Toward the beginning of this countdown, I posted about Islam in Turkey, and in that post, I listed the five pillars of Islam. Like Christianity, however, Islam has a statement of faith - what they believe about certain topics.
I am unsure how much you know about Islam so I thought I would post this as a quick introduction or refresher. I know that before I started preparing to work in a Muslim country, I literally knew nothing. I didn't even know how the words "Muslim" and "Islam" were related. (In case you are like me, Muslim refers to the culture and Islam refers to the religion.)
Here is a quick list and summary of the Islamic tenants of faith.
"The true, faithful Muslim believes in the following principles of faith:"
1. One God: God is one, supreme, eternal, infinite, mighty, merciful, compassionate, creator, and provider.
2. Messengers of God: All messengers and prophets are of God and no prophet is greater than any other. They were human beings "endowed with divine revelations and appointed by God to perform certain tasks." Muhammad was the Last Messenger.
3. Scriptures and Revelations: Because all prophets spoke truth, their words and the documents derived from them are also true. However, over the years some books were lost and/or corrupted. As a result, God revealed the Qur'an to Muhammad and is considered the only authentic and complete book of God. Every letter in the Qur'an is God's word revealed to settle disputes, answer questions, solve problems, and act as man's guide to God and eternal happiness.
4. Angels: Angels are spiritual beings who require no food, drink, or sleep, have no physical desires, and spend their time in service of God.
5. Day of Judgment: One day, this world will come to an end and all will stand before God for a final judgment. "Everything we do in this world, every intention we have, every move we make, every thought we entertain, and every word we say, all are counted and kept in accurate records" - even the ones we think we can hide from God. We will be rewarded for our good records and will enter Paradise or we will punished for our bad ones and cast into hell.
6: God's Infinite Power and Plan: God has a plan; he is not indifferent to this world. He is active, wise, loving, and is in full command over his creation. This does not make man fatalistic or helpless; man has a will and an ability to plan. God's plan is overarching, but man can make his own choices.
7. Life's Purpose: The purpose of life is to worship God. "To worship God is to know him, to love him, to obey his commandments to enforce his law in every aspect of life, to serve his cause by doing right and shunning the evil, and to be just to him, to ourselves, and to our fellow human beings...to worship God is to imbue ourselves with his supreme attributes."
8. Status of Man: Man enjoys an especially high-ranking status in the hierarchy of all creation.
9. Islam Universal: Every person is born Muslim implying that even birth is part of God's plan.
10. Sin: Man is born a blank slate, free from sin. Only when a child reaches the age of maturity is he held accountable for his sins.
11. Salvation: "To attain salvation, a person must combine faith and action, belief and practice...no one can attain salvation until his faith in God becomes dynamic in his life and his beliefs are translated into reality."
12. The Unreached: God does not hold those people who have never heard the Right Way responsible for failing to obey the Divine instructions.
13. Goodness of Human Nature: There is more good than evil in a human being. As a result, the probability of change and reform is great.
14. Personal Faith: One is not considered a Muslim simply based on family traditions or blind faith. "Faith must be founded on unshakable convictions without any deception or compulsion."
15: Traditions of Muhammad: These traditions are considered a second source for Islam. While the Qur'an is the word of God, these traditions are practical interpretations of the Qur'an. "If there be any contradiction or inconsistency between any of the Traditions and the Qur'an, the Muslim adheres to the Qur'an alone and regards everything else as open to question."
**Wow! The tenants of a Muslim's faith sure remind me a lot of my own tenants of faith as a Christian. There are a lot of starting points to build friendships!
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