Islamic Faith has Six Pillars:
To
have faith in God, in the Hereafter, in angels, in Holy Books, in
prophets, in Predestination and Decree. In order for somebody to be a
Believer, he needs to have faith in all of these six pillars. A person
who has no faith even in one of them cannot be a Believer because the
pillars of faith are related with each other.
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 secret, and the public and the private. He knows what
has 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 Allah is 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,
God is also referred to as Allah.
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 Qur’an 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:
God knows everything. He knows what has happened and what will happen.
God has recorded all that has happened and all that will happen.
Whatever God wills to happen happens, and whatever He wills not to happen does not happen.
God is the Creator of everything.
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