LO: To know what the key beliefs of

Islam are and to understand why

they are important.
 Sura Al-Fatiha (“The Opening”)
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:
All Praise is due to Allah, Lord of the Universe
The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Owner of the Day of Judgement.
You alone do we worship, and You alone we turn to for help
Guide us to the straight path;
The path of those on whom You have bestowed your grace, not
(the way) of those who have earned Your anger, nor of those
who went astray.
 Submission
• Muslims are followers of
the religion of Islam.
• The words Muslim and
Islam both come from an
Arabic word which means
SUBMISSION.
• A Muslim is therefore
someone who has
submitted to God.
 What Muslims believe
• Muslims believe that there is one God, whom
they called ALLAH.
• They believe that Allah is ETERNAL which means
he was never born and will never die. He made
everything, knows everything and is all-powerful,
so human beings must worship him.
• Muslims believe that Allah sent PROPHETS to
teach people how to live.
• A prophet is someone who tells people what God
wants.
 Symbols
Muslims do not use
SYMBOLS in the way that
followers of some other
religions do. When a
symbol is needed for
Islam, the one most often
used is a star and crescent
moon.
 Language

The language of Islam is Arabic. To be

understood by people who cannot read it,
Arabic words have to be changed into other
alphabets. The sounds of letters in English are
not the same as the sounds of Arabic letters so
sometimes different spellings are used.
 Points to know
Muslims do not worship Muhammad. They
believe that only Allah should be worshipped
and Muhammad was not Allah. However,
Muhammad is given great respect as Allah’s
most important prophet and to show this
whenever they mention Muhammad’s name
Muslims add the words peace be upon him.
 Islam’s Holy
Book
• The Quran or Koran – contains the
teachings revealed to Muhammad the
prophet of Allah
 Started in the
Middle East
• Islam began
in Saudi
Arabia, in the
Middle East
 Laws = The 5
Pillars of Islam
1. Faith in Allah
2. Prayer 5 times a day facing Mecca
3. Giving alms to the poor (charity)
4. Fasting during Ramadan
5. Make a pilgrimage to Mecca once in
their lifetime
 llah
• Allah is the
Islamic name for
GOD
• Those who follow
Allah are called
MUSLIMS
 Muhammad
•Muhammad is the founder
of Islam
•His teachings are written in
the Koran
 Islam is
Monotheistic
• Name another religion
we have studied that is
monotheistic =
 Cities that are
holy
• Mecca –
Muhammad
was born here
and is where
the KAABA is
located
ities that
are holy
• Medina –
This is the
city where
Muhammad
started
Islam
 Cities that are
holy
•Jerusalem –
This is where
Muhammad
left to
heaven from
 Kaaba
• Is a large cube
building
• It is the holiest
place in Islam
• This is the
building Muslims
face during
prayer
 The Prophet
 Muhammad, the prophet,
was born around the year
570 CE.
 During his early life,
Muhammad was a respected
and successful trader in
Arabia.
 In the year 610, at the age of
forty, Muhammad was
meditating in a cave at Hira
(outside of Mecca) when the
angel Gabriel appeared
before him.
 Gabriel told Muhammad to
recite the word of God.
 The Prophet
 Muhammad’s prophecy began to gather a small
group of devoted followers in Mecca.
 The Quraysh, a powerful family in Mecca, felt
threatened by Muhammad’s message.
 Muhammad and his followers fled the city of Mecca
and traveled to the city of Yathrib.
 Once arriving in Yathrib, Muhammad changed the name
of the city to Medina, “the city of the prophet.”
 This journey by Muhammad from Mecca to Medina is
known as the Hijra.
 Dates in the Muslim calendar are all calculated from the Hijra in
622 CE, which is therefore 1 AH (After Hijra.)
 The Prophet
• A period of missionary, political, and military
activity then followed.
• Muhammad was able to eventually defeat the
Quraysh and gain control of Mecca.
– Muhammad entered the Ka’ba and destroyed the
religious idols at the shrine – thereby dedicating
the entire city to God.
• By the time of Muhammad’s death in 632 CE,
Islam was established in most of the Arabian
Peninsula.
 The Prophet
• Muslims believe that Muhammad was God’s
final prophet and that the revelation given to
him has never been corrupted, so there is no
need for further revelation.
• Islam – “to submit”
• Muslim – “one who submits”
Core Muslim Beliefs

SCTR 19 – “Religions of the Book”

Prepared by Matt Pham
 Introduction
• Six Articles of Islamic Faith (for the Sunni majority)
– In addition to Five Pillars of Islamic Practice
– Together, make up Aqidah (“creed”)
– Sunni/Shi’a beliefs differ: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqidah
• Having Iman (“to fully observe one’s faith”)
– Belief in the heart
– Profession by the tongue
– Performance of the deeds
– Caution / Similar words: Imam = leader vs. Iman = faith
• Without the articles of faith, there is
no context for the pillars of practice
 To Believe in God (Allah)

• Monotheism (tawhid = “divine unity”)

– God is absolute, a single inseparable unity
– One God  Same God for Jews, Christians, Muslims
– Allah: not a proper name, but the Arabic word for “God”
– “99 Names of God”: found throughout the Qur’an

• God has “no associate or partner”

– Muslims reject the Christian concept of “Trinity”
– God cannot become human; humans cannot be God
– Consider Jesus a great prophet, but not divine
To Believe in the Unseen
• Angels
– God’s messengers; reveal messages to Prophets
• Ex: Angel Gabriel revealed the Qur’an to Muhammad
– No free will; sole purpose is serving God
– Accompany, guide, and protect people at all times

• Spirits (Jinn)
– Spiritual beings, with free will
– Thus can be good or evil
– Root of English word/concept: “genie”
 To Believe in Prophethood
• Prophets (nabi ) and Messengers (rasul )
– Prophets speak God’s words to people orally.
– Messengers record God’s words in book form.
– So, not all prophets are messengers,
but all messengers are also prophets.

• Muslims believe in 1000’s of prophets

– “Chain of Prophets”: Adam was first; Muhammad was last
• Also incl. Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Moses, David, Jesus, etc.
– All transmit same basic message throughout history
• Certain prophets were sent to specific groups/nations
 To Believe in Revelation
• Holy Books
– Revealed scriptures; messages from God
– Different languages, different cultures, different eras
– But same basic message, culminating in the Qur’an

• Progressive Revelation
– Books of Moses, Psalms of David, Gospels of Jesus
– Ultimately the Qur’an, revealed thru Muhammad

– NOTE: Most Muslims do not read the present HB or NT,

believing ancient Jews & Christians altered the messages
God had revealed through Moses, David, and Jesus
 To Believe in the Day of Judgment
• Resurrection of the Dead
– At the end of time, all people will be raised
– Everyone is held accountable for his/her own deeds

• Judgment / Afterlife
– Everyone is judged based on one’s life/actions on earth
– If good deeds outweigh bad deeds:
• Reward  eternal life with God in heaven/paradise/garden
– If bad deeds outweigh good deeds:
• Punishment  in everlasting fires of hell
 To Believe in the Divine Decree
• Human Nature / Free Will
– Everyone has knowledge & ability to choose
between right & wrong, and so is held responsible
– Yet God has correct fore-knowledge of everyone’s path

• Destiny / Fate / Predestination

– God wrote down our destiny in the “Preserved Tablet”
– God knows what our nature will cause us to do
• A person’s actions are not caused by what God has written
• But God is omniscient  God knows in advance