Muslim Beliefs Flashcards
What are the six articles of faith?
(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
Explain why the six beliefs are important to Sunni Muslims
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.
Most Sunni Muslim communities believe that the six beliefs mean that:
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.
SOW for the six beliefs of Islam
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
What are the Shi’a five roots of faith?
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.
Why are the five roots important to Shi’a Muslims
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
What is the main difference between Shi’a and Sunni Muslims?
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.
SOW the five roots of Shi’a Islam
In the Shi ‘a hadith - if you do not know the Imam of the age than you will die at heathen.
Outline 3 Characteristics of God
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.
Why are the characteristics of God so Important for Muslims?
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
SOW for the Nature of Allah
God is the one and only god.
god is loving, self-subsisting and eternal.
state the main prophets
Adam
Ibrahim ( Abraham)
Isma’il
Musa (moses)
Dawud (David)
Isa (Jesus)
Muhammad
What did each of the prophets do for Islam
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.
SOW for the prophets of Islam
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
Outline three Muslim holy books
Zabur , Injil , Tawrat
Why do some Muslims disagree about the exact nature of the holy books?
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
How did the Quran come to us?
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.
what is the significance of Muslim beliefs about holy books?
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
SOW - Muslim holy books
god gave Abraham the Book of Wisdom
God gave Moses the Book of Tawrat
God gave Jesus the Gospel
What does the Quran teach about angels?
angels have no free will, they obey all Allah’s commands and do never commit sins.
Who was Iblis?
the devil - he refused to bow down to Adam the first prophet and made his own Kingdom - HELL
What are the functions of Angels?
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.
Who are the main angels and what do they do?
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.
Why are angels important to Muslims?
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
SOW Malaikah (angels)
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
What is Al-Qadr?
Gods power to make things happen according to his plan. Predestination - everything in universe is following a divine plan
Shi’a Muslim beliefs about Al-Qadr
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.
Sunni Muslim beliefs about Al-Qadr
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.
What does Al-Qadr mean for Muslims?
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
SOW- Al-Qadr
God is the one who has decided in advance what will happen
God is the master planner of the world’s events
what do Muslims believe about their bodies after they die?
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.
Beliefs about heaven and hell
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.
What is Barzakh?
the period in between death and the Last day
Why is life after death important to Muslims?
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.
SOW for life after death
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.
