Belief in the Prophets of Allah is one of the required pillars of faith. Muslims are obliged to believe in all the Prophets because they all preached the same message and Muslims should have the same respect for all the Prophets. Allah says in the Quran: “Say (O Muslims): 'We believe in Allah and that which has been sent down to us and that which has been sent down to Ibrahim (Abraham), Ismaa’eel (Ishmael), Ishaaq (Isaac), Ya‘qoob (Jacob), and to Al-Asbaat [the offspring of the twelve sons of Ya‘qoob (Jacob)], and that which has been given to Moosa (Moses) and ‘Isa (Jesus), and that which has been given to the Prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and to Him we have submitted (in Islam)'" [2:136]. The messengers were sent by Allah, so that mankind might be guided to the truth and be cleansed from sin. Just like The Books were sent to do this, each of these could thus be argued to be of like importance, with the Quran having more importance as the prophets were sent down to spread the message of Allah which was revealed in the Quran. Muslims believe there were approximately 124,000 prophets also known as Nabi's and only 5 are mentioned in the Quran which were delivered the message. These are known as Rasul. The difference between a Nabi and a Rasul is that all the prophets were Nabi’s and the ones that were given the message by Allah were then known as Rasul. For example, Prophet Muhammad was a Nabi by birth, but became Rasul when he officially got and delivered the message of Risalah at the age of 40. Risalah is defined as the message, but in this case Muslims’ use it for the whole process of Allah’s chosen messengers coming forth, one after another, under Allah’s Divine Guidance. Muslims believe that Muhammad is the final messenger of Allah and the seal of the prophets as he delivered the final message of Allah. This article is very important because without these messengers the message would not have been spread. This also reveals Gods will and shows us signs that God exists. There are some aspects of all articles of faith that link with one another, i.e. angels and messengers are to separate articles yet, they play a key role in the revelation of the message and the Day of Judgement, as the recording angels recorded the sins of all civilisation and aid Allah. But are judged themselves, which means they are below Allah, even they have no free will and are controlled by Allah.
Furthermore, Islam preaches that there is only one Supreme and Eternal God and that is Allah and it could be argued that h is the most important article of belief as he is omnipotent and omnibenevolent. He is the creator and sustainer of everything. He is Transcendent and omniscient, he is unique and invisible, but is always close to us and is Omnipresent. One of the most important aspect of Islam is Tawhid, the oneness and unity of Allah and to not have faith in Tawhid is committing shirk (sin). Tawhid is expressed in the Shahadah which is the Muslim declaration of faith and is the first pillar of Islam. It testifies that “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah”. It is beyond human understanding to know the full characteristics of Allah, that’s why there are the 99 names of Allah suggest that no one knows Allah perfectly and that’s why there aren’t 100 names because it is beyond our understanding to understand such as beautiful being. This article of faith is important because Islam is based on worshipping (Ibadah) Allah and if there was no Allah then there would be no universe and no Islam. That’s is why the purpose of humans is to worship (Ibadah) Allah by reading the Quran and practising the Pillars of Islam, and this is mentioned in the Quran which states “we were created for none but to worship God” this means that Muslims’ were created to look after his creation and be stewards by sustaining the creation. If we were only created to Ibadah Allah then, this suggests that he is the most important article of faith. It could be argued that the belief in Allah results to the belief in the books, messengers, angels, last day and al-qudr which could be treated the same in all respects.
The fifth article of belief is the day of judgement. Muslims believe that when a person dies, life does not end, but it is an entry into spiritual life. After the body is left behind in the grave, the soul is in a state of Barzakh. This is the waiting period from the time of death until the day the person shall be raised again on the Day of Judgment. Yawmmuddin is known as the day of judgement. On the day of judgement souls as well as their bodies will be resurrected from the grave. Then their book of deeds will be opened. These deeds will be recorded by 2 angels from your earthly and you will be judged on your earthly sins. The one on the right of your shoulder records your good deeds and the one on the left records your bad deeds. The good people will be given their books on their right hand and the bad on their left hand. The Quran says: “And the Book (of Deeds) will be placed (before you); and thou wilt see the sinful in great terror because of what is (recorded) therein; they will say, "Ah! woe to us! what a Book is this! It leaves out nothing small or great, but takes account thereof!" They will find all that they did, placed before them: And not one will thy Lord treat with injustice” (Quran Surah 18 Verse 49). They will be judged by their intention (Niyyah), character, and reaction to good and bad misfortune as well as their way of life by Allah. Both of the rewards will be physical and will with lead to heaven or the different levels of hell. This lead to the argument that this earthly life is a meaningless test on the day of judgement, which means that the belief in Akirah has an impact on Muslim life, as they know this life, is just a test and the real and physical one begins after. They will be tested on their behaviours, actions and Niyyah, and the compassion for God, staying away from anything that leads them to stray and Allah. The Divine Decree suggests that Allah is Omniscient and Omnipotent and has complete control on things, he has control on all of the articles, which argues that he is important than all of the articles. He is also believed to be merciful and will decided who may and may not enter Jahannam and Janna “God may be merciful to whomever he please” but to get to this day Muslims have to follow the message of the books and the messengers, which shows that all of the articles are significant to everyday Muslim life and in some respect should be treated equally as important.
Life after death in Muslim terms is known as Akirah. This is one of the 7 main beliefs in Islam that a Muslim believes. After the day of judgement the virtuous people will go to Jannah. This is a place of tranquillity and peace. There are many levels of Jannah which the believers will inhabit according to their good deeds, and the highest level, close to the throne of Allah, is known as "Firdaws". Jannah consists of many gardens underneath which rivers flow, there are fruits of every kind, and various drinks. The disobedient people as well as the kafir will go to Jahannam. There are many levels of hell according to the different types of evil deeds committed by disbelievers. The Qur'an describes hell to be a place for burning and purging sins. The fire is so hot that people’s skins will be replaced again and again to make them feel the punishment. In the depths of hell, a tree called Zaqqum grows which has fruit resembling the heads of devils; this is a very thorny and bitter fruit that will get stuck in the throats of the inhabitants of hell. This belief is important as you need to be good in this life to enter the next good life with Allah.
The last article of belief is Al Qudr (destiny) which falls into the category of Tawhid and is sometimes known as Divine Decree. Sunni Muslims believe that Allah is omnipotent and therefore he predetermines everything that is going to happen and also knows when the world is going to end, everything that happens is in his control. However, Shia Muslims reject this article of belief. Currently, it is this article of faith which is being spoken about between scholars as to if Allah has the ultimate power and has control behind everything, does this make him responsible for the good and evil around the world which then contradicts the idea of an omnibenevolent god. The response from the Sunni Muslims would be that, Allah has a reason for everything and who are to question what he does and doesn’t do, because Allah is beyond human understanding and we are not able to understand god, and should not question him on what he does and doesn’t do because we are his creation and are created just to submit to the will of Allah. When Allah created everything He determined when each thing would come into existence and when it would perish. He also determined everything's qualities and their nature. Therefore, nothing happens or exists without His permission and outside of His will. It is the will of Allah that He decided to create us, humans, and everything around us and permitted us to make free choices. In other words, when we plan to do something, it is the will of Allah that He gave us the freedom of making free choices, but we are the ones who are deciding what we should do or choose. This is the reason why we are held accountable for our actions. The Quran Says: "Nothing will happen to us except what Allah has decreed for us: He is our protector': and on Allah let the Believers put their trust" (Quran 9:51). However, non Muslims would query that if Allah has given you freewill, he still knows what is going to happen, and still is in control, so how has he given you freewill?
One argument for the statement that believing in angels is least important is that Muslim's find it more important to believe in Allah as Muslim life is based on Ibadah (worshipping) Allah “you were born non but to worship me”. Moreover, Allah has sent the Holy Books and the Messengers so they could guide humanity towards the straight path and keep on following the Message of Allah. Life after Death and the Day of Judgement also link in with the fact that this earthly life is attest and that we are just living to strive for the to follow and serve Allah all their lives until the Last day, where they are resurrected and are Judged on their deeds. Another argument for the statement would be that all of Allah’ creation has free will including humanity except the angels, this questions if they are really important or are the messengers important as they had to reveal the message to humanity along with having free will. However, angels like humans were created to submit to the will of Allah and likewise will be judged on the Last day. But to “revert” back to Islam, as everyone is born as a Muslim, all you need to read it the Shahadah, but it doesn’t mention anything about the angels in the Shahadah which could support the argument.
However, some Muslims find all the articles of belief equally important and if you do not believe in one of them then you cannot be considered a Muslim. Angels are important because they are a way of communication in which Allah can communicate through mankind. Angel Jibrail was the intermediate between Allah and Muhammad. Allah delivered the message to Muhammad through Jibrail. Without angels there would be no night of power.
To some extent, all the articles of belief are equally important but Angels could be seen as least important, they still are important and play a key role in Islam. Most Muslims today would believe that the seven articles of faith should all be equally important and significant in Islam. I personally believe that all the articles of belief are equally important and that a Muslim should have faith in all these beliefs to be recognise as a Muslim as the Quran says: “The Messenger [Muhammad] believes in what has been sent down to him from his Lord and [so do] the believers. Each one believes in Allah, His Angels, His Books, and His Messengers".
