Page 59 - World Religions I - Islam

• Of the six articles of faith, five are mentioned in the Qur'an.
o "The Messenger believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord, and (so do) the believers; they
all believe in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers; We make no difference between
any of His messengers; =and they say: We hear and obey, our Lord! Thy forgiveness (do we crave), and to
Thee is the eventual course." - Al- Baqarah (The Cow) 2:285
o "It is not righteousness that you turn your faces towards the East and the West, but righteousness is this
that one should believe in Allah and the Last Day and the angels and the Book and the prophets..." - Al-
Baqarah (The Cow) 2:177a See also the following Surahs: 2:135- 36; 4:136; 57:21.

Allah
In Islam, Allah is the all-powerful and all-knowing creator, sustainer, ordainer, and judge of the universe.

• Islam's most fundamental concept is a strict monotheism - a concept known as Tawhid ("oneness" of God).
o "Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten;
and there is none like unto Him." - Al-Ikhlas (Sincerity) 112:1-4 Surahs 4:36 and 4:48 warn against joining
partners to God.
 Muslims repudiate the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and divinity of Jesus, comparing it to
polytheism, but accept Jesus as a prophet.
 Muslims believe that the entirety of Islamic teaching rests on the principle of Tawhid.
o Allah means "The God" in Arabic, and is a term used by Muslims and Arabic-speaking Christians to mean
the one God. Ilah is the term used for a deity or a god in general.
o Allah, according to the Qur'an, is the same God worshiped by members of other Abrahamic religions
such as Judaism and Christianity. 1
 "And do not dispute with the followers of the Book except by what is best, except those of
them who act unjustly, and say: We believe in that which has been revealed to us and revealed to
you, and our Allah and your Allah is One, and to Him do we submit." - Al-Ankaboot (The Spider)
29:46 The Qur'an also acknowledges that the pagans and idolators worshipped Allah, although
they also worshiped a host of other gods and goddesses along with Allah (29:61- 63; 16:35;
10:104; 40:66).
o Allah is unitary and beyond comprehension.
 Muslims are not expected to visualize Allah.
 The Qur'an teaches that Allah has no likeness 2 , is transcendent 3, and is unknowable (apart

from revelation).
• Allah created everything in the universe by sheer command.
o "To Him is due the primal origin of the heavens and the earth. When He decreeth a matter, He saith to it:
'Be,' and it is." - Al- Baqarah (The Cow) 2:117
• Allah created mankind to worship and serve him.
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