, but true in the faith of Islam.

Muhammad is the apostle of God and the seal of the prophets

Question 15

Outline three Muslim holy books

Answer 15

Zabur , Injil , Tawrat

Question 16

Why do some Muslims disagree about the exact nature of the holy books?

Answer 16

Most Muslims believe there is one holy book - the Qur’an which is the eternal word and each book given to the prophets was a copy

Only Muhammad was given God’s full eternal word in the un distortable Qur’an

Question 17

How did the Quran come to us?

Answer 17

When Muhammad dies the first Caliph, decided that it was essential for there to be an authorised version of the revelations and used Muhammad’s chief secretary.

The authorised version was finally finalised by the third Caliph Uthman so now all Qur’ans have the same words. - it is ordered length by length.

Question 18

what is the significance of Muslim beliefs about holy books?

Answer 18

it shows that God has always made sure people knew what to believe and how to live
the old books have been distorted and are no longer God’s words

Question 19

SOW - Muslim holy books

Answer 19

god gave Abraham the Book of Wisdom

God gave Moses the Book of Tawrat

God gave Jesus the Gospel

Question 20

What does the Quran teach about angels?

Answer 20

angels have no free will, they obey all Allah’s commands and do never commit sins.

Question 21

Who was Iblis?

Answer 21

the devil - he refused to bow down to Adam the first prophet and made his own Kingdom - HELL

Question 22

What are the functions of Angels?

Answer 22

They praise Allah in heaven
they are guardians of the gates of hell.
They record the good and bad deeds of humans to present to Allah on the Last Day.

Question 23

Who are the main angels and what do they do?

Answer 23

Jibril (Gabriel) - the chief angel who delivered Allah’s message to the prophets so that they could pass it on to humanity. He appeared to Muhammad and gave him the first revelation of the Qur’an and continued to do so for the next 20 years.

Mika’il (Michael) - the second most important angel , he is believed to be the guardian of heaven, protecting it from evil and the devil.- he also sends rain to the earth

Izra’il - the angel of death. The Qur’an says that the angel of death takes the souls of people at death and returns them to Allah.

Question 24

Why are angels important to Muslims?

Answer 24

Allah is so great and holy that he cannot communicate with humans directly with humans.
Allah loves his creation and has sent angels with his message so that humans can go to heaven
everything humans do is known to Allah

Question 25

SOW Malaikah (angels)

Answer 25

God made angels to be his messengers

everyone has two recording angels that record everything people say and do to be read out on Judgement Day

Question 26

What is Al-Qadr?

Answer 26

Gods power to make things happen according to his plan. Predestination - everything in universe is following a divine plan

Question 27

Shi’a Muslim beliefs about Al-Qadr

Answer 27

Shi’a Muslims believe that Allah created humans with free will and made them his vicegerents , responsible for the world and their actions if misusing their free will results in them disobeying God.

Question 28

Sunni Muslim beliefs about Al-Qadr

Answer 28

Sunni Muslims believe that Allah knows what people will do before they do it as he has the attribute of foreknowledge but that people do it of their free will.

Question 29

What does Al-Qadr mean for Muslims?

Answer 29

Muslims may face suffering but they do not need to worry as God has a plan.

Muslims have to make their own choices and be responsible for it

Question 30

SOW- Al-Qadr

Answer 30

God is the one who has decided in advance what will happen

God is the master planner of the world’s events

Question 31

what do Muslims believe about their bodies after they die?

Answer 31

Muslims believe that when they die their body stays in the grave until the Last Day when Isa will return and the angel Israfil will sound the trumpet and all the dead will be raised.

Question 32

Beliefs about heaven and hell

Answer 32

Heaven is al’jannah which all Muslims believe they will be a paradise. It is described as ‘perpetual bliss’.

Hell is Jahannam a place of fire and torture. Most Muslims believe that people will stay in Hell forever but others believe that people will be their for a short time to punish them for their sins.

Question 33

What is Barzakh?

Answer 33

the period in between death and the Last day

Question 34

Why is life after death important to Muslims?

Answer 34

the Qur’an teaches that there is life after death and so did the prophet Muhammad.
Muslims believe that life is a test from God and they will be judged and rewarded/punished.

Question 35

SOW for life after death

Answer 35

Surah 2 - warns people to fear the Last day where everyone will be treated as they deserve.

heaven will be a beautiful garden through which rivers flow

hell will be a burning fire into which will be thrown those who reject God.