RE islam beliefs and practices

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  • Created by: holzie14
  • Created on: 08-01-19 18:16

the oneness of god and the supremacy of god's will

  • muslims believe that islam was revealed to humanity by many prophets over centuries. First was Adam (the first man) and the most complete revelation was to muhammad in the 7th century. 
  • islam= surrender, obedience,peace or submission in arabic- muslims should surrender to allah 
  • Tawhid is important belief in both sunni and shi'a islam(only one god) 
  • "He is god the one, god the eternal. he begot no one nor was he begotten.No one is comparable to him"
  • this belief is repeated in daily shahdah "there is no god but allah and muhammad is his prophet"
  • muslims believe god is undivided entity meaning he is not made upof different people nor does he have a son
  • god is unique-no picture can describe god 
  • no matter what happens, good or bad, muslims believe this is god's will. sunni-supremacy of god's will is an important article of faith 
  • muslims add the words"god willing" or "inshallah" after a promise as god is in control not them 
  • prophets are respected NOT WORSHIPPED as it would be worshipping idols this is wrong in islam 
  • muslims show their beliefs by worshipping-muslim ="one who has submitted to god" and try to live accordingly everyday
  • "misfortunes can only happen with god's permission"
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key beliefs of sunni and shi'a islam

  • when muhammad died muslims thought that only the quran and the sunnah (muhammad's teachings) had authority to guide their actions and Abu Bakr was elected to be their leader (caliph) to act on god's behalf 
  • caliphs don't make the laws only enforce those that the community introduced after scholars had studied the quran and sunnah. this group are the sunni muslims 
  • another group believed that muhammad had named his cousin Ali as successor (Ali married fatima-muhammad's daughter) 
  • Ali and suppporters believed the true leader(imam) had to be a descendent of Muhammad. each imam would identify the next before they die 
  • Ali was ignored by many muslims and Ali's followers were known as the shi'a muslims as he hold a differnt interpretation of the quarn to the sunnis but share common principles e.g. the belief in god 
  • sunni have 6 main beliefs:there is one god, angels communicate the message of god to humans, the quarn is the highest authority in islam, muhammad is the most important prophet, the day of judgement and that god already knows what will happen in the world and in people's lives.
  • shi'a have usal-ad-din(roots or religion) which have 5 principle: Tawhid=god is one,prophethood=accepting muhammad is god's last prophet&god's revelation is true , god is wise and just and can do no wrong 
  • the imamate means accepting the 12 imams are the leaders of islam and guard the truth of religion,after death, they will be resurrected to be judged by god
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the nature of god

  • everyday muslims say and hear the words "allahu akbar"="god is the greatest". they believe that he is beyond human understanding and is greater than anything humans can imagine
  • muslims believe that god revealed himself to people through muhammad and the holy books. there are 99 names of god in the qur'an and hadith that describe god 
  • many memorise the names and recite them when praying "the most excellent names belong to god:use them to call on him"
  • muslims believe that god is the immanent(present in, and involved in,life on earth and the universe) they also think that god is transcendent (beyond and outside life) or beyond all things 
  • some may wonder how can god be both? for muslims he can be noth because he is the creator of the universe and not limited by the physical world. 
  • its also believed that he is omnipotent(all powerful) and omniscient (all-knowing) so that he knows all human actions and thoughts 
  • god is also beneficent (all loving) and his generosity is seen in his gift to humans of life on earth. 
  • in their daily prayers, muslims begin by saying "in the name of god,the lord of mercy the giver of mercy" this is the "bismillah" and muslims say it to dedicate everthing they do to god. 
  • they believe that god is mercifuland understands their suffering and he acts fairly and just 
  • 1 out of 5 roots of shi'a islam is the justice of god(adalat) since god is perfect he never acts unjustly towards his creations,humans have full responsibility for their actions and god will judge accordingly 
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angels

  • muslims believe angels bring the word of god to the phophets and messangers of god (this is an article of faith for sunni muslims) 
  • angels are supernatural and part of unseen world and were created by god from light 
  • "praise to god,creator of the heavens and the earth who made angels messengers with two,three,four wings"
  • angels receive the word of god and can pass it onto prophets because they are pure and sinless 
  • angels are involved in humans lives (e.g. guardian angels and ones who record actions and thoughts in the book of deeds) 
  • angels appeared to Ibrahim and Maryam as men to give them God's message 
  • archangel Jibril relayed the qur'an to muhammad as a child his heart was purified so he could receive the revelation and at the age of 40 Jibril shared god's message with him
  • archangel mika'il is the angel of mercy he is responsible for rewarding the righteous for their good actions and for sending rain,thunder and lightning to earth
  • "anyone who is an enemy of god's angels(mika'il and jibril) is also an enemy of god"
  • jibril and mika'il bring noursihment to humans through god's words and rain
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predestination

  • some sunni muslim think god has pre-determined everything that will happen in the universe and recorded it in the book of decrees
  • "only what god has decreed will happen to us. he is our master let the believers put their trust in god"- this belief emphasises god's omniscience rather than our freedom but we still have a choice over our actions
  • shi'a muslims think that god knows all that will happen but doesn't decide what will happen so we still have freewill as god is outside time 
  • this means there is no conflict between the idea of god's supremacy and the freedom of humans "god does not change the condition of a people[for the worst]unless they change what is in themselves"
  • on judgement day all people will be judged by god according to what they've done throughout their lives 
  • many muslims believe god gave humans free will so they're responsible for their actions and as to whether god will punish or reward them 
  • "those of use who believe do good deeds keep up the prayer and pay the prescribed alms will have their reward with their lord"
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life after death

  • muslims believe death is a new stage of life (akhira)where a person still has a conscienceness in the grave they enter a state of waiting(barzakh-barrier) no one can change what they've done or warn others until judgement day 
  • in the grave 2 angels sent by god to question you about your faith if you answer correctly you'll be rewarded if you don't believe  you'll be punished
  • it;s thought one day god's purpose for the universe will be fulfilled, angel israfil will blow his trumpet and the world as we know it will be transformed into a new world (akhirah) and everyone will be ressurected and judged the book of deeds will be handed to you if in your left hand you'll go to hell if in the right you're going to heaven and will cross the sirat bridge over hell 
  • heaven is described as a garden of happiness with "couches of well woven cloth" "everlasting youths carrying glasses of pure drink that cause no headaches or intoxication" "there will be any fruit they choose the meat of any bird"
  • hell is a great place of great torment and fire"they will dwell amid scorching wind and scalding water in the shadow of black smoke, neither cool nor refreshing" some think these ideas are literal other see them as symbols of a persons life after death 
  • this is 1/6 of the articles of faith and 1/5 roots of shi'a islam it teaches that you're responsible for your actions
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prophethood and adam

  • prophets are chosen by god to spread the message of islam this belief is risalah,they are a method of communication between god and humans muslims know how to live correctly due to the prophets messages
  • prophethood is a gift given by god to help humankind understand his message, prophets lived according to god's will examples such as adam, ibrahim, musa,isa and muhammad 
  • adam the first man was made from dust and known as he father of the human race so is treated with respect and reverence "one of his signs is that he created you from dust and lo and behold! you became human and scattered far and wide""he created the first man from clay..then he molded him he breathed from his spirit into him he gave you hearing, sight and minds"
  • angels were told by god to bow down to adam out of respect but iblis refused and was thrown out of paradise and vowed to tempt humans to sin against god 
  • adam wasnt lonely god made hawa(eve)they lived in the garden of bliss, iblis deceived them into eating from the forbidden tree and were thrown out of the garden and bought sin to the world 
  • adam is important to muslims as god gave him understanding and this was passed onto the human race,he was the 1st to harvest crops,cook food and plant seeds.
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ibrahim

  • "who could be better in religion than those who direct themsekves wholly to god do good and follow the religion of abraham who was true in faith god took abraham as a friend" 
  • its believed that ibraham completed all tests and commands given to him by god and so was promised to be father of all nations. they say muhammad descended from ibrahim through his son ishmael 
  • ibrahim is shown as a role model in the qur'an as he was obedient, his kindness and compassion and his refusal to worship false idols, he was determined to find out who made the universe,declared his belief in 1 god and was determined to stop idol worshipping anmd he destroyed all idols in a temple except 1 as a punishment he was to be burnt alive but only his chains were burnt and he walked out of the fire leading many to follow god 
  • the ka'aba is seen as the house of god its thought adam built it and after it was damaged in a flood ibraham ishmael rebuilt it 
  • during adha muslims slaughter animals to remember ibrahim sacrificing his son for god also on hajj at mina muslims throw stones at the pillars the same way ibrahim did at the devil who tempted him and pilgrims run between 2 hills and drink water from the river zamzam to remeber the story of ibrahim's wife hagar 
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muhammad and the imamate

  • muslims believe muhammad received the final revelation from god he's known as the last and greatest prophet he was an orphan and gained the reputation of an honest merchant he married a widow and 25 and often climbed the mountains to pray and meditate when on day he was visited by jibril who told him the message of god amd received more over 20 years "muhammad is not the father of any one of you men he is god's messenger and the deal of the prophets: god knows everything" 
  • 3yrs after the 1st revelation he began preaching and challenged peopel to stop idol worshipping, drinking and gambling and fled makkah (hijirah) the start of the ummah(islam family) the night before hijirah he was taken by jibril on a winged horse(al-buraq) upto heaven and spoke to isa who told him to pray 5x a day. 
  • him and 10,000 muslims marched and destroyed 360 idols in the ka'aba and introduced muslim law, his teachings can be found in the hadith and sira 
  • after his death muslims split into shi'a and sunni, sunnis had their caliph and shi'a had an imam shi'a think that there have been 12 imams and the last (muhammad al-mahdi) is kept alive by god and is hidden on earth and will return with jesus
  • the imamate gives guidance to muslims as how to live their lives
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the holy books in islam

  • muslims believe the qur'an is the word of god which was revelaed to muhammad over 22 years by jibril it's believed to be infalliable and the source of all doctrine, practice and law, the original qur'an is said to be kept in heaven so when muslims read the book they will think god's words are speaking directly to them "this is the scripture in which there is no doubt, containing guidance for those who are mindful of god " "this is truly a glorious qur'an on a peserved tablet"
  • qur'an means recital because muhammad recited the words from heart to his followers after his death his successor abu bakr copied them so they werent misread or misunderstood
  • the qur'an contains advice  on how to follow god  the 1st surah(chapter) is a prayer to god for guidance thats used in daily prayer all but one surah starts with the words"in the name of god the lord of mercy the giver of mercy "
  • muslims are encouraged to learn arabic to so they can read the qur'an in its original language those who can recite the qur'an in full have the title hafiz
  • muslims believe there are other holy books revealed by god including the torah, the psalms and the gospel
  • the torah is mentioned 18 times in the qur'an and is thought to be the first 5 books of the bible                                                                                                                                                                                           
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