Selimiye Mosque

What is Al- Iman? (The FAITH)

Faith (Al- Iman) means to accept sincerely all the beliefs and orders that Muhammad (P.b.u.h.) communicated to us as had been revealed to Him by God (Allah s.w.t.).
Faith (Al- Iman) is born of the confirmation of this process in life. However, it is necessary to recite the profession on Faith (al- Kalimah al Shahadah) with the tongue and to believe it in the heart, both during this early life and at the time of death in order to be regarded as a Muslim. “ Ash-hadu an- la ilaha ill-Allahu wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan Abdu-hu wa Rasuluhu.” I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Servant and Messenger.

The Principles of Faith
(Basic Islamic Belief are six)
1- To believe in Allah, the Most High.
2- To believe in His angels.
3- To believe in His books.
4- To believe in His Prophets (P.b.u.h.).
5- To believe in the Day of Judgment.
6- To believe in divine predestination; namely that both good and evil are from Allah and that we shall have a life after death.
One who does not accept any one of the above - mentioned as articles of faith- is regarded as having denied them all. For instance, one who has accepted the first five conditions but has rejected belief in life after death cannot be considered to be a Muslim.

1) Belief in God- Allah the Most High:
The first of the six articles of faith is to believe in God (Allah the Most Great in His Existence), to believe also that His Divine Being possesses all the Divine Attributes each respectively in its perfect and unique form and furthermore that His Divine Being is free from all defects.
Muslims believe in one, unique, incomparable God, Who has neither son nor partner, and that none has the right to be worshiped but Him alone. He is the true God, and every other deity it’s false. He has the most magnificent names and sublime perfect attributes.
The Qur’anic- Arabic word ALLAH means GOD (the one and only true God who created the whole universe).
This word Allah is a name for God, which is used by Arabic speakers, both Arab Muslims and Arab Christians.
This word cannot be used to designate anything other than one true God. The Arabic word Allah occurs in the Holy Qur’an more than 2150 times. In Arabic, a language related closely to Arabic and the language that Jesus habitually spoke.     (NIV Compact Dictionary of the Bible, Douglas, p.42)
God is also referred to as ALLAH.
No one shares His divinity, or His attributes. In the Qur’an, God describes Himself:
“Say, “He is God, the One God, to whom the creatures turn for their needs. He begets not, nor was He begotten, and there is none like Him.”        (Qur’an, 112:14)
No one has the right to be invoked, supplicated, prayed to, or shown any act of worship, but God alone.
God alone is the Almighty, the Creator, the Sovereign, and the Sustainer of everything in the whole universe. He manages all affairs.
He stands in need of none of His creatures, and all His creatures depend on Him for all that they need.
He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing, and the All- Knowing. In a perfect manner, His Knowledge encompasses all things, the open and the secret, and the public and private. He knows what has happened, what will happen, and how will it happen.
No affair occurs in the whole world except for His will. Whatever He wills is, and whatever He does not will is not and will never be.
His will is above the will of the creatures. He has power over all things, and He is able to do everything.
He is the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, and the Most Beneficent.
In one of the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.), we are told that “God is more merciful to His creatures that a mother to her child”. (Muslim, H.N. 2754, Bukhari, H.N.5999.)
God is far removed from injustice and tyranny. He is All Wise in all of His actions and decrees. If someone wants something from God, he or she can ask God for him or her.
God is not Jesus, and Jesus is not God. Even Jesus himself rejected this.
God has said in the Qur’an: “Indeed, they have disbelieved who have said, “God is the Messiah (Jesus), son of Mary.” The Messiah (Jesus) said, “ O Children of Israel, worship God, my Lord and your Lord. Whoever associates partners in worship with God, then God has forbidden Paradise for him, and his home is Hellfire. For the wrongdoers there will be no helpers.”   (Qur’an, 5: 72)

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