Muslim beliefs

Belief in allah: Allah is the supreme being, creator of the universe. without him nothing would exist. - encourages muslims to be thankful for life.

Belief in the angels (malaikah) of Allah: heavenly beings created by Allah to proform various tasks. - they respect malaikah stating peace be upon you to nearby angels when praying.

Belief in the books of Allah: Allahs messages are contained in the holy texts (kutubullah)
  e.g: Sahifah (Scrolls), Tawrat (Torah), Zabur (Pslams), Injil (Gospels) and the Qur'an.

Belief in the messengers of Allah: a prophet is a person chosen by Allah to teach and guide people to the right path.  believed more than 124,000 have appeared - are named after them.

Belief in the day of judgement: believing thateventually the world will end. Allah will judge then wheather people will go the jannah (paradise) or jahnnam (hell) - reminder of  limited time on earth.

Belief in the decree of Allah:  Allahhas supreme power over the universe. Has given humans free will. making us responsible for our own destiny. - teaches muslims to accept God's will.

'believe in Allah, his angels, his books, his messengers, in the last day, and the decree of Allah'

Tawhid: the belief in the oneness of Allah, that Allah is one, and without any equals

Nubuwwah: the belief in prophethood and the messengers from Adam to Muhammad,who taught  the Tawhid- 'we sent a message to every community, saying worship god and shun false gods' 

Adalat: the belief that Allah is fair and will bring divine justice and to demonstate fainess in what they do- 'i advise you of being just towards to both friend and foe'

Imamah: authority is to a people of the 'prophets house', muhammad, his daughter and a line of imams who are infallible-

twelever muslims consider obeidience to 12 particular imams essential - ' you who believe, obey god andthe messanger,and those in authority'

sevener shi'a muslims have a different system of leadership. in some shi'a writings imams have been described as 'lights' sent by allah

Mi'ad:the belief that there will be a day of judgement and resurection, when allah will decide the fate of every person

• Tawhid (oneness): the belief that allahis unique and without any partner or equal 'shun false gods'

to associate partners with Allah, including 'false gods', is shirk - the worst sin

• Immanence and trancendence:

allah acts in this world - 'we are closer to him that jugular vein'

and allah is above and beyond his creation - 'established himself on the throne

• Omnipotence: only authority of the whole universe  'he as power over all things'
• Beneficence: loves his creation, his kindness has no limits 'your lords bounty knows no limits'
• Mercy: each chapter of Surah starts with 'in the name of god, the lord of mercy, the giver of mercy'
• justice: 'if you judge between people, to do so with justice'

knowing some of Allahs attributes helps muslims establish a closer relationship through worship - the reason mankind was created.and allows them to reflect on his divine attributes

• All the prophets demonstraited great qulities and represented an example  of how to live
• Reminds muslims of the common heritage they share with other religions e.g. christians & jews

Adam - the first prophet. called Allah's kahlifah (representative): the story of adam teaches muslims to follow Allah's commands and not alow satan to tempt them. - 'satan made them slip'

Ibrahim -considered one of the greatest prophets, one of muhammads ancestors. shows muslims th high moral standards that he reached and the importance of learning from his life - he was thankful for the blessing of god who chose him and guided him to a straight path

Isma'il - one of ibrahim's sons. him and ibrahim were chosen to rebuild the ka'bah in 'makkah' ibrahim had a dream from allah that he was sacrafising isma'il and he did not hesitate to give his life, but halted praised by god: teaches muslims to have trust in god and put him first

Musa - the main founder of judaisum, appointed to free  israelites from slavery. he was given  the al'kitab (scripture) and al-furquan (distiquishing right from wrong): exapmle of how allahawards perserverace in the face of suffering - 'we enscribed everything for him on the tablets which taught and explained everything'

Dawud- one ofthe messengers of the Banu Isra'il. remembered for his wisdom, fasting and victory against the oppresive Jalut (Golaith), after which was made king of the israelites:confirms Allah gives honour to his chosen ones, and they can be blessed with worldly and spiritual hounour. - david killed goliath, and God gave him sovereignty and wisdom and taught him what he pleased'

Isa (Jesus)- among the most honoured prohets of Allah, the Injil was revealed to him: was a prophet who honered the tawhid: show muslims to follow hisexample and worship allah as 1 god.

Muhammad- principal prohet sent by Allah. only prophet to be given auniversal message meant for all time periods. the last messanger to to bring a revealed scripture ( the Qur'an) :teaching muslims following the example of Muhammad will please god. the qur'an tells muslims to offer prayers for him because of him honoured status -'bless him too and give him greetings of peace'   

Sahfifah (scrolls of Ibrahim and Moses) - believed to be lost and little is known about them. some parts have been preseved in the Qur'an

has he not been taught what was written in the scriptures of moses and of abraham...that no soul shall bear the burden of another : that man will only have what he worked towards...that the final goal is your lord... that it is he who gives life and death

Tawrat (torah), scriptures of musa) - contains good teachings a laws but onlymeat for jewish people for a limited however is a record of the teachings of musa and includes a prophecy of the future appearence of muhammad

I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers ,like unto thee, and i will put my words in his mouth 

Zabur (psalms): dawud was given this. within are 150 psalms made up of songs, prayers and poems inspired by Allah - 'to david we gave the book [of psalms]'

Injil (Gospel of Isa): not the 4 gopels of isa's life however parts of it remain within but the original has been lost - 'a guide and a lesson for those who take heed of god'

Qur'an - revealed to the prophet muhammad's his final revelation as previous texts had become unreliable, meant for all times, all peope, all places as muhammad was the universal messenger to complete Allahs message: ' let there be no doubt about it, it is from the lord of the worlds.' 'the mostbeautiful of all teachings' 'free from any distortion'

Importance

• Although past scriptures may be outdated they are still respected as contain messages originally sent by Allah

• the prophet muhammads wife sai that he was the living example of the qur'an therefore muslims try to follow his example by following the teaching of the qur'an

- created by allah to perform various tasks hovwever angels have no free will and must follow the commands of Allah

many muslims believe that angels do not posses any fixed material form but can appear to humans in ways such as dreams in ways imagained by the individual - angel jibril appeared to muhammed as a human being however as dove to Isa.

''...creator of the heavens abd earth,who mmade angels messengers with two, three four wings' could beseen as a metaphore for their power 

angels are believed to help those whose faith is strong - ' take the straight path  towards him, the angels come down to them we are your alles in this horld and in the worls to come'

Jibril -whom allah communicates with his prophets through- we only deced at your lords command'

Izra'il -resonsible for taking the soul of every person and returning it to Allah. howver, it is beleived thta only Allah knows the time and placeof every individual's death- 'the angel of death put in charge of you will reclaim you,and then you will be brough back to your lord'

Mika'il -oversees the provision and maintenance of life.-

as with prophets, opposing the the angels or simplely not believing in them is the oppose Allah

significance today

• their true nature might not be known but play a crucial role in operating and maintaing the universe
• they help believers in their time of need
• angels known ad kiraman kaibin (noble scribes)accompany people the one on the right takes note of good deedsthe one on the right takes note of bad deeds, which will then be presented to Allah on the day of judgement

- the belief that Allah has preordained certain things putting in place fixed universal laws

it is believed that allah has fixed the planets orbiting the sun as part of  al-padr - 'he has subjected the sun and the moon each to pursue its course foran appointed time; he regulaes all things'

also its blieve that there are predestend thing set in place for human beings as well e.g: our genes ,and our social and economic status born into. this belief is important as:

• it affirms Allahs omnipotence and omniscience
• the laws of the universe are destined to benefit humanity
• Allahs omincience helps muslims to understan that everything happens for a reason and is part of his plan

muslims believe that human decisions can be in hamony with gods will forming part of al-qadr, this doesnt mean human dont have freedom it means that choices are either against or with gods will. - 'every human being is free to choses between good and evil , however in relation to religion, there are some spheres of destiny which are predetermined and unchangeble'

gods messengers will always succeed convayig their message however people still have the chioce to oppose them - 'let those who wish to believe in it do so, and let those who wish to reject it do so

on the day of judgement it is believed that god will be just, taking into account every indviduals circumstance (he will not punish someone for being born into a crime-ridden society) - howvwer outside of these factors humans are responsible for the good,bad, right and wong actions

• no muslims faith is complete withoutthis belief  - it is important for both shi'a muslims and is one of the six belliefs for sunni muslims
• muslims trust Allah is completecontroll of everything in the universe
• al'qadr has a close relationship with akhirah
• reminder of Allahs omniscience

• the belief that of physical life will one day come to an endand that all humans will be raised again in the next life - ;'then they will say "who will bring us back?" Say, "the One who created you the first time."'
• some belive this to be a physical resurrection hence why muslims are not cremated, others say it is just the soul that is taken away and given a new body in Barzakh and that the body is simply buried out of respect 
• the soul is immortal and after death Izra'il takes the soul to barzakh, the stage between death and the time of judgement

Judgement

'when the hour arrives, on that day people will be separated: those who believe dand did good deeds will delight in a garden, while those who disbelieved and denied our messages and the meeting of the hereafter will be bourght into torment.  -on the day of jugement 'people will be separated': those worthy of jannah and those deserving jahannam

Jannah  

'...gardens of lasting bliss ...they will be adorned with bracelets of gold...will be comfortably seated on soft chairs ...what a blessed reward! what a pleasant resting place  -described in the Qur'an as a beautiful place of luxury

Jahannam

'the fire will scorch their faces and their lips will be twisted in pain' -described as a place of pain and suffering - some muslims believe it is only temporary and all souls will go to jannah once pure: 'a time will come in jahannam when not a single man should be left in it'

• belief in the day of judgement is both one of the 6 beliefs of sunni muslims  and one of the 5 roots of 'usul ad-Din of shi'a muslims  - highly significant muslim belief, muslims therefore pray to be given good afterlife
  • 'grant us good things in this world and in the life to come'
• affects the way muslims treat eachother knowing they will be judged
• muslims will strive to follow th qur'an, sunnah, and hadith  so they can be judged favourably

these beliefs are very similar to christianities point of view on life after death as  christians believe in judgement day in a similar way that when you dies the sould rests untill the day when christ will return and guide people to god to be judged and the rest  will be left to be eaten by rodents and dragons on earth