Islam: Key Beliefs

Islam is divided into two major branches — Sunni and Shi'a — which hold most beliefs in common but differ in theological emphasis and in how they structure the foundations of faith.

Sunni Islam: the Six Articles of Faith (Arkan al-Iman)

Article	Belief
1. Belief in Allah	One God, with no partners or equals
2. Belief in the Angels	Spiritual beings created from light, serving Allah
3. Belief in the Holy Books	The Qur'an and earlier scriptures
4. Belief in the Prophets (Risalah)	Messengers sent by Allah, culminating in Muhammad
5. Belief in the Day of Judgement (Akhirah)	Resurrection, accountability, and the afterlife
6. Belief in Divine Decree (Al-Qadr)	Allah's predestination and all-knowing will

Shi'a Islam: the Five Roots of Usul ad-Din

Root	Belief
1. Tawhid	The Oneness of God
2. Adalat	Divine justice — God acts with perfect justice in all things
3. Nubuwwah	Prophethood — Allah sends prophets to guide humanity
4. Imamate (Imamah)	The authority of the Imams as divinely appointed leaders after the Prophet
5. Qiyamah	The Day of Resurrection and Judgement

Key similarities: Both branches affirm the Oneness of God, prophethood, holy books, and the Day of Judgement. Key differences: Shi'a Islam explicitly includes divine justice (Adalat) as a separate root and the Imamate as a doctrinal pillar — a belief that Sunni Islam does not elevate to the same foundational status. Sunni Islam includes predestination (Al-Qadr) as an article of faith; Shi'a Islam emphasises human free will alongside divine justice.

Tawhid — the absolute Oneness of God — is the central and defining belief of Islam. All other beliefs and practices flow from it.

Tawhid: "Say: He is Allah, the One. Allah, the Eternal, the Absolute. He neither begot anyone nor was He begotten. And there is none comparable to Him." — Qur'an, Surah 112 (Al-Ikhlas)

This surah, one of the shortest in the Qur'an, is understood as a complete statement of Islamic theology. Associating any partner with Allah — shirk — is considered the gravest sin in Islam.

The nature of God in Islam includes:

Attribute	Meaning
Omnipotent	All-powerful — nothing is beyond Allah's ability
Beneficent (Al-Rahman)	All-merciful and compassionate toward creation
Merciful (Al-Rahim)	Continually showing mercy to believers
Just/Fair	Acts with complete fairness and wisdom
Adalat (Shi'a emphasis)	Divine justice is a defining characteristic — God cannot act unjustly; this is what makes God worthy of worship

Muslims understand God as both transcendent (above and beyond the universe, beyond full human comprehension) and immanent (close to human beings, aware of all they do). The Qur'an (50:16) states that Allah is "closer to him [the human] than his jugular vein" — an expression of divine immanence. Yet God remains wholly other and unlike creation — an expression of transcendence.

Angels (Mala'ika) are spiritual beings created from light. They have no free will and exist solely to carry out the commands of Allah. They are neither male nor female. Two of the most important angels in Islamic belief are:

• Jibril (Gabriel) — the angel of revelation; it was Jibril who brought the words of the Qur'an to the Prophet Muhammad over 23 years. Jibril also appeared to earlier prophets.
• Mika'il (Michael) — associated with mercy and provision; responsible for rain and sustenance. In Sunni belief, angels like Mika'il oversee natural forces by Allah's command.

Other important angels include Israfil (who will blow the trumpet on the Day of Judgement), Azrail (the angel of death), and the two recording angels (Kiraman Katibin) who write down each person's deeds.

Predestination (Al-Qadr) is the belief that Allah has knowledge of all things — past, present, and future — and that nothing occurs outside His will. This can be understood at different levels:

• Allah knows in advance everything that will happen
• Allah has recorded all things in the Lawh al-Mahfuz (Preserved Tablet)
• Nothing occurs without Allah's permission

A key theological tension: if Allah predestines all events, how can human beings be held accountable? Most Sunni scholars hold that Allah's foreknowledge is compatible with genuine human choice — people have free will within the bounds of what Allah permits, and they will be judged on their choices. Shi'a theology strongly emphasises human free will (ikhtiyar) alongside divine justice, arguing that predestination without free will would make judgement unjust. This relates directly to the Day of Judgement: accountability requires genuine moral agency.

Akhirah refers to the afterlife — everything that comes after this earthly life. Belief in akhirah is fundamental to Islamic ethics: how a person lives now determines what awaits them after death.

At death, the soul enters a state called Barzakh — a barrier or intermediate state between death and resurrection, where the soul waits. On the Day of Judgement (Yawm al-Qiyama), all people who have ever lived will be resurrected — brought back with their bodies — to face Allah.

Every person's deeds are recorded by angels and will be presented to them on the Day of Judgement. The Qur'an (99:7-8) states: "Whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it."

Heaven (Jannah) and Hell (Jahannam):

Destination	Description
Jannah (Paradise)	A garden of eternal bliss — described in the Qur'an with imagery of rivers, shade, beautiful dwellings, and, above all, closeness to Allah
Jahannam (Hell)	A place of punishment for those who rejected Allah and lived unjustly — described with fire and suffering

The key concept is accountability: human beings are khalifah (stewards/vicegerents) on earth, entrusted with moral responsibility. They have been given free will, prophets, and scriptures to guide them. On Judgement Day, they are answerable for how they used these gifts. This belief is understood to motivate ethical behaviour, since every action — however small — has ultimate consequence.

Risalah is the concept of prophethood — the belief that Allah has communicated His will to humanity through chosen messengers (prophets).

Three prophets are specifically required by the spec:

Prophet	Significance
Adam	The first human being and the first prophet; received guidance directly from Allah; represents humanity's original covenant with God
Ibrahim (Abraham)	One of the greatest prophets (anbiya); he rejected idol worship and submitted to Allah; built the Ka'aba in Makkah with his son Isma'il; regarded as the model of submission (islam)
Muhammad	The final and greatest prophet (Seal of the Prophets); received the complete and final revelation — the Qur'an — from Allah through Jibril; his life (Sunnah) and sayings (Hadith) are a model for Muslims

Holy Books: Allah revealed scriptures to guide humanity at different stages of history. Islam recognises:

Scripture	Given to	Status in Islam
Scrolls of Abraham (Suhuf Ibrahim)	Ibrahim	Original revelation; no longer extant in original form
Torah (Tawrat)	Moses (Musa)	Original revelation from Allah; believed to have been altered over time
Psalms (Zabur)	David (Dawud)	Revelation from Allah; believed partly corrupted
Gospel (Injil)	Jesus (Isa)	Original revelation from Allah; believed to differ from the current New Testament
Qur'an	Muhammad	The final, complete, and perfectly preserved revelation — supersedes all earlier scriptures

The Qur'an holds unique authority: Muslims believe it is the unchanged word of Allah, preserved in Arabic exactly as revealed. Earlier scriptures retain some authority but are considered altered; the Qur'an alone is fully trustworthy.

After the death of the Prophet Muhammad, Shi'a Muslims believe that leadership of the Muslim community (Ummah) should have passed to Ali ibn Abi Talib — the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law — and then to his descendants. These leaders are called Imams.

In Shi'a belief, the Imam is not merely a political leader but a divinely guided spiritual and religious authority — an interpreter of the Qur'an and Islamic law appointed by Allah through the Prophet. The Imam is considered infallible in religious matters (ma'sum), free from error and sin.

The majority of Shi'a Muslims are Twelver Shi'a, who recognise a line of twelve Imams beginning with Ali. The twelfth Imam — Muhammad al-Mahdi — is believed to have entered occultation (a state of divine concealment) in 874 CE and will return at the end of times to establish justice on earth.

The Imamate is a doctrinal pillar in Shi'a Islam but is not held by Sunni Muslims. For Sunni Muslims, leadership of the community after the Prophet's death is a matter of consensus and political appointment — not divine designation. This is one of the most significant theological differences between the two branches.

The significance of the Imamate in Shi'a practice: the teachings of the Imams carry religious authority alongside the Qur'an and Hadith; Shi'a jurisprudence (Islamic law) is derived partly from the interpretations of the Imams.

1. Applying the Six Articles only to all Muslims

The Six Articles of Faith belong specifically to Sunni Islam. Shi'a Islam is structured around the Five Roots of Usul ad-Din. Both must be known for the exam — do not assume all Muslims follow the same framework of articles.

2. Ignoring Adalat in Shi'a theology

Adalat (divine justice) is a distinct Shi'a root, not an afterthought. In Shi'a thought, it is specifically because God is perfectly just that the Imamate is necessary — a just God would not leave the community without divinely guided leadership. Treat Adalat as a substantive theological concept.

3. Treating predestination as denying free will

The dominant Islamic position is that predestination and free will coexist: Allah's foreknowledge does not remove human responsibility. A 12-mark answer that ignores this tension — or claims Islam says humans have no free will — misrepresents the tradition.

4. Confusing the Imamate with priesthood

Shi'a Imams are not equivalent to Christian priests. They are divinely appointed successors to the Prophet, carrying religious and spiritual authority over the entire community. The concept has no parallel in Sunni Islam.

5. Listing earlier holy books as equally authoritative as the Qur'an

In Islamic belief, earlier scriptures (Torah, Psalms, Gospel) were genuine revelations but are held to have been altered. The Qur'an is the final, perfectly preserved, and superseding revelation. A strong answer distinguishes the different levels of authority.