Basic Islamic Beliefs
Muslims vary hugely across the globe, but there are some basic beliefs and practices that the vast majority of Muslims would view as normative, whether or not they adhere to these closely.
Commonly, there are six articles of faith that Muslims are meant to believe. These are:
The oneness of Allah
The one God created and rules over all things, he is almighty, all-seeing and knowing, merciful, and judge. Many Muslims would regard Christian teaching about the trinity as compromising this fundamental doctrine of God’s oneness, although it is fair to say that few have a really clear understanding of the orthodox Christian doctrine.
Angels
Angels are created from light (as opposed to humans being created from earth). Among other activities, they are involved in transmitting revelation to prophets, and they record the good and evil deeds of every human being.
Prophets
Prophets are individuals entrusted with a message from God to bring to their people. The message of all the prophets was essentially the same – that people should abandon idols and worship the one God alone. The prophet plays no part in the formulation of the message; they simply receive it in completed form from God. Prophets are regarded by many Muslims as sinless, or at least innocent of major sins.
The Qur’an stresses Muhammad’s continuity with earlier prophets, the most prominent of whom we would recognise as biblical characters such as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, Zechariah, and John (the Baptist). Muslims believe Muhammad was the final prophet, ‘the seal of the prophets’.
Jesus is also believed to be a prophet. The Qur’an affirms that he is the Messiah but does not explain what that means. The Qur’an denies that Jesus is the Son of God, but this is usually thought of in biological terms – that God had sexual relations with Mary, and they had a son, Jesus – which most Christians would also find horrifying. Jesus is not believed to be divine, and Muslims commonly deny the historicity of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, although many believe he was taken up alive into heaven.
Books
The revelations of some prophets are contained in books. In Islam, there are often said to be four books: the Taurāt (Torah) revealed to Moses, the Zabūr (Psalms) revealed to David, the Injīl (Gospel – note, one Gospel, not four!) revealed to Jesus, and the Qur’an revealed to Muhammad. Many Muslims claim that the original Taurāt, Zabūr and Injīl are no longer in existence and that the Bible we have today has been changed by Jews and Christians. It is important to note, however, that the Qur’an speaks in the most positive terms about these earlier books, as light and revelation from Allah (see Qur’an 3:3–4, 84; 4:136; 5:46–47, 68).
Muslims believe the Qur’an was revealed in Arabic and should properly be read or heard in Arabic, even though the majority of Muslims around the world understand little or no Arabic.
The last things
Islam is an eschatological faith. There is a belief in a final resurrection and judgement, and eternal destinies of paradise and hell.
Predestination
The belief that everything that happens is pre-ordained.
ISLAMIC Practices
Islamic practice majors on what are known as the “five pillars”. There is huge variation as to how much and how closely these are adhered to. The five pillars are:
Confession of Faith
This confession is: ‘There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger’. This confession or kalima is whispered into a child’s ear after birth. When an adult repeats it before two witnesses, it constitutes that person as a Muslim.
Prayer
The word salāh in Arabic refers to ritual prayers, which are said in Arabic and involve a cycle of standing, bowing, kneeling and prostrating. There are five set times a day when prayers should be performed, for men, preferably in a mosque. There is also another Arabic word, du’ā, that is translated as prayer or supplication, which can be in a person’s own language and using their own words to address God.
Almsgiving
Muslims are required to give 2.5% of their income towards charitable activities.
Fasting
Ramadhan is the tenth month in the Islamic calendar, and during this month, many Muslims refrain from food, drink, smoking and sexual relations during the hours of daylight. At the end of the month there is the festival, Eid ul-Fitr, which signifies the end of the fast and is a time of celebration and feasting. ‘This is our Christmas,’ is how Muslim friends have described Eid to me.
Pilgrimage (Haj)
Those Muslims who have the means are required to go on pilgrimage to a number of sites in Arabia, including circumambulating (walking around) the ka’aba, the black cube-shaped building in Makkah. The ka’aba is viewed as the house of God and, wherever Muslims are in the world, this is the direction towards which they pray. Pilgrimage takes place during the twelfth month of the Islamic calendar. During the haj period, there is also another festival, Eid ul-Adha, or festival of sacrifice, in which animals are sacrificed all across the Muslim world in commemoration of Abraham’s sacrifice of a sheep as a substitute for his son (usually believed to be Ishmael).
(In Qur’an 37:100-109 there is the story of Abraham’s sacrifice, resembling to some degree the account in Genesis 22:1-19. Qur’an 37:107 says, “And We (Allah) ransomed him (Abraham’s son) with a great sacrifice” – a verse that can very helpful when explaining why Christ died.)
You can find out more about the origins of Islam here: https://www.mahabbanetwork.com/resource/origins-of-islam