Essentials of Islam (Fundamental Teaching of Islam)

I-PURPOSE OF CREATION
Without knowledge of the purpose of creation, human beings wander aimlessly through life, like a
ship at sea without rudders. There goals are either wrong due to incorrect religious teaching, or
materialistic and thus confined to this world. It is essential for their own well beings that they know
why God created them. We may ask ourselves of the following questions. (a) Why do exist? (b) For
what purpose am I here on earth? (c) Why did God create mankind? (d) For what purpose did God
create humans?

Fundamentally, Allah created in order to manifest His attributes. Consequently, creation is

consequences of His Being Creator.

Why did God create mankind? In the Holy Qur'an, Allah revealed His final communication to
mankind to ensure that it was perfectly preserved for all of the generations of human beings to come.
He also revealed the purpose of creating mankind and through His last Prophet and clarified all of the
details which man could comprehend. Man merely manipulates what already exist, what was already
created by God.

In the final revelation, the question why did God create man is answered without any ambiguity.
Humans are first informed by God that every human being is born with innate consciousness of God.

(Surah al A'raaf 7:172-3) "And (remember) when your Lord brought forth from children of Adam,
from their loins, their seed (or from Adam's loin his offspring) and made them testify as to
themselves (saying): Am I not your Lord? They said: "Yes! We testify," lest you should say on the
Day of Resurrection: Verily, we have been unaware of this."

(Surah Ath-Thaariyaat 51:56) "And I created not the jinn and mankind except that they should
worship Me (Alone)."

Thus, the essential purpose for which humankind was created is the worship of God. However, the
Almighty is not in need of human worship. He did not create human beings out of a need on His part.
If not a single human worshipped God, it would not diminish His Glory in any way, and if all
mankind worshipped Him, it would not increase His Glory in any way. God is perfect. Consequently,
it is humankind that needs to worship God.

Worship is the performance of devotional acts in honour of a deity or to show gratitude to god by
glorifying Him.

Worship is an obedient submission to the will of God. Consequently, obedience to divine law is the
foundation of worship.

Why do Human being need to worship and glorify God by obeying the divinely revealed laws?

Ans. - Because obedience to divine law is the key to success in this life and the next. Example: Adam
and Eve were created in paradise and later expelled from paradise for disobeying the divine law.

The only way for human beings to return to paradise is by obedience to the law.
Jesus the Messiah was reported in the Gospel according to Mathew, to have made obedience to the
divine laws the key to paradise.

(Surah Al-Ahzab 33:41) "O believers! Remember Allah often"

Remembrance of God is stress because sin is generally committed when God is forgotten. The forces
of evil operate most freely when consciousness of God is lost. Consequently, the satanic forces seek
to occupy people's minds with irrelevant thoughts and desires to make them forget god. Once God is
forgotten, people willingly join the corrupt elements.

(Surah Al-Mujadilah 58:19) "Satan has got the better of them and caused them to forget Allah. Those
are the party of Satan. Truly the party of Satan are the real loser."

Act of Worship
In Islamic system, each and every human act can be transformed into an act of worship. God
commands the believers to dedicate their whole lives to Him. However, for that dedication to be
acceptable to Allah, each act must fulfil two conditions.

The act must be done sincerely for the pleasure of God and not for the recognition and praise of
human beings.

The act must be done in accordance with the Prophetic way (Sunnah). All Prophets were guided by
Allah, what they taught were divinely revealed truths and only those who followed the way and
accepted the truth would inherit external life in paradise. Jesus Christ in his Gospel according to John
14:6. "I am the way, the truth, and the life." Abdullah Ibn Mas'ood related that one day Prophet
Muhammad drew a line in the dust for them and said: This is Allah's Path, He then drew several line
branching off to the right and to the left and said, these are the paths [of misguidance] on each of
which is a devil inviting people to follow it.

The Best of Creation

Those who believe in one Unique God, without partners or offspring, and do righteous deeds become
the best of creation. That is although humankind is not the greatest creation of Allah, they have the
potential to become the best of His creation. (Surah Al-Bayyinah 98:6) "Surely those who believe and
do righteousness deeds are the best of creation."

Why did God Create Mankind on Earth? Thus, the purpose for the creation of human beings in this
world is to test their conduct.

The world of life, and death, wealth and poverty, sickness and health, was created to sift out the
righteous souls from the evil souls. Human conduct in this world is the measure of faith. The test will
serve to confirm on the Day of Judgement that those going to hell and those going to paradise.

The test of conduct serves two basic purposes:

1. Human spiritual growth

2. Punishment or Reward

‫احسن عمال هم بهم بھالنبلو الناجعلنا ما على الي‬

(Surah Al-Kahf 18:7) "Surely have created all that is on earth as its ornaments that may test which of
them is best in conduct." (Verily, we have made evil which on earth as an ornament for it in order
that we may test them (mandkind) as to which of them are the best in deeds)
ISLAMIC DECLARATION OF BELIEFS
To believe in the Oneness of Allah

"There is no God worthy of worship but Allah and Muhammad is His apostle"

Tawheed- Unification (making something one) or asserting oneness.

- Came from the Arabic verb (wahhada) which itself means to unite, unify or consolidate
When the term Tawheed is used in reference to Allah, it become Tawheeddullah.

TAWHEEDULLAH-It means that realizing and maintaining of Allah's unity in all of man's
actions which directly or indirectly related to Him. (Beliefs that Allah is one, without partner in His
dominion and His action.

Three Categories of Tawheed

1. Tawheed Ar-Ruboobeyah (maintaining the unity of Lordship)

2. Tawheed Al-Asmaa was sifaat (maintaining the unity of Allah's names and Attributes)
3. Tawheed Al-Ebaadah (maintaining the unity of Allah's Worship)

1. Tawheed Ar-Ruboobeyah

According to this category, since God is the only real power in existence, it is He who gave
all things the power to move and to change. Nothing happen in creation except what He
allows to happen.

In recognition of this reality, Prophet Muhammad used to often repeat the exclamatory
phrase.

"Laa Hawla wala Quwwata Illa Billah" There is no movement nor power except by Allah's will.

The Basis for the Ruboobeyah concept can be found in many Qur'an verses.

(Surah Az-Zumaar 39:62) "Allah created all things and He is the agent on which all things depend"

(Surah As-Saffaat 37:96) "And Allah created you all and whatever you do"

(Surah Al-Anfaal 8:17) "It was not you who threw, when you threw, but is was Allah who threw.
(Surah At-Taghaabun 64:11) "And no calamity strike except by Allah's permission."

2. Tawheed Al Asmaa Was-Sifaat

Maintaining the Unity of Allah's Names and Attributes.

Five classification of Tawheed Al Asmaa Was-Sifaat

1. Allah must be referred to according to how He and His Prophet have described Him without
explaining away His Names and Attributes by giving them meanings other than obvious
meanings.

Example: Surah Al-Fath 48:6 "Allah in the Qur'an says He gets angry with the disbelievers
and the hypocrites.
 Anger is one of God's attributes. Anger is not mean His punishment since the Anger is a
sign of weakness in man and such not befitting of Allah. Allah's anger is not like human
anger. (Surah Ash-Shura 42:11) "There is nothing like Him."

2. Referring to Allah as He has referred to Himself with giving Him any new Names or
Attributes. Example: Allah must not be given the name Al-Ghaadib (the angry one).
3. Allah is referred to without giving Him the attributes of His creation.
Example: In Bible/Torah, Genesis 2:2, that God spent the first six days creating the universe,
then slept on the seventh (Sabbath Day).

(Surah Ash-Shura 42:11) "There is nothing like Him and He is hearer and seer of all. Seeing
and Hearing are among human attributes, but when they are attributed to the Divine Being,
they are without comparison in their perfection.

Image of God or any pictorial representation is prohibited in Islam.

4. Requires that man not be given the attributes of Allah. Example: In New Testament, Paul
takes the figure of Melchizedek, king of Salem, from the Torah (Genesis 14:18-20) and
gives both him and Jesus the divine attribute of having no beginning or end.
5. Allah's Names in the definite form cannot be given to his creation unless preceded by the
prefix Abd or Abdul. Example Ra'oof, Raheem, Rahman in should Abdulra'oof,
Abdulrahman,

3. Tawheed Al-Ebaadah

Maintaining the unity of Worship

This point is substantiated by the fact that Allah Himself has related in clear terms that the
Mushrikoon (Idolaters) of the Prophet's time confirmed may aspect of the first two forms of
Tawheed.

The pagan Makkans all know that Allah was their creator, sustainer, their Lord and Master yet
that knowledge did not make them Muslims according to God. In fact Allah said.

(Surah Yoosuf 12:106) "Most of them do not believe in Allah except while joining partners to
Him.

This Pagan disbelievers knew of Allah sovereignty, dominion and power, in fact they used to
faithfully devote various types of worship to Him: like: Haj, charity, animal sacrifices, vows and
even prayers.

They even used to claim that they were following the religion of Abraham. They even believe in
the Resurrection and the Judgement and others in predestination.

In spite of the Makkans confussion of Tawheed and their knowledge of Allah, Allah classified
them disbelievers (Kuffaar/Mushrikoon) simply because they worshipped other gods along with
their worship of Allah. Therefore; Tawheed Al-Ebaadah is the most important aspect of
Tawheed maintaining the unity of worship. All forms of worship must be directed only to Allah
because He alone deserves worship and He alone who can grant benefit to man as a result of his
worship.

So there is no r.eed for any form of intercessor or intermediary between man and God.
 Prophet Muhammad confirmed the unity of worship saying. If you ask in prayer, ask only Allah,
and if you seek help, seek it only from Allah.

The absence of any need for intercession is further emphasized by the many verses indicating
His closeness to man. For example: In Surah Qaaf 50:16 "God said, It is We who created man
and We know what his soul whispers to him for We are nearer to him than his jugular vein.

If someone prays dead seeking their influence on the lives of the living or the souls of those who
have passed away, they have associated a partner with Allah because worship is being shared
Allah and His creation.

For Prophet Muhammad, Duaa (prayer is worship)

Surah Al-Ambiyaa 21:66 states; "Do not worship besides Allah that which cannot help or harm
you."

In other religion, they used their priest as intercessors between themselves and God in the
mistaken belief that the priest are closer to God due to their Celibacy and piety and thus, more
likely to be listened to by God.

Most Shi'ite Sects have devoted certain days of the week and hours of the day for prayer to Ali,
Fatima, Hasan and Husayn.

Worship (Ebaadah) in the Islamic view, includes more than just fasting, paying zakaah, hajj, and
animal sacrifices. It includes emotions like: Love, trust and fear, all of which have degrees which
should only be directed to God.

Surah Al-Maa'idah 5:23. "Put your trust in Allah if you are truly believers"

SHIRK
Two main aspects

a. Shirk al Akbar (Major Shirk)

This form of Shrk occur when any act of worship is directed to other than Allah.it represent the most
obvious form of idolatry which the Prophets were specially sent by Allah to call the masses of
mankind way from. This concept is supported by Allah's statement in the Qur'an.

Surah an-Nahl, 16:36

"Surely we have sent to every nation a messenger saying, worship Allah and avoid Taaghoot (false
god)"

Much emphasis h been placed on the evils of Shirk in Ebaadah (worship) because it contradicts the
very purpose of creation as expressed in Allah's statement; Surah adh-Dhaariyaat, 51:56

"I have not created Jinn or mankind except for my worship".

Major Shirk represents the greatest act of rebellion against the Lord of the Universe, and is thus the
ultimate sin. It is a sin so great that is virtually cancels out Il good a person may do and guarantees its
perpetrator eternal damnation to Hell.

b. Shirk al Asghar (Minor Shirk)

Mahmood ibn Lubayd reporte, Allah's messenger (SAW) said: "The thing I fear for you the most is
ash Shirk al-Asghar (minor shirk)." The compaionss asked " Oh! Messenger of Allah what is minor
Shirk? He replied Ar-Riyaa (showing off), for verily Allah will say on the Day of Resurrection when
people are receiving their rewards, "Go to those for whom you were showing off in the material
world and see if you can find any reward for them".

Ar-Riyaa is the practice of performing any of the various forms of worship in order to be seen and
praised by people.

This sin destroys all the benefits that lie in righteous deeds and brings on the one who commits it a
serious punishment. It is dangerous, because it is natural for man to desire and enjoy the praise of his
fellow men, thefore, an evil which deserves man's utmost caution. This danger is really significant to
the believers whose goal is to make all of the acts of their lives religious acts dedicated to God.

For the true believer like everyone else, the chance of committing Riyaa is great because it is so
hidden. It only involves the simple act of changing one's intention. The motivating forces behind it
are also very strong, since it comes from man's inner nature.

Ibn Abbas alluded to this reality when he said, "Shirk is more hidden than a black ant creeping on a
black stone in the middle of the moonless night".

Thus, great care has to be taken to ensure that one's intentions begin pure and remain pure whenever
righteous deeds are being done. In order to ensure this, the saying of Allah's name is enjoined in
Islam before all acts of importance. A Series of Dua (informal prayers) have also been prescribed by
the Prophet SAW. Before and after all natural habits like eating, drinking, sleeping, sex, and even
going to the toilet, in order to turn these everyday habits in to an act of worship and develop in
Muslims a keen awareness to Allah. It is this awareness, called Taqwaa, which ultimately ensures
that intentions remain pure.

1. Prussia Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) supported the idea of the "death of God" proposing
that God was nothing more than a projection of man's uneasy conscience and that man was
the bridge to the Superman.
2. Jean Paul Sartre, a French philosopher also echoed the death of God thought. He claimed
that God could not exist because He was a contradiction in terms. The idea of God according
to him is a projection which man must make being what he is.

3. Charles Darwin proposal that man was merely a glorified ape. This proposal provided a
scientific basis for the non-existence of God.
4. Karl Marx, communists and scientific socialists, who claimed that the origin of everything in
existence is matter in motion. He further claimed that God is a figment of man's imagination
created by the ruling classes to justify their hereditary rule and divert the attention of the
oppressed masses from the realities in which they live.
 5. Baruch Spinoza a Dutch Jewish philosopher who claimed that God is the total of all parts of
the universe including man.

2. Shirk in Al-Asmaa was Sifaat

Practice of giving Allah the attributes of His creation as well as the act of giving created beings
Allah's names and attributes.

Two types

a. Shirk by Humanization

This type of Shirk, Allah is given the form and qualities of human beings and animals. Due to man's
superiority over animals, human form is more commonly used by idolaters to represent God in
creation. Consequently, the image of the Creator is often painted, molded or curved in the shape of
human beings possessing the physical features of those who worship them.

b. Shirk by Deification

This types of Shirk relates to cases where created beings or things given or claim Allah's names or
His attributes. It was the practiced of ancient Arabs go worship idols whose names were derived from
the names of Allah such as: Al-Laat, taken from Allah's name Al-Elaah, Al-Uzza and so on.

Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity (E=mc2), Energy is equal to mass times the square of the speed
of the light. The theory states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed; it merely transforms
into matter and vice versa. However, both matter and energy are created entities and they both will be
destroyed as Allah clearly states in Surah az-Zumar 39:62

"Allah is the creator of all things...."

Surah ar-Rahmaan, 55:26

"Everything in the world will perish..."

The theory also implies that mass and energy are eternal having no beginning or end since they are
supposed to be uncreated and transform into each other. However, this attribute belongs only to Allah
who alone is without beginning and end.

3. Shirk in al Ebaadah

This category of shirk, acts of worship are directed to other than God and the reward of worship is
sought from the creation instead of the Creator.

Prophet Muhammad SAW provided protection against the inevitable acts of Shirk by certain specific
prayer which may be said anytime.

"Allaahumma Inna na'eedhu bika an nushrika shay'an na'lamuh, wa nastaghfiruka

limaa laa na'lamuh."
Oh Allah, we seek refuge in you from knowingly committing shirk with you and we ask
your forgiveness for what we do not know about.

CHARMS, OMENS, FORTUNE-TELLING, AND HOROSCOPE

The creation, maintenance and eventual destruction of the universe and its contents are by Allah's
command and both good luck and bad luck occur according to Allah's will. A Muslim could easily
fall into the major Shirk which is at root of these practices.

Charm

It was the practice among the Arabs in the time of Prophet Muhammad SAW to wear arm
bracelets, bangles, beached necklaces, shells, etc., as charms to avert evil and bring good fortune.
Talisman and amulets can also be found in all regions of the earth in a variety of forms. Faith in
charm, amulets and talismans contradicts true belief in Allah's Ruboobeeyah (Lordship) by
attributing to created objects the power to avert evil and bring good fortune.

Islam opposed all manifestations of such beliefs which appeared in Arabia during the time
of the last Prophet SAW in order to establish a foundation on the basis of which similar beliefs and
practices would also be condemned and prohibited whenever they later appeared.

Such beliefs, in fact provide the ideological basis for idols worship in most pagan societies
and the charms themselves s represent a branch of idolatry.

Islamic Ruling on Charm

1. Whenever objects are used for the same purpose, this prohibition also applies. The belief in
charm gives created things the divine power to avert misfortune and thus, those who
subscribe to such beliefs contend that Allah's Ruboobeeyah (Lordship) is limited by His
creation. In fact, they consider the charms to be more powerful than Allah, because the
charms are thought to be able to prevent misfortune which Allah has destined. Therefore, the
belief in charms is an obvious form of Shirk.
2. The practice of producing miniature Qur'ans so small as to be unreadable with the naked eye
for the purpose of wearing in lockers invites Shirk.
3. Wearing ornaments with Ayatul Kursee written in minute, virtually illegible, lettering and
worn as pendant also encouraging shirk.
4. One who wear such ornaments for decoration does not commit Shirk.
5. Wearing ornaments with Ayatul Kursee for protection from evil, as such fall into an aspect
of Shirk.

Muslim have to carefully avoid using the Qur'anic as a good luck charm. By hanging it in
their cars, on key chains, bracelets, necklaces open the door to Shirk. Thus, a conscious effort
has to be made to purify one's belief of all that would detract from a pure concept of Tawheed.

Omens

The practice of reading good or bad omens in bird and animal movements was referred to as
Tiyarah from the verb Taara which means "so take fight". For example, if an individual set out on a
journey and a bird flew over him and turned to the left, he would see in it a sign of impending bad
fortune, turn around and return home. Islam invalidated these practices because they corrode the
foundation of Tawheed and Tawheed al-Asmaa was Sifaat.

1. By directing the form of worship known as trust (Tawakkul) to other than Allah
and.
2. By attributing to man, the power to predict the coming of good or evil, and the
ability to avoid Allah's destiny.
Islamic Ruling on Omens

The principle of deriving fortune forecasts from bird movements has been rejected in its
totality by the Sunnah of the Prophet SAW. Therefore, the belief in omens can clearly
classified as an act of Shirk in all of the major areas of Tawheed.

Prophet said:" Whoever is prevented from doing something by Tiyarah, has committed Shirk.

From the preceding Hadeeth, it can clearly be seen that the Tiyarah was not in any way
limited to birds. It includes all forms of beliefs in omens. These beliefs vary in form from place to
place and from time to time but they all have the same common denominator of Shirk.

Fortune-Telling

Fortune-telling are methods and mediums from which they claim to extract their information
such as: reading tea-leaves, drawing lines, writing numbers, palm-reading, casting horoscopes, crystal
ball gazing, rattling bones, throwing sticks, etc.

Practitioners of occult arts which claim to reveal the unseen and predict the future.

These can be divided into two main categories:

1. Those who have no knowledge or secrets but depend on telling their customers about
general incidence which happen to most people. They often go through a series of
meaningless rituals, then make calculatedly general guesses. Some of their guesses, due to
their generality, usually come true.
2. The second group are those who have made contact with the Jinn. This group is most
importance because it usually involves the grave sin of Shirk, and those involved often tend
to be highly accurate in their information and thus present a real Fitnah (temptation) for both
Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

The ruling of Islam on Fortune-telling

Islam opposes any association with those who practice fortune-telling, except to advise them
to give up their forbid practice.

The Prophet SAW laid down principles which clearly forbade any form of visitation of
fortune-tellers. Safiyyah reported from Hafsah (wife of the Prophet) that the Prophet SAW said:
Sallah of whoever approaches a fortune-teller and ask him about anything will not be accepted for 40
days and nights.

Such severe punishment has been assigned for only visitation because it is the first step to
belief in fortune-telling. The individual who approaches a fortune-teller is still obliged to make his
compulsory Salaah throughout the 40 days period. If he abandons the Salaah all together, he
committed another major sin.

The ruling of Islam on Horoscope

Not only is the practice of astrology being haram, but also visiting an astrologist and
listening to the predictions, buying books on astrology or reading one's horoscope are also forbidden.
Since astrology is mainly used for predicting the future, those who practice it are considered fortune-
teller.