The following beliefs are vital for every Muslim:
Allah (the one God)
Angels
The Books of Allah
The Prophets
Life After Death
A Muslim cannot believe in one and ignore the other. . Muslims believe in one God. He has ninety-nine names, or attributes, but is usually referred to as Allah.
Tawhid
The simplest belief a Muslim has about Allah is Tawhid. Tawhid means that God alone is the creator and power behind all things. He knows all that is in the heavens and the earth and all that is between them. Muslims believe that nothing can be compared to God; He is the Almighty, Merciful and Mercy-giving. It is clear that He is the owner of their lives and they return to their maker after their death. This is most clearly explained in the Qur'an, which is the Muslim holy book.
'He is Allah, the One, Allah is Eternal and
Absolute. He has no children nor was he a child.
None is equal to him.'
Qur'an Surah 112
Shirk
Shirk means ascribing partners to Allah, and it is the opposite to Tawhid. One can perform shirk in many ways, sometimes not even realising they are doing so. Simply by making something an obsession and giving it more importance than God can be shirk. When people suggest that there are other beings (idols) who share the same powers of God, they are performing shirk.
Angels
Angels are created from light and are to serve Allah in various ways; there are angels who are messengers and angels who perform duties, whether they are registering life and death, good or bad deeds, or controlling the weather.
The four mentioned and most well known angels in the Qur'an are:
Jibreel (Gabriel) - The messenger of Allah who brings down the revelations. He passed on the revelation of the Qur'an to Muhammad on the 'Night of Power' during the last ten nights of Ramadan, and often re-visited him to recite and check the revision to make sure not a single letter or word was misplaced.
Mikaeel (Michael) - Is the one in charge of the weather and well-being of humans.
Israfeel - He will blow the trumpet on the day of judgment and call the souls out of their graves towards the plain where they will gather for the day of judgment.
Izraeel (Izrail)- Is the angel of death who takes the souls of believers and disbelievers, this is his only duty.
In addition every person is assigned two angels to record their good and bad deeds, respectively. These are changed twice a day, so everyone gets the frequent chance of a fresh start. Nakir and Munkar are the two angels who will question the soul in the grave concerning its faith.
Copies of the Qur'an are treated with great respect. The book will be wrapped in a cloth and placed on the highest shelf for safety and respect. When it is being read Muslims will sit quietly listening with complete attention.
'The best of you is he who has learnt the Qur'an and then taught it.'
'None of you has faith unless I am dearer to him than his father, and his son and all mankind'
sayings of the Prophet Muhammad pbuh
Prophets
There have been countless prophets that have passed through the generations since Adam and Eve up to the last and final messenger, Muhammad pbuh. As a sign of respect for the prophets, Muslims add "peace be upon him" whenever they mention the name of one of them. From amongst those numerous prophets, the Qur'an mentions the following ones with a narration of their stories:
Adam
Noah (Nuh)
Abraham (Ibrahim)
Ishmael (Isma'il)
Isaac (Ishaq)
Lot (Lut)
Jacob (Yaqub)
Joseph (Yusuf)
Jethro (Shu'aib)
Moses (Musa)
David (Daud)
Solomon (Sulaiman)
Jonah (Yunus)
Zechariah (Zakariya)
John (Yahya)
Jesus (Isa)
Muhammad
Peace be upon them all
A Muslim believes that all the messengers of Allah brought essentially the same message, so they believe in all the prophets and make no distinction between any of them, they are all equal in the sight of Allah, and yet had totally different situations to deal with during their appointed times on earth, from which Muslims are able to compare and know the situations they might encounter during their life time. The prophets were examples for Muslims to follow in order to stay on the straight path to paradise through righteous action. Whilst the stories of all the prophets are available for inspiration, only the life example of prophet Muhammad pbuh is closely emulated by Muslims, and Muslims refer to themselves as "Ummah Muhammad", the nation of Muhammad pbuh.
