ARTICLES OF FAITH

IMAN: Faith or belief

1. UNITY OF GOD

a) Belief in the ONE GOD (TAWHEED), Allah (Arabic)...... the One God); He is neither male nor female, He has no partners, He does not beget nor was He begotten, He is Omnipotent and Omnipresent, He is the All Compassionate and All Merciful. God does not occupy space, nor is He restricted by time, He does not eat, He does not sleep nor slumber and does not need rest. He is the Master of Time and there is none comparable to Him. He is not like anything or resembles any of His creation and He is the Most Just.

2. DIVINE JUSTICE

Allah has commanded Mankind to be just while He Himself treats us with something even better, namely, grace. He says;

"Whoso bringeth a good deed will receive tenfold the like thereof, while whoso bringeth an evil deed will be awarded the like thereof; and they shall not be wronged." (Qur'an 6:161)

Justice (al-'adl) means that He requites a good act with a good act and an evil act with an evil act. The Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.&f) said; "None ever enters Paradise by virtue of their (good) actions, except by the mercy of Allah the Glorious and Mighty.

3. PROPHETHOOD

The belief in the prophets and Messengers that Allah sent as a Mercy and Guide to Mankind so that they would arrive at the truth and be at peace. Some of the prophets came with the Holy Books and are known as Messengers. Some of the prophets of Islam, mentioned in the Holy Qur'an are: Adam - the first man, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon, Saleh, John, Jesus and Muhammad - the Last of the prophets and Messengers (peace be upon them all).

The belief in One God and the finality of the Prophethood of Muhammad is an article of faith.

4. IMAMATE

The prophets were truthful and never committed mistakes [3]. They always left behind infallible vicegerents [4] (deputies) and sometimes generations of vicegerents, to continue guiding in the same manner as they had done. Through the Imamate the covenant made with Abraham (a.s.) is preserved.

5. DIVINE REVELATIONS

The books mentioned in the Qur'an are: Torah - Moses, Psalms - David and Solomon, Evangel - Jesus, and Qur'an - Muhammad.

6. RESURRECTION

Belief in the Day of Judgement when all of Mankind will be Resurrected from the dead and questioned on how they spent their time in the material universe. According to Islam all mankind above the age of puberty will be judged on their knowledge and how they acted upon it. For example a knowledgeable person will not be judged like a ignorant person. If a person knowingly commits an act which is evil/bad then he/she has sinned in the 'eyes of God'; for this reason Muslims believe that some non-Muslims will go to Heaven (those who unknowingly committed mistakes).

7. THE HEREAFTER

The Hereafter which is Eternal and consists of Heaven and Hell. The good will occupy one of the seven Heavens and the Evil will occupy Hell.

8. THE BELIEF IN THE EXISTENCE OF ANGELS AND JINN

Belief in The Jinn and in The Angels. The Angels being created of the purest form of light, i.e. light with no heat; The Jinn being created of the purest form of fire, i.e. heat with no smoke and of course [5] Man being created of the purest form of matter i.e. something that is affected by time, has mass and occupies space.

9. ENJOINING GOOD AND FORBIDDING EVIL (Amar bil Ma'ruf wa Nahy an al-Munkar)

To believe and practice; that the duty of all Muslims is to abstain from evil and direct others to goodness.

[3] Infallible.

[4] Imams. According to some of the Muslims the Imam does not necessarily have to be appointed by Allah and neither be infallible. To them the matter of Imamate is not different from the position of Caliphate (governorship) and is an issue of fiqh (jurisprudence) and not a part of belief. All Muslims agree that after the death of the Holy Prophet a person had to replace his leadership to such an extent that some of the people decided to elect a leader even before the burial rites of the Prophet (sawas) had been performed.

[5] Man was created in body and soul last; according to the Qur'an, long after the creation of the Jinn, but the Spirits (ruh') of Man were the first of all creation.