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Beliefs
There are six primary beliefs within Islam.
Belief in God:
Muslims believe first and foremost in GOD. Islam is a very strict monotheism. God is but one and unique (a concept known as TAWHID). God has no associates. The Christian concept of the Trinity is rejected by Islam. To associate anything other than God with God is to commit the gravest sin - SHIRK ("association"). God has no son. God manifests in no physical form. Images of God are strictly forbidden and Islam even avoids making images of anything created (no paintings or statues of Muhammad or any other human or, for that matter, even animals). To do so would be to risk idolatry - more focus on the images and the objects imaged rather than on God. Nothing created (by God or man) should be mistaken for the Creator. Thus much art from Islamic culture is focused on architecture, calligraphy (especially of sacred text) and abstract, geometric forms (such as arabesque tile work).
Belief in Angels:
Muslims also believe in ANGELS and other spiritual beings, including the devil (which they call Iblis or Shaitan) and Jinn (genies). God created three kinds of intelligent beings: Humans were created from earth, Angels from light, Jinn from fire. Among the three, humans are the only physical beings. Angels and Jinn are spiritual beings (but not to be mistaken for gods). Although Jinn can take on the appearance of human form, this is but a trick, not their real nature (the stories in the Tales of the Arabian Nights involve the exploits of many Jinn tricking humans). Among the three created intelligent beings, only Angels do not have free will - they were created to be messengers of God. The origin of the devil is unclear and debated in Islamic thought but, if Angels do not have any option but to submit to the will of God, then the devil must not be a "fallen angel" as Christian thought would have it. The devil may be an evil Jinn. Both Humans and Jinn were given free will and the option to either submit to or resist the will of God. Both Humans and Jinn may be good or bad.
Belief in Prophets:
Amongst humans, Muslims identify certain persons as PROPHETS and MESSENGERS. Islam recognizes the prophets of the Hebrew Bible and of the New Testament. Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Ishmael, Jacob, Moses, King David, Jesus are all considered prophets with Muhammad as the "seal" or last of this long line of prophets. Among the prophets, some are given a special role to bring a new message from God to humanity. These, then, are the messengers of God. All messengers are prophets but not all prophets are messengers. Moses, who brought the Torah to the Hebrew people, was a prophet-messenger. Jesus, who revealed the word of God through the Gospel, was a prophet-messenger. And Muhammad, who revealed the Qur'an, was the last of the prophet-messengers. Islam recognizes Jesus as having a special role in God's plan. The Qur'an informs Muslims that Jesus did not die on the cross - it was an imposter who took his place. Jesus was ascended body and soul to heaven and, at some time in the future, some Muslim groups teach, will return to complete his job as messiah to all humanity.
Belief in Holy Books:
Islam recognizes the HOLY BOOKS revealed by these messengers to be the word of God. This includes the Torah of Moses, the Psalms of David, the Gospel of Jesus as well as the Qur'an of Muhammad. The distinction made is that the older books - Torah, Psalms, Gospel - no longer exist in their original form. But in so much as they are in agreement with the most recent revelation - Qur'an - the earlier Holy Books are also respected by Islam as the legitimate word of God. In fact, the Qur'an references stories from these earlier books but finds no need to repeat the narrative in its complete form. Rather, the Qur'an simply clarifies and corrects the stories as deemed necessary by God. Jews, Christians, Muslims and other peoples with recognized Holy Books from the One God are considered by Muslims to be "People of the Book" and these other religions are respected by Islam.
Belief in fate:
DECREMENTS of God is a unique concept within Islam. There is no ideal English word by which to translate this concept. Basically, it is a recognition that God has ultimate power and knowledge and the big things in life are predestined by God. The time, place and circumstances of our birth and death, the other things in our life that we have no control over - these are all ordained by the will of God. However, humans do still have FREEWILL. As such, we have a limited freewill to make choices which either put us into alignment with the will of God for our lives or take us astray. Ultimately "God's will be done" but if we have chosen to resist rather than to submit (islam) to God's will, our life will not be as peaceful (islam) and easy as it might be. Often one can hear a Muslim declare an intention to do a thing and conclude with "inshallah" ("if God wills"). A Muslim knows when to "let go and let God".
Belief in an afterlife:
Like Jews and Christians, Muslims too believe in the AFTERLIFE. Islam teaches that there will come a RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD at the JUDGMENT DAY and that we will all be judged worthy of reward in HEAVEN or punishment in HELL depending on the choices and actions we have made in life. Islam does not believe in Original Sin (a concept unique to Christian faith). Our judgment is based strictly on our own freewill choices. Islam does not believe there is a "Chosen people" singled out for special treatment (as some would say the Jews view themselves). All people are treated fairly by God. In fact, Islam and the Qur'an teaches that there are several levels of heavens and hells to which each is granted entry based on how good or how bad one was. God tempers His judgment with mercy and no one will spend eternity in Hell (there are some Christian groups that also do not believe in an eternal damnation).
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