Chapter no 1: Articles of faith

Q1: Describe briefly the

articles of Faith? (10)
Ans: The fundamental belief
which serve as a the foundation
of religion are called its article of
faith. All the prophets of Allah, in
their attempts to reform mankind,
concentrated mainly on
transferring their belief to their
followers.
The holy prophet too began
propagating his message by
focusing attention on these
beliefs.
These beliefs are stated in Iman-
e-Muffasal which says:
I believe in Allah, in his
angels, in his books, in his
messangers, in the last day,
in the fact that everything,
good or bad is decided by
Allah, the Almighty and in the
life after death
So the fundamental beliefs or the
articles of faith are:
Oneness of Allah
Angels
Divine books
Prophets
Allah predestination and
decree
Resurrection and the Last
day
Q2 a): Describe Muslim
belief in oneness of Allah ?
(10)
Ans: Muslim believe in one god,
Allah. This belief in the oneness
of Allah is known as Tauhid. In the
Quran, the surah which perhaps
best explains the nature of Tauhid
is Surah-al-Ikhlas.
Say he is Allah, the one and
only
Allah, the eternal,Absolute
He does not begotten, nor he
is begotten
And there is non- like him
The belief in the oneness of Allah
is the core of Islam. All creation
has to recognize the creator, who
is Allah and submit to his will.
This is the essence of Islam,
which means submission to Allah.
The unity of Allah means that
Allah is:
1: Unique in Person :
This signifies that Allah is one and
there is no plurality of gods.
2: Unique in Attributes :
This signifies that no other can be
equal to Allah in attributes, the
Quran gives us an idea by
describing his attributes, but it is
difficult for human minds to really
understand his power.
For example, the Quran says of
Allah:
He is the first, he is the last;
He is the manifest; He is the
hidden. (Al hadith 57S3)
3: Unique in Action:
This signifies that no other being
can do the work which Allah has
done or may do.
The main statement that every
Muslim make is:
La ilaha illa Allah
Which means there is no god
except Allah
This suggest that everything
passes away except Allah and
that everything, all the creation, is
dependent on him.
Q2 b): Explain briefly the
meaning of Shirk? (4)
Ans: Associating partness with
Allah is shirk. Shirk is the worship
of idols and offering prayers and
supplication (dua) to anyone dead
or alive. Believing that they hold
the same attributes in a lesser
degree than him. The Quran
considers shirk to be an un
pardonable sin,
Allah says:Allah forgive not
that partners should be set
up with him, but he forgives
anything else to whom he
please ( Al nisa 4S48)
Praying, invoking or asking for
help from the unseen swearing,
offering sacrifice, giving charity,
slaughtering in the name of other
than Allah is shirk.
Q3 a): Describe a Muslim
belief in Angels? (10)
Ans: Belief in the existence of
angels is a part of Muslim belief.
Angels are being created from
light, who follow Allah orders and
command. They have different
powers which are given to them
by Allah, and they are not usually
visible. They are solely created to
worship Allah and praise him.
Angels have been given the
necessary qualities and power to
carry out their duties given by
Allah. They dont have free will.
There are many angels, the
prominent amongst them are:
1: Angel Jibrail (A.S):
He is the chief amongst angels .
He is said to have revealed the
Holy Quran to the Holy Prophet
(PBUH) and also brought
revelation to other prophets
before him.
2: Angel Mikail (A.S):
He is responsible for rain and
providing provisions to the people
at Allah command.
3SAngel izrail (A.S)
He is the angle of death . He is
responsible for taking our soul
upon death .
4: Angel Israfil (A.S)
He will blow the trumpet at the
time of the end of the world and
then again. He will blow it when
people will be resurrected.
5: Angel Kiraman Katibayn
(A.S):
The angle who record all our
deeds.
6: Angel Munkir and Nakir
(A.S):
The two angle who will question
the deed in their graves.
Q3 b): Discuss the
importance of Angel Jibrail
(A.S) in comparison with
other angels? (4)
Ans: Angel Jibrail (AS) is ranked
as the highest angel of Allah. He
is incharge of bringing revels from
Allah to prophet, Angel Jibrail was
entrusted with telling Hazrat
Maryam of the miraculos birth of
Prophet Isa (AS) , Angel Jibrail
(AS) has been honoured as an
exclusive angel in the Quran. He
also accompanied the Holy
Prophet (PBUH) in Isra and Miraj
till the Lote tree.
Q4a): Describe a Muslim
belief in Divine Books? (10)
Ans: Allah has send scripture
down as a source of guidance for
humanity. These scriptures have
been delivered to particular
prophets and for particular
communities. The message in
these scriptures is basically the
same. The belief and recoginition
of the oneness of Allah, The
Quran mentions some of the
books that have been sent down
together with the names of
prophets to whom they were
delivered:
Suhuf- Prophet Ibrahim (AS)
Taurat- Prophet Musa (AS)
Zabur- Prophet Daud (AS)
Injeel- Prophet Isa (AS)
Quran- Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH)
Muslim believe that all these
books, except the Quran, have
now been lost on corrupted, is
the only scripture which was send
for the whole day humanity and
not for a particular group of
people.
This is a Glorious Quran and
a Tablet preserved ( Al-Burej
85S21-2)
The Quran as the last revealed
book is in Arabic, and most
Muslim believe that it is very
difficult to translate it into other
language without losing some of
the meaning of the original. The
Quran, as the final, universal
revelation from Allah, contains
instructions about what people
should believe, and what they
should and should not do .
Q4 b): All the revealed books
were send by Allah. What in
your opinion make the Quran
Unique? (4)
Ans: The holy Quran is the most
authentic book of Allah. The other
books have either been changed
or amended by human beings.
The Quran is a universal message
unlike the previous scripts which
were for a specific community.
The Arabic language of the Quran
still exists today whereas the
language of the previous scripts
are dead. The Quran addresses
and presents solution to all
problem for the entire humanity.
Its teaching are applicable to
every period of time.
Q5): Describe Muslim belief
in Prophets? (10)
Ans: Muslims believe in the line of
Prophets from Hazrat Adam (AS)
who is believed to the first man,
up to the Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH) , who is believed to be
the final messanger of Allah. The
Quran says that there were many
prophets, most of them are
unknown, while a hadith says
there may have been 124,000 .
The Quran names the few of the
Prophets, some of whom brought
a book. The message of the
Prophet has always been the
same, that is belief in Tauhid,
oneness of Allah.
Muslims believe that, as
messanger of Allah these men
were without sin , and did not
deliberately disobey Allah. In this
line, the Prophet Muhammad
(PBUH) is believed to be last, the
seal of the Prophet , Khatim-al-
nabiyyin, and there will be no
more prophets after him.
Q6: Describe Muslim belief in
Allah pre destination and
decree? (10)
Ans: Predestination is known as
Qadr, which is the word that has
the same root as Qadir, one of
Allah name, meaning All-
powerful. Allah is the creator of
the universe, and all that is in its
and beyond. He knows his
creation, and he knows the nature
and needs of all his creation. He
has given human beings freedom
of choice of their actions, but also
made them responsible for what
they do as he has shown the
difference between right and
wrong. Ultimately, it is Allah who
determines all that happens , for
he has complete authority over all
his creation.
Q7: Describe Muslim belief in
resurrection and the last
day? (10)
Ans: Muslims belief in life after
death, which is known as
Hereafter, al-Akhira. If we are
obedient to Allah we will be
rewarded, and if we are
disobedient to Allah we will be
punished. We know what is right
and wrong because Allah has
provided guidance through his
books and the prophet . The
Quran and the Prophet
Muhammad ( PBUH) are the most
complete source of guidance for
all people to know what is write
and wrong. It is believed by
Muslims after we die we are
questioned in the grave and
receive punishment or comfort
there. At some point in future
history there is a day of
resurrection, yaum-al-Qiyama
when all people will be brought
back to life in their physical
bodies. They will all be judged by
Allah and will then either receive
the reward of the Garden
( heaven) or the punishment of
fire (hell).
Then, he whose balance of
good deeds will be found to
be heavy, will be in a life of
good pleasure and
satisfaction.
But, he whose balance of
good deeds will be found to
be light, will have his home in
a bottom less pit. (Al-Qaria is
101)
This world then, is seen as a
temporary place where the action
and behaviour of the people will
determine what will become of
them in the next life.
The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
said:
Abstain from what is in the
world, and Allah will love you;
abstain from what people
have and people will love
you.