The Basics of Islam

Bismillâh, wa-l-hamdulillâh, wa-s-salâtu wa-s-salâmu `alâ rasûlillâh

What is Islam?

Islam comes crom the Arabic word silm (not salâm, which means peace) which means sumbission.
Islam is to submit, accept and obey the teachings of Allâh which he revealed to His Messenger Muhammad (sallallâhu `alayhi wa sallam). A Muslim is one who submits to the true teachings of Allâh.

The Five Pillars of Islam

Islam is built upon five pillars:
  1. Shahâdah (Testification). A Muslim must believe with the heart and declare with the tongue that there is no one deserving of worship except Allâh, and that Muhammad (sallallâhu `alayhi wa sallam) is His Final Messenger.
  2. Salah (Prayer). A Muslim must pray five times a day: Fajr (dawn), Zuhr (early afternoon), `Asr (late afternoon), Maghrib (evening), and `Ishâ' (night)
  3. Zakâh (Alms). A Muslims is required to pay 2.5% of his/her wealth per year.
  4. Sawm (Fasting). A Muslim is required to fast the whole of the month of Ramadân.
  5. Hajj (Pilgrimage). A Muslim is required to perform pilgrimage to Makkah at least once in his/her lifetime.

The Six Pillars of Îmân (Faith)

Îmân (faith) has six pillars:

1. Belief in Allâh. We must believe in Allâh's Oneness & Uniqueness, His Existence, His Lordship, His Divine & Sublime Names & Attributes, His Perfection and His Sole Right to be worshipped.

2. Belief in His Angels. We must believe that Allâh created angels, who are honoured servants made from light. They do not disobey Allâh; they only do what He commands them to do. Only Allâh knows how many angels there are, but to indicate their great number, there is a hadîth that states that every day 70,000 angels visit al-Bayt al-Ma'mûr and leave, never returning to it again, another group coming after them.

We must know ten individual angels:
1. Jibrîl. He is the chief on the angels and is responsible for conveying the wahy (revelation) from Allâh to His Prophets.
2. Mîkâl (or Mîkâ'îl). He is responsible for rain and vegetation.
3. Isrâfîl. He is responsible for blowing the Trumpet, first to destroy everything except what Allâh wills, then the second time to signify the period of resurrection and judgement.
4. Malak al-Mawt. He is the angel of death. Every human will have his soul taken out of his body by this angel when his time comes to die.
5. & 6. Munkar & Nakîr. They are responsible for questioning the dead in their graves.
7. Ridwân. He is the main gatekeeper of Paradise
8. Mâlik. He is the chief gatekeeper of Hell
9. & 10. The two angels who record one's good and bad deeds, described as Raqîb (observer) & `Atîd (ready to record). The Qur'ân also describes them as Kirâman Kâtibîn (noble & recording).

3. Belief in His Books. We must believe in the Divine Books that Allâh sent down to His
Messengers.

We must know four particular Books:
1. Tawrât (Torah), which was revealed to Prophet Mûsâ (`alayhi-s-salâm)
2. Zabûr (Psalms), which was revealed to Prophet Dâwûd (`alayhi-s-salâm)
3. Injîl (Gospel), which was revealed to Prophet `Îsâ (`alayhi-s-salâm)
4. Qur'ân, which was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (sallallâhu `alayhi wa sallam)

However, our belief in these Books does not mean we follow the teachings of these books. The only Divine Book we are allowed to follow is the Qur'ân.

We must also believe that ALL of the Books sent down before us do not exist in their true, original forms today; they have either been lost or corrupted by the people as time went by. Examples of corrupted books are the Tawrât and Injîl.

4. Belief in His Messengers. We must believe that Allâh sent Prophets and Messengers to to he people and jinn of nations before us to guide them to the path of the Truth, and that they have told the truth about everything they have conveyed from Allâh. We must also believe that Muhammad (sallallâhu `alayhi wa sallam) was His Final Messenger and was sent to the worlds.

We must know 25 particular Prophets, all of whom are mentioned in the Qur'ân: Âdam, Idrîs, Nûh, Hûd, Sâlih, Lût, Ibrahîm, Ismâ`îl, Ishâq, Ya`qûb, Yûsuf, Shu`ayb, Mûsâ, Hârûn, Dâwûd, Sulaymân, Ayyûb, Dhû l-Kifl, Yûnus, Ilyâs, al-Yasa`, Zakariyyâ, Yahyâ, `Îsâ and Muhammad (`alayhimu-s-salâtu wa-s-salâm).

5. Belief in the Last Day. We must believe in the Day of Resurrection, the Day of Judgement, the day in which, as described by the Prophet himself (sallallâhu `alayhi wa sallam), "The two feet of the son of Adam will not move from near his Lord on the Day of Judgement until he is asked about five (matters): (1) about his life - how he spent it; (2) about his youth - how he took care of it; (3) about his wealth - how he earned it; (4) and where he spent it (5) and about that which he acted upon from the knowledge he acquired." (Narrated by at-Tirmidhî and others)

On this Day, every single person will be brought back to life, judged, have his/her good and bad deeds weighed up against each other, walk on the sirât and enter either Paradise or Hellfire.

6. Belief in Predestination/Divine Decree/Divine Will. We must believe that Allâh decreed for everything to happen. Whatever Allâh decreed to happen occurs and whatever Allâh does not decree to happen does not occur. Nothing happens except that Allâh knows it was going to happen and knew about it eternally.
So the question might be asked: Do we have free will? Why will Allâh punish us because of something he decreed for us to do anyway?

The answer is that Allâh does not hold us responsible for creating the act, for Allâh is the Creator of all acts. Rather, he holds us responsible for choosing the act. One proof of this is that a person who cannot choose is not held responsible, such as someone asleep, insane, a child, forced, unremembering, or someone who makes an honest mistake. The legal responsibility of such people is lifted because they lack full voluntary choice.

Another proof is that Nimrûd sinned for choosing to burn Ibrâhîm (`alayhi-s-salâm) even though Ibrâhîm did not burn; and that Ibrâhîm (`alayhi-s-salâm) became the Close Friend of Allâh for choosing to sacrifice his son out of obedience to Allâh, even though his knife did not cut and his son was not sacrificed. All of this shows that the servant is held responsible for his choice.

Also, we do not have any access to Allâh's Decree. So when we choose to do acts, we do so on the basis of a desire within ourselves, not because we know Allah's Decree, and as a result we are held responsible for our choices even though they correspond with Allâh's Decree.

Wallâhu A`lam wa Ahkam

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