"In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the
Merciful."
Islam means "submission to the will of Allah" and the fundamental belief of Muslims (those who have willingly submitted to the will of Allah) is contained in what is called the Shahadah - the testimony of faith: "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his Messenger and Prophet"
Muhammad (Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammadin wa Ali Muhammad - meaning: Allah, send blessings to Muhammad and the family of Muhammad) is the last prophet, who revealed the will of Allah in the Quran. Thus, Muslims believe that the Quran contains the will of Allah. As such, they revere the Quran and obey, or strive to obey, the commands of the Quran.
Central to Islam is the belief that we, as human beings, are the pinnacle of creation on this Earth and as such have been gifted, by Allah, with faculties that raise us above animals. These faculties are reason, speech and free-will. We can use these in the service of truth, in the service of good, or we can use them in the service of evil. It is our choice, and we bear the responsibility and the consequences of that choice.
Allah has revealed what is good, and what is evil, what is lawful (halal) and what is unlawful (haram), as He has shown us that this life on Earth is but a beginning, a path to something beyond. We must choose our goal and follow the path to it. One path leads to Paradise, to Eternal Life, while another leads to Hell.
We have the ability, through our faculties, of finding the truth - of discovering the Right Path, the path to Paradise. And Islam values learning and discovery: it encourages us to learn, for through learning we come to know the marvelous creations of Allah, of which we are one.
Allah can show us the path; He can guide us toward it - but it is we,
as individuals, who must decide to walk along the path. It is we who, having
discovered or learnt or found the truth about ourselves, the truth about
life and all creation - the truth about Allah - must willingly submit and
so acknowledge the power, the imminence, of Allah.
1) Tawheed - that is, monotheism.
This is an affirmation of the nature of God, who is Allah, as
revealed in the Quran: the one and only God. Tawheed is also an
affirmation of the truth that all beings are created by Allah, depend on
Allah, and will die or pass away, whereas Allah is Eternal, and depends
on no-thing and no being. Life, and the very cosmos itself, are said to
be Signs of Allah - proof of the existence of Allah and proof of the true
nature of Allah.
Allah is beyond our comprehension - beyond our seeing, our senses, and does not have a being as we comprehend being (e.g. a body). In the strict sense, Allah is not bounded by our perceptions of Time and Space, and Life, change and Death. [ See A Basic Introduction to Islamic Philosophy by Muhammad Yusuf. ]
2) 'Adl - that is, the Justice of Allah.
In the simple sense this means that there is always a reason why something
happens, even though we may not know it or understand it, and this reason
is that what happens, happens because of the will of Allah which always
implements, and brings about, what is good, right, and just.
If we do not see, or understand, the justice of Allah in this world we live in it may well be because the justice is evident in the 'next world' - in the life after death. This existence after death is in the realm of the 'acausal', just as our existence in this life is in the realm of causal Space and causal Time. [ See The Basis of Islamic Science by Muhammad Yusuf.]
3) Nubywaat - that is, Prophethood.
A Prophet is a messenger of Allah ( a Rasool) - or a Warner (a Nabi):
and Prophets receive a revelation about the nature of Allah, and our own
existence and purpose, and strive to guide people toward justice, truth,
reason, knowledge and Paradise.
A Rasool is a Prophet who reveals a new code of living, sanctioned by
Allah, whereas a Nabi is a Prophet who did not reveal a new code of living
but who strives to return people to one already revealed. The codes of
living are contained in Holy Books.
In a sense, a Prophet is a manifestation, in our world, of the will
of Allah.
Muhammad (Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammadin wa Ali Muhammad) is the last and final Messenger of Allah who revealed the Way of Life which is Al-Islam, which is complete and perfect. Muhammad came to guide us back to the Right Path, the straight path, since the revelations of earlier prophets had become neglected and corrupt, as had the Holy Books. Only the holy, noble Quran contains the will of Allah in all its perfection - free from human error and human interpretation because Muhammad (Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammadin wa Ali Muhammad) was himself infallible, incapable of error.
4) Imamate - that is, the chosen successors of the Prophet Muhammad (Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammadin wa Ali Muhammad).
There were twelve chosen successors of Muhammad (Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammadin wa Ali Muhammad) who were ordained by Allah to guide us to, and keep us on, the Right Path which leads to peace on Earth and Paradise and which was revealed by the Holy Prophet and the last Messenger of Allah, Muhammad (Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammadin wa Ali Muhammad).
These are the Ahl ul-Bayt, of the family of the Holy Prophet, whose Allah-given task was to hand-on, and expound, the teachings of the Holy Prophet as they were revealed and expounded by the Prophet himself so that these teachings would remain forever free from human errors and human mis-interpretation. To accomplish this these twelve Imams, who were the rightful Caliphs, were made infallible by Allah.
The first Imam was Ali (Alayhi al Salaam - that is, Peace be upon him), and the twelfth Imam was Imam Muhammad al-Mahdi (Alayhi al Salaam), son of Imam Hasan ibn Ali Askari (Alayhi al Salaam) who was born in the year 232 AH (845 AD) and who died, poisoned by the Abbasid ruler, Mu'tamid, in 260 AH (872 AD).
As Muhammad (Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammadin wa Ali Muhammad) himself said: "I leave behind two weighty things: the noble Quran and my Ahl ul-Bayt. If you follow them, you will never go astray." [ See the sermon of Ghadeer Khumm, below.]
5) Qiyamat - that is, the Day of Judgement.
Every human being shall taste death, and there will come a time when
every human being will be judged by Allah for what they have done. The
good will be rewarded with Paradise, and the bad will be justly punished.
1) Namaz (also called Salat) - that is, daily prayer. There is an obligation to pray each day at set times determined by the position of the sun where the person is. The prayers are said in Arabic, and involve certain postures, such as that of prostration (Sajdah), which is an acceptance of a person's reverence for and submission to Allah. These prayers have remained unchanged since the time of Muhammad (Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammadin wa Ali Muhammad). These prayers can and if possible should be done with others in a Mosque, but a Muslim is expected to perform Salat wherever they are at the set time.
Before prayer, is it obligatory to wash one's self in the prescribed way. This is called Wuzu (ritual ablution) and is done out of reverence and respect for Allah, and as a gesture of one's pure intent to pray.
2) Sawn - that is, fasting: the obligation to fast during the daylight hours in the month of Ramadan. During these days of fasting a Muslim is also expected to strive to live an exemplary life according to the customs of Islam. This period of fasting is a test of self-discipline, a denial of the material world and a reminder of the importance of the spiritual way. For such a fast over such a long period has many spiritual benefits, strengthening a person spiritually, and bringing a deeper understanding of and awareness of Allah.
It is also a bringing together of the Muslim community - something which binds them together in a special, more spiritual way and emphasizes the brotherhood of Islam, the equality of all individuals before Allah.
3) Zakat - that is, alms-giving: the giving, at a set time each
year, of a percentage of one's goods, or income, to the needy.
The word itself, Zakat, signifies 'purity' and this is what the alms-giving
is: a purification of the self by giving away material wealth.
4) Hajj - that is, pilgrimage: the obligation, if one is able to, at least once in a lifetime, to visit the holy place of Makkah at the time of pilgrimage (in the month of Hajj) and there perform the prescribed rites of Hajj.
5) Khums - that is, obligatory charity to aid Islam. Khums means one-fifth (of one's profit or gain) and is given to Sayyids (a descendant of the Holy Imams) and a Mujtahid (a learned and pious Islamic scholar).
6) Jihad - that is, the Striving for Excellence in the cause of Allah. Jihad is most often mis-translated as 'holy war'. Jihad is of two kinds: 'inner' Jihad, and 'outer' Jihad, although perhaps 'personal' and 'social' Jihad would be better terms. The inner Jihad is the striving to attain excellence for oneself - through worship, through doing what is lawful, and through observing Islamic customs. This Jihad is a struggle, a war, against one's own animal nature, against those base and dishonourable instincts which can overwhelm us.
The outer Jihad (of equal importance) is the striving to physically defend Muslims if they are attacked, and a striving to make the world a better place through fighting injustice and other social evils.
7) Amr bil Maroof - that is, enjoining good deeds. This means the Muslim striving to not only know what is right or halal (permitted by Islamic law) and do what is halal, but also striving to inform or advise others what is right and then guide or help them to do the right thing. This duty must be done even if it puts the Muslim at risk.
8) Nahi anil Munkar - that is, preventing bad deeds. This means trying to persuade people to stop doing what is wrong, harmful and thus haram (forbidden according to Islamic law).
9) Tawalla - that is, to love Muhammad (Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammadin wa Ali Muhammad) and Ahl ul-Bayt.
10) Tabarra - that is, to dislike, and distance oneself from, those
who hate, or are the enemies of, Muhammad (Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammadin
wa Ali Muhammad) and Ahl ul-Bayt.
Each and every adult (baligh) Muslim is obliged to follow a learned and pious Islamic scholar, a Mujtahid, in matters of daily practice (Furu-a-deen) because only a Mujtahid has the knowledge, piety and learning necessary to know and apply the Quran and the example of Muhammad to the circumstances of daily life. This obligation is called Taqlid (following) and the person who follows a Mujtahid is called the Muqallid (follower) of that Mujtahid. ( It should be noted that there are less than ten Mujtahid in the world today.)
Someone who follows these customs, as explained by a Mujtahid in his
book of Islamic laws (Taudhihul Masae'l), is thus following the path of
Islam - that is, submitting to the will of Allah. As such, Taqlid is very
important for Muslims and, taken together with the five principles of Islam,
expressess Muslim identity, and Muslim belief - what it is to be Muslim.
Appendix
The Sermon of Ghadeer Khumm
(as related in Tirmidhi and Muslim)
When Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) alighted at the pool of Khumm,
he took Ali by the hand and asked those present, "Do you not know that
I am closer to the believers that they themselves?" They replied, "Certainly."
He then asked, "Do you not know that I am nearer to every believer than
he himself?" They replied, "Certainly." He then said, " Allah, he whose
patron I am has Ali as his patron. O Allah, be friendly to those who are
friendly to him and hostile to those who are hostile to him." After that
Umar met him and said, "Congratulations, son of AbuTalib. Morning and evening
you are the patron of every believing man and woman."
Ahmad transmitted it.
Yazid ibn Hayyan reported: I went with Husayn ibn Sabrah and Umar ibn Muslim to Zayd ibn Arqam and, as we sat by his side, Husayn said to him: Zayd, you have been able to acquire great virtue him that you saw Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him), listened to his conversation, fought by his side in (different) battles and offered prayer behind him. Zayd, you have in fact earned a great virtue. Zayd, narrate to us what you heard from Allah`s Messenger (peace be upon him).
He said: I have grown old; I have almost reached the end of my life-span and I have forgotten some of the things which I remembered in connection with Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him). So accept whatever I narrate to you, and those which I do not narrate, do not compel me to narrate them.
He then said: One day Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) stood up to deliver a sermon at a watering-place known as Khumm, situated between Mecca and Medina. He praised Allah, extolled Him, delivered the sermon, exhorted (us) and said: Now to our purpose, O people: I am a human being. Perhaps I am about to receive a messenger (the angel of death) from my Lord, and I, in response to Allah's call, (shall bid good-bye to you).
But I am leaving among you two weighty things: the one being the Book
of Allah in which there is right guidance and light, so hold fast to the
Book of Allah and adhere to it. He exhorted (us) (to hold fast) to the
Book of Allah, and then said: The second are the members of my household;
I remind you (of your Allah-given duties) to the members of my family [Ahl
ul-Bayt].....
He (Husayn) said to Zayd: Who are the members of his household? Aren't
his wives the members of his family? Thereupon he said: His wives are the
members of his family (but here) the members of his family are those for
whom acceptance of Zakat is forbidden. And he said: Who are they? Thereupon
he said: Ali and the offspring of Ali, Aqil and the offspring of Aqil,
the offspring of Ja'far and the offspring of Abbas. Husayn said: These
are those for whom the acceptance of Zakat is forbidden. Zayd said: Yes.