|
|
 |
The Belives of Muslims
A MUSLIM BELIEVES IN SEVEN ARTICLES
WHICH FORM THE BASIS OF HIS FAITH
There is no object of worship besides
Allâh - the Almighty.
Existence of angels
Divine scripture
Prophethood
The Last Day
Destiny
Life After Death
COMMENTARY
THERE IS NO OBJECT OF WORSHIP BESIDES
ALLÂH - THE ALMIGHTY
Every family has a head, every school
has a principal, every province has a
premier, moreover we know that every
product is the work of a certain
producer. In the like manner there
must be a Creator and Originator of
life and the universe. There must be a
Supreme Being who controls the
movement of the sun and the moon, who
causes life and death. Muslims believe
that the Maker and Sustainer of the
world is the Almighty, the Eternal and
Compassionate.
Evidence of His existence as stated in
the Holy Qur’ân:
"Behold! In the creation of the
heavens and the earth and the
alternation of the day and night,
there are indeed signs for men of
intellect."
"Among His signs, is (that) He created
you from dust and behold! You are men
scattered (far and wide)."
The Qur’ân further states:
"Who is it that created the heavens
and the earth, who sends rain down to
you from the sky and with it He causes
well planted orchards to grow - full
of beauty and delight. It is not in
your power to cause the growth of
trees. (Can there be another ) deity
besides Allâh?"
The Once of Allah
The Holy Qur’ân states:
"Say He Allâh - the one and only.
Allâh the eternal and absolute. He
begetteth not, nor is He begotten.
(ie. He was not born from anybody nor
has He any children) And there is none
like unto Him."
A MUSLIM BELIEVES THAT:
The Almighty is one, who has no
partner nor son. He has no beginning
nor end. He is beyond human
comprehension. He is without needs and
thus independent and He alone is the
originator of the entire creation.
Whatever He has commanded us to do, it
is for our own benefit and good.
The Holy Qur’ân states:
"The originator of the heavens and
earth:- How can He have a son, when He
has no spouse? He created all things
and He has knowledge of all things".
"That is Allâh - your Lord There is no
deity but He The Creator of all things
Therefore worship Him......"
ANGELS
The Almighty is beyond physical
perception and beyond direct physical
contact with man.
The Qur’ân states:
"(He is) nearer to man than his
jugular vein"
Yet no physical contact is possible.
Thus, the angels are celestial message
bearers, who serve as intermediaries
between the Almighty and His Prophets.
The Holy Qur’ân states:
"Praise be to Allâh - originator of
the heavens and earth, who made the
angels, messengers with pairs of two,
three, or four wings."
Angels are created from light. They
are purely spiritual beings, whose
nature requires no food, drink nor
sleep. They are neither male nor
female, nor do they have physical
desires of any kind. They have been
allocated various duties and are
constantly in the service of the
Almighty. No one knows the exact
number of angels, except the Almighty.
However, the four well-known angels
are:
Jibra’îl - the angel of revelation
Mika’îl - the angel of revelation
Israfîl - the angel who will blow the
trumpet on the day of Judgement.
Izra’îl - the angel of death
Every individual is attended by two
angels who record his activities. They
are known as Kirâman Katibîn, "the
noble scribes".
The Holy Qur’ân states:
"Indeed over you are guardian
(angels) "Noble Scribes". They know
(all) that you do."
DIVINE SCRIPTURES
A Muslim believes in all the previous
Divine scriptures.
The Holy Qur’ân states:
".... (Muslims are those) who believe
in revelation sent to thee and before
thy time"
However most of these scriptures have
been either lost, distorted or
corrupted. A well known authority on
the sources of the bible Dr. J.
Patterson Smyth (BD, LLD) writes in
his book 'How we got our Bible' :
"Now let us remember clearly that as
we look into that old record chest of
nearly 1 800 years ago, we have before
us all the sources from which we get
our bible. And remember further that
these writings were of course
manuscripts i.e. written by the hand,
and that copies when needed, had each
to be written out, letter by letter,
at a great expense of time and
trouble, and unfortunately, I must
add, very often too at some expense of
the original correctness. However
careful the scribe might be, it was
almost impossible in copying a long
and difficult manuscript, to prevent
the occurrence of errors. Sometimes he
would mistake one letter for another,
if having the manuscript read to him,
he would confound two words of similar
sounds - sometimes after w riting in
the last word of a line, on looking up
again his eye would catch the same
word at the end of the next line, and
he would go on from that, omitting the
whole line between. Remarks and
explanations written in the margin
might sometimes get inserted in the
text while transcribing. In these and
various other ways errors might creep
into the copy of his manuscript. These
errors would be repeated by the man
that afterward copied from this, who
would also sometimes add other errors
of his own so that it is evident as
them." (pages 10 - 11).
SOME OF THE KNOWN DIVINE SCRIPTURES
ARE:
The Taurat, given to Mûsa (AS) (Moses)
The Zabûr, given to Dawûd (AS) (David)
The Injeel, given to Îsa (AS) (Jesus)
The Qur’ân, given to Muhammad (SAW)
THE QUR’ÂN
The Qur’ân is the speech of Allâh,
revealed in its precise wording and
meaning and protected by Allâh,
Himself.
The Almighty states :
"We have sent down the Qur’ân and We
will certainly preserve it. (from
corruption)"
The Qur’ân is the last and final
scripture of the Almighty, sent to man.
THE QUR’ÂN AND CONTEMPORARY SCRIPTURES
The Holy Qur’ân states:
"It is He who has sent down to thee in
truth, the book confirming what went
before it. And He sent down the Torah
and the Injeel before this, as a guide
to mankind. And He (ultimately) sent
the criterion (of Judgment between
right and wrong)" i.e. Qur’ân.
Thus the Qur’ân is the standard or
criterion by which all other books are
judged. Aspects of the bible that
conform to the Qur’ânic precepts we
accept as Divine truth, while those
that go against the criterion we
regard as human interpolation.
PROPHETS
Prophets are men of great piety chosen
by the Almighty to deliver His message
to mankind. They were sent at various
times of history to various nations.
They were all human beings, who were
protected from sin and falling prey to
their lust.
The Holy Qur’ân states:
"We (Muslims) believe in the Almighty
and the revelation given to us and to
Ibrahim, Is'hâq, Yaqûb and the
tribes .... we make no distinction
between any of them".
Some of the prophets mentioned in the
Qur’ân are: Adam, Nûh (Noah), Lût
(Lot), Ibrahim (Abraham), Isma'îl
(Ishmael), Dawûd (David), Mûsa
(Moses), Yunus (Jonah), Îsa (Jesus)
(A.S.) and Muhammed (SAW). Muhammed
(May peace be upon him) was the Last
Prophet, who is regarded as the 'Seal
of Prophethood'. The details of his
life are carefully preserved in what
is known as "Hadîth".
The Qur’ân states: "We did not send
you, but as a mercy unto mankind."
THE PROPHETHOOD OF ÎSA (JESUS) (A.S.)
Muslims do not believe that Îsa (AS)
(Jesus) was the begotten son of the
Almighty, nor that he died for the
sins of mankind. In fact he is a
chosen messenger of the Almighty and
he was born miraculously. He was
bestowed with super natural powers and
was not crucified but physically
lifted to the heavens. He will return
to this world once again.
The Holy Qur’ân states:
Behold the angel said: "O, Maryam -
Allâh gives you glad tidings of a word
from Him, His name will be Masih - Îsa
the son of Maryam, held in honour in
this world and the hereafter ..... and
Allâh will teach him the book of
wisdom - the Taurat and the Injîl and
appoint him messenger to the children
of Israel. His message will be: "I
have come to you with a sign from the
Lord. In that I make for you - out of
clay - as if it were the figure of a
bird, I breath into it and it becomes
a bird, by Allâh’s permission - and I
heal those born blind and the lepers -
and I bring the dead to life - by
Allâh’s permission, and I will inform
you of what you eat and what you store
in your houses - therein is a sign for
you - if you believe."
THE LAST DAY
This world will ultimately come to an
end one day and the dead will rise to
stand trial before the Almighty. This
world is an abode of trial, some
people are tested with wealth, whilst
others are tested through poverty.
Some have been given health whilst
others have been subjected to
sickness. Belief in the last day
answers many complicated questions.
There are people who commit sins and
indulge in immoral activities, yet
they seem to prosper, while the
innocent and meek are sometimes
exploited and oppressed.
The Holy Qur’ân states:
"Let not the arrogant strutting of the
unbelievers through the land deceive
you, it is but enjoyment for a little
while. Their ultimate abode is hell-
what an evil abode!"
All deeds of mankind are known to the
Almighty and are recorded by His
angels. Man will have to answer for
his deeds, he will be held accountable
and will either be rewarded or
punished for his conduct and deeds.
Justice and equality are the hallmarks
of the hereafter.
The Holy Qur’ân states:
"When the great overwhelming (event)
comes to pass, man shall remember
(all) that he strove for and hell-fire
shall be placed in full view, for him
who sees - then for such as had
transgressed all bounds and had
preferred the life of this world, the
abode will be the fire of hell and for
such as had entertained the fear of
standing before the Lord, and had
restrained their souls from lower
desires, their abode will be the
Garden of Bliss."
DESTINY
The power of good and bad lies in the
domain of Allâh. Man is exhorted to
think, plan and make sound decisions.
If after striving he does not succeed,
he should not loose faith and become
despondent, nor should he become
arrogant and haughty if he succeeds
and attribute success to his acumen
and intelligence.
The Holy Qur’ân states:
"No misfortune happens on earth or in
your souls, but is recorded in a book
(long) before We bring it into
existence. That is truly easy for
Allâh. In order that you may not
despair over matters that miss you,
nor become arrogant over favours
bestowed upon you. For Allâh loveth
not the vain-glorious."
The Holy Prophet (SAW) said: "Know
that, that which afflicted you was
never meant to miss you and that which
missed you was never meant for you."
Belief in destiny, implies that
whatever happens (be it good or bad)
takes place with the command, will and
wisdom of the Almighty.
LIFE AFTER DEATH
Death is merely a doorway to a
perpetual life. After the last day,
wherein the existence and system of
the universe will be brought to an
end, the earth, moon, stars etc., will
be crushed and reduced to atoms.
Mankind will be resurrected and will
be asked to give an account of their
deeds. Those who believed and did
righteous deeds would be blessed with
a perpetual life (i.e. paradise),
whilst those who rejected the truth
and lived wicked lives will be cast
into the fire of hell, therein they
shall dwell perpetually.
The Qur’ân states:
"Those who reject the truth among the
people of the Book and among the
polytheist will be in the fire of hell
to dwell therein forever. They are the
worst of creatures. Those who have
faith and do righteous deeds, they are
the best of creatures - their reward
is with Allâh - gardens of eternity
beneath which rivers flow. They will
dwell therein forever."
|
