The Islamic Faith
Here is a very interesting book on the fundamentals of Islamic belief. Its author wrote it in response to the question: "What will the servant be questioned on the day of judgment?
Abdulaziz Ibn Marzuq At-Tarifi
Islam is the religion of all prophets and the true and everlasting religion.
Islam is the only divine faith. God does not accept anything else from any one of His servants, be they human or jinn.
Interpretation of Islam: What is in God’s book may be interpreted only through the Sunnah, the understanding of the Prophet’s companions and analogy with these.
No one may interpret Islam and how God wants it to be except God Himself, in his book, the Qur’an, and in the Sunnah of the Prophet. No human being has a higher status than God’s Prophet, yet he only delivers what God reveals to him.
The right owed to God by His servants: Unbelievers incur punishment in hell but this does not negate granting them benefits in this life.
It is God’s right to be the only one offered all types of worship. He says: ‘Your God is the One God: there is no deity but He, the Lord of Grace, the Ever Merciful’.
Faith, disbelief and hypocrisy: Which property enjoys sanctity?
Belief and disbelief are cases that are determined by God alone. No one may be called an unbeliever without clear evidence from God.
The nature of faith: What is faith? – Faith may increase or decrease.
Taken together, words, action and belief constitute faith. Maghrib prayer consists of three rak[ahs and if one is not included, the prayer is not Maghrib. By the same token if any of the three elements: words, action and belief is lacking, the condition is not called faith.
God’s names and attributes: Their confirmation or negation.
God has beautiful names and fine attributes. No one knows Him better than He knows Himself. Therefore, we deny what He has denied of Himself and confirm what He has confirmed in His book and His messenger’s Sunnah.
God’s words and the Qur’an
The Qur’an is God’s word: He truly said it in sounds, words and surahs. We do not say that ‘it is mere meaning without utterance’, but we say that God speaks whenever He wills: ‘God has spoken His word directly to Moses’. (4: 164).
The nature of religious truth: The relation between religious text and reason.
When revealed text and rational thinking are combined together, religious truth is fully understood. Revealed text is of no benefit to one who has no reason, and reason on its own is of no help to one who has no knowledge of revelation.
God’s legislation for religion and life: Both are the same.
The authority to legislate belongs to God alone: He makes what He wills permissible or forbidden, according to His knowledge and infinite wisdom. His legislation is to ensure that both religion and life are on the proper course.
God’s determination of destiny: His will and cause and effect.
God has assigned their lot to all creatures before they were created, and every creature was created by God’s determination that preceded its creation.
The inevitability of death: Resurrection, reckoning, reward and punishment, and other matters related to the life to come.
Death is inevitable. God says: ‘All that lives on it perishes; but forever will remain the face of your Lord, full of majesty, granting grace’. (55: 26–7) It is a part of faith that we should believe in what comes after death, including one’s examination in the grave and the resulting happiness or torment.
The Muslim community: Its leader and the obedience due to him.
To stay with the community is obligatory and no community exists without a leader, or imam. The leader of the Muslim community is obeyed in line with the obedience of God, who says: ‘Believers, obey God and obey the messenger and those from among you who have been entrusted with authority’. (4: 59)
Jihad: Its types and conditions
Jihad continues until the end of human life and remains in force all of the time, as long as the Qur’an remains. In an authentic hadith, Jabir reports that the Prophet said: ‘A group of my community will continue to fight for the truth, prevailing until the Day of Judgement’.
The status of the Prophet’s companions and their distinction: The best of them and the consequences of speaking ill of them.
The best of people are prophets, then Prophet Muhammad’s companions. Their high status is stated in the Qur’an: ‘Muhammad is God’s Messenger; and those who are with him are firm and unyielding towards the unbelievers, full of mercy towards one another. You can see them bowing down, prostrating in prayer, seeking favour with God and His good pleasure’. (48: 29)
Who may be ruled as unbeliever and on what basis: The claim that a particular person will be in heaven or hell.
We do not call anyone who offers the Islamic prayer an unbeliever as a result of committing any sin other than disbelief in God. To revile God is an act of disbelief and is indeed worse than associating partners with him.
Servitude and the nature and extent of freedom.
The essence of freedom is to be free of subservience to anyone other than God. To think that freedom is to discard God’s commandments is nothing less than considering oneself as the idol and giving subservience to desire.