The Doctrines of Islam

            Iman, or faith may be strengthened by obedience to God Almighty Allah, and may be weakened by acts of disobedience. Iman has over seventy branches; its uppermost is the testimony of faith; "There is no true god except Allah", and the lowermost of which is removing a harmful object from the road. Islam contains sex basic articles of faith as we will explain in the following sections.

Belief in the Oneness of Allah

            Belief in the Oneness of Allah, Who is the sole Creator upon Whom all the creation depend for their means of subsistence. Everything stands in need of Allah, but He stands in need of no one. This belief entails also believing in Allah as the only God who is worthy of being worshipped, and in the uniqueness of His attributes. He is not a body that has been formed. He does resemble any created thing, nor does any created thing resemble Him. Space does not encompass Him, nor do the earth and the heavens contain Him. He is situated above His Great Throne in the manner which suits His Majesty. Although He is above His Throne and separated from all His creatures, yet in spite of this He is near to every existing thing. He is nearer to man than his jugular vein.

            Allah is known by the intellect to be existing in His essential being. Thus it follows for Islam that the greatest of all sins is shirk, i.e., associating partners with Allah or giving to anyone or anything even the smallest share in Allah's unique sovereignty.

Belief in angels

            Belief in angels, sexless creatures created of light. Allah has created the angels and tasked them to perform numerous duties besides worshipping Him. They are His obedient slaves. � They stand in awe of Him.� [51]. Some of them are mentioned in the Qur'an and the Prophetic traditions such as Jibreel, the angel that brings down the divine revelation to the Prophets and Messengers, Mika'eel, the angel of provisions, Israfeel, the angel of the trumpet of doom, the angel of death, Ridhwaan, the guard of the Jannah [52], Malik, the guard of Hell, Raqeeb and Ateed, the two angels who record mans deeds and utterances, Munkar and Nakeer, the questioners of the dead, the Throne bearers, and others.

Belief in His Scriptures

            Belief in His Scriptures, specifically that they were free from any imperfection or errors at the time of their revelation. All Scriptures preceding the Qur'an have been tampered with or distorted by the people of the Book, whereas the Qur'an is protected by Allah from change or tampering. He sent down Scriptures to Abraham, Isma'il, Is'haq, Ya'qoob (Jacob) and his twelve sons, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad, peace be upon them. Scriptures were revealed through Jibreel to the various Prophets in succession. Thus Scriptures are really one and each successive book confirms those that preceded it. With the revelation of the Qur'an, all previous Scriptures were abrogated, and what the Jews and the Christians now have are not the original Torah of Musa (Moses), and Gospel of Issa (Jesus) but later productions written by the hands of men.

Belief in His Messengers

            Belief in His Messengers whom Allah has chosen at various times from among mankind whom He has honored by making them mediators between Himself and His slaves. They were sent in order to give good tidings of rewards to those who do good, and to warn those who do ill of coming punishment. It is equally important to believe that the information they brought is characteristically and necessarily veracious. The Messengers were to make clear to people all they need to know of what was befitting in religion and in secular life, and to make specific to them the acts of worship whereby they would attain the highest ranks in the Hereafter. Allah, the Glorious, aided His Messengers by clearly apparent signs and by splendid miracles. The first of the Prophets series was Adam, and the last of them is our Prophet Muhammad, Peace be upon them all. Believing in the Messengers of Allah means also believing that they were trustworthy in what they transmitted to men, and that they were preserved from anything that would contradict their mission by Allah. Among whom the most prominent and steadfast are Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, peace be upon them. They are human and slaves of Allah. Every Prophet or Messenger before Muhammad, peace be on them, was sent to his own people, but Muhammad, peace be on him, is sent to all mankind. Allah says:� Blessed is He Who has sent down the Qur'an to His slave so that it might be a warner to the worlds.� [53].

            None of Allah's Messengers or Prophets claimed to be god or part-god. Allah says:� Allah has not taken unto Himself any son, nor is there any god with him, for otherwise each god would have taken away what he had created, and some of them would surely have dominated over the others. Far be Allah above all that which they attribute to Him.� [54].

            Muslims accept all the Prophets and Messengers sent by Allah as theirs, moreover they accept Jesus, not as Christians claim him to be the Divine manifestation or son of God, but as a Messenger, albeit of miraculous birth since he was born of a virgin, hence he is called Jesus son of Mariyam (Mary).

            Although Jesus is highly respected in Islam, yet Islam does not concede any idea of his divinity, or believe that he is the son of God. This, or any Trinitarian idea of God, or any suggestion that Jesus is somehow an hypothesis of God, is utterly rejected in Islam. Jesus did not die upon the cross, rather someone else was substituted for him. Allah says:� They slew him not, nor did they crucify him not but it appeared so to them. But God took him up to Him. Allah is ever Mighty, Wise.� [55].

Belief in the Last Day

            Belief in the Last Day, i.e. the Day of Resurrection. Allah has pre-decreed a term for each creature, and a term for the life of this world. Allah will assuredly raise the dead from their tombs. The end of this world will be marked by the sounding of the Trumpet. Then the Trumpet will sound again and mankind shall be resurrected so that every person will stand before the Rubb of the worlds and be questioned about his or her deeds in this world. Allah, the Exalted, has created the Jannah and has prepared it as an eternal dwelling for His pious slaves who He will honor by the vision of His face. He has also created Hell for those who disbelieve in Him. On the Day of Resurrection, rewards and penalties are assigned, the balances will be set up for weighing the works of men and those whose balance weighs heavy will be those who will prosper. Everyone will be given his record sheet. It is to be believed that the Bridge over Hell is real, and men will have to cross it. The pious of them will do so safely, and the impious will fall in Hell.

Belief in Al-Qada, and Qadar, or predestination

            Belief in Al-Qada, and Qadar, or predestination, of both good and evil consequences. All man's thoughts, words, and deeds were foreordained, determined and decreed by Allah for all eternity, and that everything that happens takes place according to what has been written for it. Allah has created everything in due proportion. His determination of the nature of things was established fifty-thousand years before He created the Heavens and the earth. Nothing occurs or takes shape within the heavens or on earth but with His knowledge and by His order. In other words, man's life as predestined in the sense that nothing can finally oppose the Will of Almighty Allah. Man nonetheless has the gift of free will in that he does make choices and decisions.

            Believing in predestination however, necessitates believing:

• That the knowledge of Allah encompasses all things, and that nothing escapes His knowledge, be it in the heavens or on the earth. Allah has known His creatures before he brought them into existence. He reassigns their provisions, term of life, utterances, deeds, actions, movements, their internal and external affairs, and who of them is assigned for Jannah, and which of them is doomed to Hell.
  
  
• That Allah has pre-decreed what to come into existence. This in turn requires believing in the Pen which records all the divine decrees, and in the Preserved Tablet on which the decrees are recorded.
  
  
• That the will of Allah is effective and His capacity is inexhaustible and inclusive. Doubtlessly, whatever Allah wills does take place, and whatever He does not will does not take place due not to incapacity rather to His infinite wisdom. There is nothing that frustrates the capacity of Allah.
  
  
• That Allah, the Exalted, is the sole Creator of all things. All praise is due to Him. He is the One other than Whom there is no god.

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[51]Qur'an (32:11).
[52]The above of recompense in which various delights prepared therein for the obedient salves of Allah who will live in it eternally. The Paradise is atop it.
[53]Qur'an (25:19).
[54]Qur'an (39:33).
[55]Qur'an (4:157-158).