Aqidah – the Basic Fundamentals of Islam

"On those who believe and work deeds of righteousness, will (Allah) the Most Gracious bestow love." (Qur'an 19:96)

Islam is the last and most recent of the 3 true Abrahamic faiths (Judaism and Christianity being the other 2). Founded upon the principle of absolute monotheism, Islam was established through the teachings of a 7th century Arab by the name of Muhammad (SAW). The word Islam literally means “attaining peace and security (through total submission to God).” An adherent of Islam calls his/herself a Muslim/Muslimah, or “one who submits oneself (to God).” Muslims see their faith as a continuation and culmination of all of the world’s past true religions, with a special kinship to Judaism and Christianity. Muslims see Islam as the primordial religion of mankind, the religion that was taught to Adam (AS), the first man ever created, the first man on Earth, AND the first prophet on Earth (Qur’an Ch.3 v.33). However, through the ages, man has forgotten or corrupted the message of Islam (Qur’an Ch.5 v.13), so God Almighty, or Allah (SWT) in Arabic, sent down prophets to remind us. Every nation/tribe/community had its prophet sent down with at least the essential message of Islam, tawheed, or the oneness or unity of God, with the inherent acknowledgment that nothing else is like Him, comparable to Him, or worthy of worship (Qur’an Ch. 16 v.36). The prophets may have brought different legislations and methods of expression of faith, but all followed tawheed. Muslims even accept all the true prophets of the Judeo-Christian tradition (including Isa, Jesus (AS)), although the stories and particulars of the prophets themselves differ between the faiths (Qur’an Ch.3 v.84). For Muslims, the final prophet, the Seal of the Prophets, was Muhammad ibn Abdullah (SAW, which stands for sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, meaning “may the blessings and the peace of Allah be upon him (Muhammad)”), an illiterate 7th century Arab who was a merchant by trade. Muhammad (SAW) received divine revelations from Allah (SWT) through the archangel Jibril (Gabriel). These series of divine revelations spanned a series of 23 years, usually surfacing to Muhammad (SAW) when the either the prophet or Ummah, the Muslim community, was in need of help/guidance. These revelations were later assembled into a series of chapters by Muhammad (SAW) (who was instructed by Allah (SAW) via Jibril), collectively known as Al-Qur’an (The Recitation), the holy text of Islam. Second to the Qur’an is the Sunnah, the ways of the prophet. The Sunnah is recorded in ahadith, series of anecdotes/stories/reports of what Muhammad (SAW) said, did, and approved of. The ahadith were carefully collected and arranged according to subject matter. Also, each hadith had its grade on how reliable it was based on the isnad (links/chains of transmission through narrators), the trustworthiness of the narrators, the validity of the hadith’s message in the light of the Qur’an, etc. Ahadith were usually memorized by the Sahaba (Companions of the Prophet (SAW)) as they lived with Muhammad (SAW), and spread through both oral and written tradition to the rest of the Muslim people, and even through the next generations (1). The ahadith began to be academically collected within a few years of the prophet’s death, and formally graded and recorded by 9th century. However, it should be noted that both the ahadith and the Qur’an began as oral traditions, and they were meant to be preserved and taught primarily as oral traditions, and remain so to this day – written copies of both are just for educational and precautionary purposes (1). The Qur’an and Sunnah combined create a regimen for the cultivation of a Muslim’s soul and well-being, and well as guidance on how to live a life that is both full of success and pleasing to God, and goes into all aspects of life, from meditation to diet, from business to bedroom etiquette, from sports to academia. Many Western scholars seem to want to overlook the ahadith and the Qur’an overall, and rather let Jewish and Christian accounts of early Islam dominate what goes into the history books (even if the Christian and Jews were never there). Their justification is that the ahadith is biased because it was collected during Islam’s “expansionist” period, so it only wants to portray Islam and its prophet in a good light (which, by the way, is not the case, as made evident by the fact that there are many ahadith that Muslim scholars have had to reject due to questionable content as well as faulty isnads, etc., and even some ahadith that are authentic that may seem strange and downright weird). Also, the Qur’an has been challenged in its authenticity and its history maligned without any solid evidence – just whimsy. It’s because of prejudice and warped senses of historical reliability like this that this website was created, and surely, this issue will be dealt with in the future, God willing. This page itself will provide a compilation of my posts dealing with aqidah, the creed or set of beliefs held by Muslims, along with other basics. Aqidah itself is comprised of 2 categories, the 5 Pillars of Islam and the 6 Articles of Faith, and when these are combined with ihsan, one encompasses all the virtues of the ideal Muslim (Sahih al-Bukhari Vol.1 Bk.2 No.47). Ihsan is a beautiful and excellent way of conducting oneself, described in the same hadith noted above as “to worship God as though you see Him, and even if you cannot see Him, indeed He sees you.” Any comments, concerns, corrections and additions can be e-mailed to: farhan_m_rashid@hotmail.com

The 6 Articles of Faith

1. Tawheed – the Absolute Oneness and Unity of Allah (SWT), the Lord and Sustainer of all Creation
2. Angels – beings created out of light that serve Allah (SWT) perfectly without any disobedience; some have interactions with human beings; jinni are not angels, but a seperate creation made out of smokeless fire and have partial free will (Shaytan was a jinnk not an angel)
3. Prophets – special individuals of the highest virtue, chosen by Allah (SWT) to relay His message to each prophet’s targeted audiance; some prophets were actually given scripture, and these prophets are known as messengers
4. Revealed Scripture – guidance of Allah (SWT) given to messengers via revelation; entirely the Word of God Almighty – any change by any other author corrupts the purity of the scripture
5. Day of Judgment – every human and jinn will be judged for his/her/its faith and deeds, and will be sentenced to Paradise or Hellfire
6. Qadr – God Almighty knows everything that will happen, including the choices we make with our free will, but he lets us make our own choices regardless – His forknowledge cancels neither our ability to choose our actions nor our responsibility for our actions

- Farhan R.

Works Cited

(1) – Saad, Ahmad. “Collecting the Hadith: Brief History.” Reading Islam. 1 June 2004. IslamOnline.net. 19 Dec. 2008 <http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?cid=1123996220130&pagename=IslamOnline-English-AAbout_Islam%2FAAboutIslamCounselorE%2FAAboutIslamCounselorE>.