Islam Beliefs

Beliefs

Muslims believe that God revealed His final message to humanity through the Islamic prophet Muhammad (c. 570 - July 6, 632) via the angel Gabriel.[16] Muhammad is considered to have been God's final prophet, the "Seal of the Prophets". The Qur'an is believed by Muslims to be the revelations Muhammad received in 23 years of his preaching.[17] Muslims hold that the message of Islam - submission to the will of the one God - is the same as the message preached by all the messengers sent by God to humanity since Adam. Muslims believe that "Islam is the eternal religion, described in the Qur'an as 'the primordial nature upon which God created mankind.'[18][19] Further the Qur'an states that the proper name Muslim was given by Abraham.[20][19] As a historical phenomenon, however, Islam was originated in Arabia in early 7th century."[19] Islamic texts depict Judaism and Christianity as prophetic successor traditions to the teachings of Abraham. The Qur'an calls Jews and Christians "People of the Book," and distinguishes them from polytheists. However, Muslims believe that the previously revealed scriptures, the Tawrat (Torah), and the Injil (Gospels), had become distorted as indicated in the Qur'an, either in interpretation, textually, or both.[21]

Islamic belief is composed of six main aspects: belief in God; His revelations; His angels; His messengers; the "Day of Judgement"; and the divine decree

.[22][23]

God

The fundamental concept in Islam is the Oneness of God or tawhоd: monotheism which is absolute, not relative or pluralistic. The Oneness of God is the first of Islam's five pillars, expressed by the Shahadah (testification). By declaring the Shahadah, a Muslim attests to the belief that there are no gods but God, and that Muhammad is God's messenger.

In Arabic, God is called Allвh. The most probable theory is that the word is etymologically derived from a contraction of the Arabic words al- (the) and ʾilвh (deity, masculine form) -- al-ilвh meaning "the God". Another theory traces the etymology of the word to the Aramaic Alвhв.[24][25] According to F. E. Peters, "The Qur'an insists, Muslims believe, and historians affirm that Muhammad and his followers worship the same God as the Jews(29:46). The Quran's Allah is the same Creator God who covenanted with Abraham". Peters states that the Qur'anic portrayal of God is more powerful, more remote than Yahweh. It is also depicted as a universal deity, unlike Yahweh who closely follows Israelites.[26] Allвh is also used by Arab speaking Christian and Jewish people in reference to God.[27] The usage of the definite article in Allah linguistically indicates the divine unity. Muslims reject the Christian doctrine concerning the trinity of God, seeing it as akin to polytheism.

God is described in a sura of the Qu'ran as: "...God, the One and Only; God, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him."[28]

Qur'an

The first sura in a Qur'anic manuscript by Hattat Aziz Efendi.

The Qur'an is considered by Muslims to be the literal, undistorted word of God, and is the central religious text of Islam. It has also been called, in English, the Koran and, archaically, the Alcoran. The word Qur'an means "recitation".[29] Although the Qur'an is referred to as a "book", when Muslims refer in the abstract to "the Qur'an", they are usually referring to the scripture as recited in Arabic - the words themselves - rather than to the printed work or any translation of it.[30] Muslims believe that the verses of the Qur'an were revealed to Muhammad by God through the Angel Gabriel on numerous occasions between the years 610 and his death on July 6, 632. Modern Western academics generally hold that the Qur'an of today is not very different from the words Muslims believe to have been revealed to Muhammad, as the search for other variants has not yielded any differences of great significance. In fact, the source of ambiguity in the quest for historical Muhammad is more the lack of knowledge about pre-Islamic Arabia.[31]The Qur'an occupies a status of primacy in Islamic jurisprudence,[32] and Muslims consider it a definitive source of guidance to live in accordance to the will of God.[29] To interpret the Qu'ran, Muslims use a form of exegesis known as tafsir.[33][32]

Most Muslims regard paper copies of the Qur'an with veneration, washing as for prayers before reading the Qur'an. Worn out Qur'ans are not discarded as wastepaper, but are typically sunk in the sea. Many Muslims memorize at least some portion of the Qur'an in the original Arabic, usually at least the verses needed to perform the prayers. Those who have memorized the entire Qur'an are known as a hafiz. Muslims believe that the Qur'an is perfect only as revealed in the original Arabic. Translations, they maintain, are the result of human effort, and are deficient because of differences in human languages, because of the human fallibility of translators, and (not least) because any translation lacks the inspired content found in the original. Translations are therefore regarded only as commentaries on the Qur'an, or "interpretations of its meaning", not as the Qur'an itself. Almost all modern, printed versions of the Qur'an are parallel text ones, with a vernacular translation facing the original Arabic text.[29]

Muhammad

Arabic calligraphy reading "Muhammad, Messenger of Allah".

Muhammad (570--632), also Mohammed, Mohamet, and other variants was an Arab religious and political leader who propagated the religion of Islam. Muslims consider him the greatest prophet of God, and the last recipient of divine revelation. He is viewed not as the founder of a new religion, but as the last in a series of prophets, restoring the original monotheistic faith of Adam, Abraham and others which had become corrupted.[34][7] Muhammad had maintained a reputation as an honest and trustworthy member of the community, "al-Amin". For the last 23 years of his life, beginning at age 40, Muhammad reported receiving revelations from God. The content of these revelations, known as the Qur'an, was memorized and recorded by his followers.[35] During this time, Muhammad preached to the people of Mecca, including his relatives and tribal associates, imploring them to abandon polytheism. Although some people converted to Islam,