Six articles of faith (Sunni Islam)
A day in the life of Ezzy, a basketball player and Sunni Muslim
In Muslims who believe in the successorship of Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali as leaders of the Muslim community after the Prophet Muhammad. Islam, there are six main articles of faith. These are based on statements in the The Recitation or Reading. Allah’s eternal utterance revealed to the Prophet Muhammad by the Angel Jibril as his final revelation to humankind.:
Oh you who have believed, believe in Allah and His Messenger and the Book that He sent down upon His Messenger and the Scripture which He sent down before. And whoever disbelieves in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day has certainly gone far astray.
- Belief in one God (The belief in the oneness of Allah. It is acknowledged in the First Pillar of Islam: There is no god but God.) This means having absolute faith in the oneness of God. Allah is simply the Arabic word for God. It has no plural in Arabic, which shows that there is only one God. Muslims believe that no being is like Allah.
- Belief in angels (The Arabic word for angels, used in the Qur’an.) Angels were the first creation of God. Muslims believe that God’s greatness means he does not communicate directly with humans and so he passed messages (Arabic for ‘message’, this is the belief that Allah chose special people to communicate his word to humanity.) to his prophets via the angels. Angels also tell Allah about the behaviour of humans.
- Belief in holy books (The belief in books which were revealed by Allah.) The holy books of Islam should be respected. This is especially true of the Qur’an, which is the unchanged word of Allah, revealed to the Prophet The name of the final Prophet of Islam..
- Belief in the prophets (Prophets chosen by Allah to deliver his message to humanity.) Allah is believed to have communicated with the prophets, called nubuwwah, through the angels. Muslims believe the prophets should be respected but never worshipped.
- Belief in the Day of Judgement and the afterlife (Everlasting life after death in Islam.) Muslims believe that life on Earth is a test and that, after they die, they will be judged by God and sent to either Paradise or Hell.
- Belief in predestination (Islamic belief that Allah already knows everything that will ever happen in the universe.) This means that everything in the universe follows Allah’s masterplan – Muslims believe that Allah has decided everything that happens. This shows the importance of God’s will:
In all things the master-planning is God’s (Surah 13:42). The Prophet Muhammad also told his followers:
There is not one amongst you who has not been allotted his seat in Paradise or Hell (Sahih Muslim, Book 33, Hadith 6400). Muslims take this as further proof that every person’s life is already mapped out in Allah’s plan.
Question
What is the fourth article of faith in Sunni Islam?
Nubuwwah is the fourth article of faith in Sunni Islam. It is the belief that God chose special people, called prophets, to communicate messages to humankind.
