6 Beliefs of Islam

In Islam God is called Allah. It is simply an Arabic word for God called "Allah". It cannot be made to refer to more than one God so it only means that there is only one God who is Allah, this is also stated in the Holy Qur'an. 

The supreme importance of Tawhid for modern Muslims is explained by Sayyed Hossein Nasr; 

"Allah is first and before everything else One, and it is the oneness of God that lies at the centre of both the Qur'anic doctrine of God and Islamic spirituality... Islamic mystical treatises as well as theological ones based on the text of the Qur'an and Hadith are essentially one long commentary on the divine oneness and the meaning."

In the Qur'an, Surah 112 explains the whole of God's nature, 'In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful say, "He is God the One and Only, God the Eternal, Absolute. He begetteth not nor is He begotten; and there is none like unto Him."'

This means that God has always been in existence and will always be in existence. It also means that, as far as Muslims are concerned, Christians totally misunderstand the nature of God because they claim that God begot Jesus Christ and rather than being One, God is Three (the Christian doctrine of the Trinity). This is shown in the Qur'anic verse, 'They do blaspheme who say. "God is Christ the Son of Mary"... Whoever joins other gods with God - God will forbid him the Garden.' (Surah 5v75).  

Polytheism is totally condemned in the Qur'an, 'Have ye seen Lat and Uzza and another the third goddess Manat?... There are nothing but names which ye have desived... it is to God that the end and beginning of things belong.' (Surah 53v19-25) 

The total importance of belief in the unity of God for Muslims can be seen in the fact that the worst sin a Muslim can commit is the sin of Shirk (associating other beings with God). Anyone who commits shirk can no longer be considered as a Muslim, as it's an unforgivable sin. 

Mosques do not have any pictures because of Tawhid, you can only find calligraphy. 

In Sunni homes there are no pictures of the Prophet or any of his helpers, and some don't even allow photographs. This is because anytime of image can cause you to end up worshipping it rather than worshipping the real creator God. 

Some Muslims consider the concept of Shirk so strong that they oppose Western capitalism because it leads to Muslims worshipping their materal possessions rather than putting God first and this is also shirk. 

'So it is a believer. When he surrenders himself to Allah alone, he can go forward in the affairs of this life without fear. But if he does not obey Allah, he has to obey false gods like the fear of losing his job, fear of danger, fear of hunger and the like.' (Ghulam Sarwar) 

When a Muslim baby is born the first thing that he/she should hear is the Shahadah (the oneness of God). These words should also be recited as they die, to show that they are a Muslim. 

Clearly if Gof is one with no helpers and no associates, then Muslims must believe that the world in which we are living in his creation. In other words a concomitant belief and the oneness of God is the creativity of God; 'It is He who created for you all things that are on earth; moreover His design comprehended the heavens.' (Surah 2v29)

God's creative is total, 'To Him is due the primal origin of the heavens and the earth: when He decreeth a matter, He saith to it, "be" and it is' (Surah 2v117) 

The Qur'an has several verses which use the Design argument to show the power and creativity of God. They point to how life is organised and see these as signs of God's creativity and his love for the world. 'Behold! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of night and day, these are indeed signs for men of understanding.' (Surah 3v190) 

Such a view tends to ignore the teaching of the Qur'an of how God created the earth and put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, 'Verily your Lord is God, who created the heavens and the earth in six days' (Surah 10v3) 

The teaching of the Qur'an on the nature of God's creation is virtually the same as that of the Biblical book of Genesis, therefore, Muslims have many of the same problems regarding evolution as fundamendalist Christians and Jews. 

The Qur'an and Muslims are quite clear that God is a creator, this is the essential part of unity. Indeed the first revelation to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) said, 'Recite in the name of they Lord who created' (Surah 96v1) 

Muslims believe that God is 'All Powerful', 'The Absolute'. It is the basis of Islam that you submit to God's will because God is dar greater and more powerful than you. This can be seen in the phrase Allahu Akbar (God is most great) which is chanted repeatedly during Salaah and on many other occasions. As Surah 67v1 says, 'Blessed be He in whose hands is dominion; and He over all things hath power.' 

Muslims believe in the power of God can be sub-divided:-

1. God is self-subsistent - he is not dependent on anything else

2. God is omnipotent - all-powerful, in control of everything that happens

3. God has a plan for the world and the power to make that plan happen

4. God is omniscient - knows everything past, present and future

5. God can change what is going to happen

6. God is infinite, not only does He have no beginning and no end, but he contains the possibility of all things in Himself.

Clearly the power of God has implications for human freedom which will be dealt with in al'Qadr (fate). 

If God is one, the creator and the all-powerful, it follows, to Muslims, that he is the one who will bring the world to an end and he is the one who will judge human beings and determine what their final destiny should be. As Surah 1 says; God is 'Master of the Day of Judgement.' 

This teaching is in a sense part of Tawhid but it will be dealt with more fully in the section of Akhirah. 

So far Tawhid has emphasised the transcendence of God i.e. that he is far, far greater than us and is far away from us. This is definitely a major part of Muslim belief in Godm but there are elements in the Qur'an which have been taken up by the Sufis, which emphasise how close to use God is, 'We are neare to man than his jugular vein' (Surah 50v16)

This is part of what is meant by immanence, but the main concept is that God is part of the universe He has created, 'Withersoever ye turn there is the presence of God' (Surah 2v115). Therefore, science and learning will be a discovery of God.

This is the great mystery of God in the Qur'an - he is both transcendent and immanent. 'Yet God is also immanent in the light of His transcendence... that is why the Prophet taught that the highest form of Tawhid is to see before, in, and after all things.' (Seyyed Hossein Nasr) 

Every Surah except for Surah 9 beings with reference to the mercy and compassion of God, but this is not something that can be worked out from God's unity, it can only be discovered by the revelation of God in the Qur'an. 

The teaching of the Qur'an about humans is that God created Adam to be his vice regent on earth, 'Thy Lord said to the angels, "I will create a viceregent on earth"... and He taught Adam the nature of all things.' (Surah 2v30)

Muslim teaching about God's mercy is that God did not leave humans alone, he sent prophets with his word to show them how to be his vice-regents. Therefore, the fact that God is compassionate and merciful leads naturally into the belief in Risalah (message).

There is another teaching about God's mercy in the Qur'an, namely that if people are not perfect and fail in their attempt to be vice-regents, God will be merciful, under certain conditions, 'With My punishment I visit whom I will; but My mercy extendeth to all things. That mercy I shall ordain for those who do right, and practise regular charity and those who believe in Our signs.' (Surah 7v156) 

Many Muslims take this to mean that God will be merciful and forgive Muslims who try their best, but commit sins. This is an extra reason for going on Hajj to confess your sins at Arafat because this is the Mount of God's mercy. 

"To Him belong the most...................... 

sorry this is incomplete... I will try and add the rest when I get time which seems impossible. But, hope it helps.