Describe and explain what followers of the religion which you are studying may believe about the power of good and the power of evil.

AS and A Level Religious Studies & Philosophy

Describe and explain what followers of the religion which you are studying may believe about the power of good and the power of evil.

In basic terms Muslims believe that if you are good and follow Allah you go to heaven but if you lead an evil life you join Iblis (Satan) in hell. Muslims believe that you have the free will to do what you want therefore you have the will to lead a life of righteousness and to submit to the will of Allah. If you choose to do this you will be rewarded in this world by living a life of peace and contentment and when you die you will qualify for the heaven of eternal bliss. Although if you choose to live a life of godlessness and evil, which Muslims believe you, are equally free to do you will therefore live a life of misery and have a bad life. Hence when you die you will have to face the horrible prospect of hell. Muslims believe that everyone has freedom of choice and we cannot know our true destiny the belief of the Muslim faith is that you can choose evil as well as good. If you deliberately choose to do evil instead of good then we will one day be punished. The belief is that we must control our own instincts because the path towards evil is always tempting and if you do not control your own destiny you most certainly will end up in hell. Everyone is given an instinct, which decides whether you choose good or evil. The Islamic faith believes God does not control any one person's mind like a robot but we have the free will to choose.

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Although Allah knows the present, past, and future of everything he has created, he still lets us have the free will to choose between good and evil even if he knows we will choose an evil path he will still let us have the free will to climb that path

Allah already knows our destiny but we do not. Allah knows if we will obey or disobey him but it still comes down to Allah wanting us to have the free will to choose our own path to follow. It is like Allah is trying to teach us a lesson about what is good and what is evil before we reach the afterlife.

The Muslim faith believes that humans and animals are not the only beings in the universe. They believe in other beings called Jinn and also in angels. These two beings are not human and if anyone attempts even to draw them Muslims object strongly. Jinn are neither good or evil they usually disturb the human balance but they can sometimes be harmless. Jinn are usually thought of as elemental spirit forces. Angels are believed to be the messengers of God and they are there to make humans aware of Allah. Angels and Jinn are not made of matter but they can affect the world of matter. Jinn are given the free will like humans to choose between good and evil. But angels are not given the freedom and never ever go against the will of God.

'The Lord said to the angels..."When I have

created Man and breathed My spirit into him,

then fall ye down and worship him." So all the

angels bowed down in worship, all of them

together. But not so Iblis (the chief jinn): he

refused to be among those who bowed down.'

The idea of evil and the devil was first created when the first human who was called Adam was created. Allah ordered all the Angels to respect Adams decisions, which they did. Iblis who is chief of the Jinn did not do this and rebelled because he considered himself to be a superior being. Therefore he was punished and became an enemy of all humans. Muslims believe to this day Satan is still trying to get revenge by trying to lead people to disobey the will of Allah.

Describe and explain what followers of the religion which you are studying may believe about the power of good and the power of evil.

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