Muslim are not only required to adhere to the five pillars of Islam, we also believe in the six fundamental articles of faith (imaan):
The six pillars (articles) of faith are:
- Allah
- Angels of Allah
- Books of Allah
- Messengers of Allah
- The Day of Judgement
- Divine predestination
Belief in Allah as the one and only God.
To believe in Allah is to believe that there is only one God worthy of worship, with no partner, or son. This concept is known as Tawheed. Also, it is to completely believe in the way he is described in the Quran, Sunnah and in his 99 names.
Belief in the Angels of Allah.
Angels (Mala-ika) – were created from light and were created before humans for the purpose of worshiping Allah. Angels do not sleep, eat or suffer from illnesses. Some of the duties of angles include: keeping our records, blowing the trumpet on judgment day, taking people’s souls (i.e. angel of death) and to be the keepers of heaven and hell.
Belief in the Books of Allah.
This is to believe in the books of Allah which were relayed to nations by the Messengers of Allah. The books were divine guidance and proof for mankind.
Among the books of Allah are:
- The Scrolls (Suhof) revealed to the Prophet Ibrahim (P.B.U.H)
- The Tawrat (Torah), revealed to Musa (P.B.U.H)
- The Zabur (Psalms), revealed to Dawud (P.B.U.H)
- The Injeel (Gospel), revealed to Isa (P.B.U.H)
- The Noble Qur’an, revealed to Muhammad (P.B.U.H)
Belief in the Messengers of Allah.
The Messengers of Allah were sent to a specific nations except for Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), who was sent to guide the whole of mankind. The Messengers were sent with clear proofs so that no one will have an excuse on the Day of Judgement.
Some of the Messengers are: Nuh (Noah), Ibrahim (Abraham), Ismail (Ishmael), Ishaq (Isaac), Yaqub (Jacob), Musa (Moses), Suleiman (Solomon), Dawud (David), Isa (Jesus the son of Mary), and Muhammad (P.B.U.T).
Belief in the Day of Judgement.
Allah (S.W.A) created men and jinn to worship him. Everyone will be resurrected on the day of judgement to give account of their piety. Those who obeyed Allah and His messengers will be rewarded with paradise and those who disobeyed will get the punishment of hellfire.
Allah (S.W.A) has set a period for the whole universe – the end of which will be the final hour. During the final hour, humans will be questioned about their deeds in this world. Those deeds will be weighed for them. One whose good deeds outweigh his evil deeds, s/he will enter paradise. If their bad deeds outweigh the good, they will be condemned to hellfire – unless they died in the state of Islam. Then, Allah will either forgive or punish them, and they will eventually enter paradise.
Belief in Divine Predestination.
This is the Belief in the Qadhaa’ & Qadr (Doom & Divine Decree).
Doom (Qadhaa’) is the general decree of Allah that every human shall die, whereas a divine decree (Qadr) is a particular decree of Allah or the execution of Qadhaa’, that a certain person is to die at a particular time and place (destiny). Hence, believing in this pillar entails believing that Allah has created everything and has foreordained its proper measure.
Moreover, The belief in Divine Predestination includes belief in four things:
- Allah is well acquainted with everything taking place, and His Knowledge encompasses everything.
- Allah has pre-assigned portions of everything in the preserved tablet.
- Nothing takes place in the heavens or on the earth without the will of Allah and his wish. Whatever Allah wills, takes place and whatever he does not, will do not take place.
- Allah is the creator of all things. There is no other creator besides him.
