11/25/2019 Islam Guide: Some Basic Islamic Beliefs

Some Basic Islamic Beliefs

1) Belief in God:
Muslims believe in one, unique, incomparable God, Who has no son nor partner, and that none
has the right to be worshipped but Him alone. He is the true God, and every other deity is false. He
has the most magnificent names and sublime perfect attributes. No one shares His divinity, nor His
attributes. In the Quran, God describes Himself:
Say, “He is God, the One. God, to Whom the creatures turn for their needs. He
begets not, nor was He begotten, and there is none like Him.” (Quran, 112:1-4)

No one has the right to be invoked, supplicated, prayed to, or

shown any act of worship, but God alone.

God alone is the Almighty, the Creator, the Sovereign, and the
Sustainer of everything in the whole universe. He manages all
affairs. He stands in need of none of His creatures, and all His
creatures depend on Him for all that they need. He is the All-
Hearing, the All-Seeing, and the All-Knowing. In a perfect
manner, His knowledge encompasses all things, the open and the Chapter 112 of the Quran written in
secret, and the public and the private. He knows what has Arabic calligraphy.
happened, what will happen, and how it will happen. No affair
occurs in the whole world except by His will. Whatever He wills is, and whatever He does not will
is not and will never be. His will is above the will of all the creatures. He has power over all
things, and He is able to do everything. He is the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, and the Most
Beneficent. In one of the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad , we are told that God is more
merciful to His creatures than a mother to her child.1 God is far removed from injustice and
tyranny. He is All-Wise in all of His actions and decrees. If someone wants something from God,
he or she can ask God directly without asking anyone else to intercede with God for him or her.

God is not Jesus, and Jesus is not God.2 Even Jesus himself rejected this. God has said in the
Quran:
Indeed, they have disbelieved who have said, “God is the Messiah (Jesus), son of
Mary.” The Messiah said, “Children of Israel, worship God, my Lord and your
Lord. Whoever associates partners in worship with God, then God has forbidden
Paradise for him, and his home is the Fire (Hell). For the wrongdoers,3 there will
be no helpers.” (Quran, 5:72)

God is not a trinity. God has said in the Quran:

Indeed, they disbelieve who say, “God is the third of three (in a trinity),” when
there is no god but one God. If they desist not from what they say, truly, a painful
punishment will befall the disbelievers among them. Would they not rather repent
to God and ask His forgiveness? For God is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. The
Messiah (Jesus), son of Mary, was no more than a messenger... (Quran, 5:73-75)

Islam rejects that God rested on the seventh day of the creation, that He wrestled with one of His
angels, that He is an envious plotter against mankind, or that He is incarnate in any human being.
Islam also rejects the attribution of any human form to God. All of these are considered
blasphemous. God is the Exalted. He is far removed from every imperfection. He never becomes
weary. He does not become drowsy nor does he sleep.

The Arabic word Allah means God (the one and only true God who created the whole universe).
This word Allahis a name for God, which is used by Arabic speakers, both Arab Muslims and Arab
Christians. This word cannot be used to designate anything other than the one true God. The
Arabic word Allah occurs in the Quran about 2700 times. In Aramaic, a language related closely to
Arabic and the language that Jesus habitually spoke,4 God is also referred to as Allah.

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11/25/2019 Islam Guide: Some Basic Islamic Beliefs

2) Belief in the Angels:

Muslims believe in the existence of the angels and that they are honored creatures. The angels
worship God alone, obey Him, and act only by His command. Among the angels is Gabriel, who
brought down the Quran to Muhammad .

3) Belief in God’s Revealed Books:

Muslims believe that God revealed books to His messengers as proof for mankind and as
guidance for them. Among these books is the Quran, which God revealed to the Prophet
Muhammad . God has guaranteed the Quran’s protection from any corruption or distortion. God
has said:

Indeed, We have sent down the Quran, and surely We will guard it (from
corruption). (Quran, 15:9)

4) Belief in the Prophets and Messengers of God:

Muslims believe in the prophets and messengers of God, starting with Adam, including Noah,
Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and Jesus (peace be upon them). But God’s final message
to man, a reconfirmation of the eternal message, was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad .
Muslims believe that Muhammad is the last prophet sent by God, as God has said:

Muhammad is not the father of any one of your men, but he is the Messenger of
God and the last of the prophets... (Quran, 33:40)

Muslims believe that all the prophets and messengers were created human beings who had none
of the divine qualities of God.

5) Belief in the Day of Judgment:

Muslims believe in the Day of Judgment (the Day of Resurrection) when all people will be
resurrected for God’s judgment according to their beliefs and deeds.

6) Belief in Al-Qadar:
Muslims believe in Al-Qadar, which is Divine Predestination, but this belief in Divine
Predestination does not mean that human beings do not have freewill. Rather, Muslims believe that
God has given human beings freewill. This means that they can choose right or wrong and that they
are responsible for their choices.

The belief in Divine Predestination includes belief in four things: 1) God knows everything. He
knows what has happened and what will happen. 2) God has recorded all that has happened and all
that will happen. 3) Whatever God wills to happen happens, and whatever He wills not to happen
does not happen. 4) God is the Creator of everything.

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