Beliefs and values

~God is a unity(tawhid).
~Tawhid is expressed in the first part of the shahadah - 'I bear witness that there is no God by Allah.'
~Because Allah is one the Muslim community is one(ummah) and creation is one.
~There is only one God(Allah) who created the universe and is sustainer of everything.
~Allah is omnipotent and the controller of everything; He is merciful and compassionate; He will judge all on the last day.

~Shirk is breaking tawhid by associating other beings with God. It is suggesting that something other than God is in control of human destiny.
~ Placing money or power above God is also Shirk because this would mean other things are more important than Allah.
~ Because of shirk there are no images or pictures in mosques, only abstract art or calligraphy.

~ When Muslims say that Allah is 'merciful' and 'compassionate' they mean that Allah forgives them, loves them and supports and cares for them.

~ Without this belief Muslims would feel hopeless because they are weak creatures who ought to be punished for their sin but Allah is merciful enough to forgive them.

~ No Muslim would survive the judgement of God unless Allah was fair and merciful. The belief in God's mercy and compassion gives Muslims courage that it is worth striving to live a good life.

~ It strengthens Muslims love for Allah because it shows that God is not merciless and cruel.

~Muslims believe that, as descendants of Adam, all humans have been put on this earth to be khalifah(stewards) and to look after the world as God intended.

~Being a good khalifah means accepting the six beliefs and following the pillars and Shari'ah as given in the Qur'an.

~Allah has given the Qur'an and example of the prophets so that humans have no excuse for not being good so God is justified in judging people on how they have fulfilled their roles as khalifahs.

~ al-Qadar is the belief that Allah has a plan for the universe and the power to make that plan come about and that whatever happens is part of gods plan.
~ Most Muslims believe that humans have to do what Allah wants of their own free will. Allah know what people will do in the future because He is omniscient, but Allah allows people the freedom to choose what to do - it is simply that He knows in advance what choices will be made.

~ Muslims believe that Angels were created directly by Allah, and are made of light and are sexless(though they have male names). They have no free will and so cannot do evil.
~ The chief Angels are; Jibrail(Gabriel) who gives Gods messages to the prophets, Mikail(Michael) looks after heaven and keeps the devil out, Israfil who is responsible for sounding the trumpet on the Last Day and Izrail who is responsible for taking the last breath from the dying.
~ Most Muslims believe that they have recording Angels who write down everything they do for the Day of Judgement, and guardian angels who look after them if they are good Muslims.
~ Allah uses Angels to communicate with humans via prophets.

~'Muslims believe that prophets(messengers) are human beings called by God to give his message to humans.
~ They are made sinless by God after they become prophets but they remain human.
~Adam was the first prophet who was given the message of Islam.
~ Ibrahim was born into a polytheistic family but came to believe in Allah and so broke all the statues of the gods in his tribe. He was condemned to be burnt to death for this, but Allah stopped the fire from touching him. He had two sons, Ismail(who became the prophet for the Arabs) and Ishaq(who became the prophet for the Jews). Ibrahim was tested by Allah to sacrifice Ismail and the devil tempted him not to. Ibrahim stoned the devil and obeyed Allah who gave him a ram to sacrifice instead. Ibrahim and Ismail rebuilt the Ka'bah which had been destroyed in Noahs(Nuh) flood.
~ Isa(Jesus) was born of the Virgin Mary, but was not the son of God and was not crucified on the cross; someone else died in his place. Isa performed many miracles, was taken directly to heaven by God and will return again at the end of the world.
~ The work of all these prophets was either lost or distorted- so Allah decided to call a prophet,Muhammad, who would be given the message in a way that could not be distorted. He performed no miracles apart from receiving the Qur'an hid was the final word of God.

~ Muslims believe that the Qur'an is Allahs final word to humans and so no other holy books are needed. However, Allah has given many holy books to humanity especially Tawrat, Zabut and Injil.
~ Holy books are not the same as Hadith which are sayings of Muhammad.
~ Holy books other than the Qur'an are the Tawrat(Torah) and the Injil(Gospels).
~ Dawud(David) was given Allahs word in the holy book Zabur(Psalms).
~ Isa(Jesus) was given Allahs word in the holy book of Injil(Gospels).
~ Each of these holy books was distorted and so they are no longer the original holy book. Only the Qur'an was given by Allah in such a form that it can never be distorted or forgotten.

~ During Ramadan 610 CE, Muhammad was meditating in Cave Hira on Mount Nur when the Angel Jibrail appeared and told him to 'recite' (iqra). At first he told him he could not recite but the Angel clasped him and told him to. After this happened three times, Muhammad found he could recite what is now Surah 96 of the Qur'an. The night of this revelation is known as the night of power. (Laylat-ul-Qadr)
~ The revelation of the holy Qur'an is important to Muslims because: it was the time when the first words of the Qur'an were revealed to Muhammad. Muhammad became the final prophet because he had received the first messages from Allah. After this Muhammad received many more revelations which were later recorded in the holy Qur'an. Muslims believe that the revelation is the greatest of all miracles which proves that the words in the Qur'an are the exact words of Allah.

~ Akhirah is life after death. Muslims believe that when people die, their body stays in the grave and remains in Barzakh (a place of waiting which separates the living from the dead) until the last day, when the earth will be ended and everyone will die. Then Israfil will sound the trumpet and there will be a resurrection. All the dead bodies will be raised and will gather on the plain of Arafat for the final judgement. No one knows when it will happen, but Isa will come before it happens and kill Dajjal(beast of evil) and the dead will rise.
~ The judgement will take place in the following way: everyone will be naked so that nothing can be hidden, and then each in turn will read out the book of their lives where no thought or action will remain hidden. Each person will be judged on how well they performed as khalifahs and then will be sent to heaven (al'jannah) or hell (jahannam).
~ These beliefs mean that Muslims live their lives knowing that Allah know everything they think or do, which motivates them to ensure they live their lives in accordance with the will of Allah recorded in the Qur'an. Everything they do is ibadah(act of worship). Muslims will: observe the pillars, learn the Qur'an, follow Shari'ah, avoid all that is haram, show kindness to others and do every action for God.