The fundamentals of iman and İslam

Question: Could you explain briefly Islam’s basic tenets of belief that every Muslim has to know?
ANSWER
Islam’s basic tenets of belief that must be known are the fundamentals of îmân and Islam We have gathered them below briefly For detailed knowledge, you can refer to the subject concerning the fundamentals of Âmantu

The fundamentals of îmân are as follows:

1 Faith in Allah
Allahu ta’âlâ is the Wâjib alwujûd the Indispensable Being and the Real Ma’bûd the One worshipped and the Creator of all beings There is no ilâh being to be worshipped
except Him He is not with time or with place He does not resemble anything

The Sifât Attributes adhDhâtiyya of Allahu ta’âlâ are six:

alWujûd,
alQidam,
alBaqâ’,
alWahdâniyya,
alMukhâlafatu lilhawâdith,
alQiyâmu bi nafsihî

alWujûd: existence; alQidam: being without beginning; alBaqâ’: being without end; alWahdâniyya: having no partner or match; alMukhâlafatu lilhawâdith: being dissimilar to every creature in every respect; alQiyâmu bi nafsihî: self existence, being unneedy of anything for His existence

The Sifât Attributes athThubûtiyya of Allahu ta’âlâ are eight:
Hayât,
‘Ilm,
Sam’,
Basar,
Qudrat,
Irâda,
Kalâm,
Takwîn
Hayât: Life, EverLiving; ‘Ilm: Omniscience; Sam’: Hearing; Basar: Seeing; Qudrat: Omnipotence; Irâda: Will; Kalâm: Speech, Word; Takwîn: Creativeness
These attributes of His are eternal and everlasting

2 Faith in Angels
Angels are alive; that is, they have life They are nûrânî luminous, spiritual creatures that have reason ‘aql They are beloved and dear slaves of Allahu ta’âlâ They are not His partners, nor are they His daughters They obey His commands, and they never react in disobedience to the commands, nor do they commit sins They do not engage in duties other than what they are commanded They are neither male nor female They do not get married, do not give birth, do not reproduce or do not have children They do not eat or drink They have wings but we do not know how they are

The angels that record all actions of human beings are called Kirâman Kâtibîn The questioning angels are called Munkar and Nakîr The most superior angels are the four archangels; namely, Jabrâ’îl (‘alaihissalâm), Isrâfîl (‘alaihissalâm), Mikâ’îl (‘alaihissalâm) and ‘Azrâ’îl (‘alaihissalâm)

3 Faith in the Heavenly Books
Allahu ta’âlâ sent many Books However, only 104 of them are mentioned in the religious books 100 of them are small Books called suhuf plural of sahîfa

These 100 suhuf were revealed to following Prophets:

10 suhuf to Âdam (‘alaihissalâm),
50 suhuf to Shît (‘alaihissalâm),
30 suhuf to Idrîs ( Enoch ‘alaihissalâm),
10 suhuf to Ibrâhîm (Abraham ‘alaihissalâm)

The other four big Books were revealed to following Prophets:

The Tawrât (Torah) to Mûsâ (Moses ‘alaihissalâm),
The Zabûr (the original Psalms) to Dâwud (David ‘alaihissalâm),
The Injîl (Latin ‘Evangelium’) to ‘Îsâ (Jesus ‘alaihissalâm),
The Qur’ân alkarîm to our Master, the Prophet Muhammad (‘alaihissalâm)

The Qur’ân alkarîm replaced all the Divinely Books, abolished the validity of their rules, and included all these rules in itself Today all people have to obey the commandments of the Qur’ân alkarîm Accordingly, it is declared in the Qur’ân alkarîm, (Follow My Prophet) In this case, we also have to obey the rules stated in hadîthi sharîfs At the present time there is not the original Tawrât or Injîl in any country There are defiled Injîls available These Divinely Books were distorted and altered by people If they had not been defiled, they still would’t have had validity, because all of them are abrogated; that is, invalidated by Allahu ta’âlâ

The revelation of the Qur’ân alkarîm was made âyat by âyat, and completed in 23 years It will remain valid up to the Day of Judgement It is kept secure from invalidity and distortions One who alleges that there are reductions or additions in the Qur’ân alkarîm does not believe in Allahu ta’âlâ

It is purported in âyati karîmas:
(We revealed the Qur’ân, and surely We are its Guardian) SûratulHijr 9

(The Qur’an is a unique, unmatched Book Falsehood reductions or additions cannot approach it from before or behind in no way, in no respect it Because It is sent down
by Allah who is the AllWise, Worthy of all Praise) Sûratu Fussilat 41, 42

4 Faith in Prophets
The first of the prophets is Âdam (‘alaihissalâm) and the last one is Muhammad (‘alaihissalâm) So many prophets were sent between these two, but we do not know their exact number It is wellknown that they are more than 124000

Having faith in prophets means believing in the fact that all prophets, without exception, were devoted, truthful people who were selected by Allahu ta’âlâ One who does not believe in one of them regarded as not believing in any

All prophets, from Âdam (‘alaihissalâm) to Muhammad (‘alaihissalâm), communicated the same îmân, and ordered their ummats to believe in the same things Jews believe in Mûsâ (Moses ‘alaihissalâm) but do not believe in ‘Îsâ (‘alaihissalâm) and Muhammad (‘alaihissalâm) Christians believe in ‘Îsâ (‘alaihissalâm), but do not believe in Muhammad (‘alaihissalâm) As for Muslims, they believe in and accept all prophets

All prophets have these peculiarities:

Amâna trustworthiness,
Sidq devotion,
Tabligh they communicate the religion precisely,
Adâla justness,
‘Isma they never commit sins,
Fatâna superintelligence,
Amn al’azl security against dismissal from prophethood

Just from the time of Âdam (‘alaihissalâm), who was the first human being created and who was the first Prophet to come, Allahu ta’âlâ sent mankind a religion by means of a prophet every thousand years Through the medium of religions, He prescribed the way which leads people to serenity and happiness in this world and to endless bliss in the Hereafter A prophet who brought a new religion is called a ‘rasûl’ Rasûls who have a higher degree than the others are called Ulu’l’azm These are: Âdam, Nûh (Noah), Ibrâhîm (Abraham), Mûsâ (Moses), ‘Isâ (Jesus), Muhammad (‘alaihimussalâtu wa’ssalâm)

A prophet who did not bring a new religion, but invited people to the previous religion is called a ‘nabî’

Muhammad (‘alaihissalâm) is the Last Prophet; that is, no prophet will succeed him

It is purported in the Qur’ân alkarîm:

(Muhammad ‘alaihissalâm is the Messenger of Allah and the Last of the prophets) SûratulAhzâb 40

5 Faith in the Last Day
After death, everybody will resurrect, and will go to Paradise or Hell following questioning and settlement of accounts on every action Paradise and Hell exist now, and both of them are eternal Paradise for Muslims and Hell for disbelievers will be eternal abode

It is not made known when Doomsday will occur Neverthless, our Master, the Prophet pointed out many of its harbingers and precedents:

Hadrat alMahdî will come; ‘Isâ (‘alaihissalâm) will descend from Heaven; adDajjal who is called Antichrist by Christians will appear; people called Ya’jûj and Ma’jûj will put the whole world into turmoil; the sun will rise in the west; violent earthquakes will occur; religious knowledge will be forgotten; vice and evil will increase

6 Faith in Qadar, that is good (khair) and evil (sharr) are from Allahu ta’âlâ
Good and evil, advantage and harm coming upon human beings are all by Allahu ta’âlâ’s Will

Qadar means Allahu ta’âlâ’s (with His Eternal Knowledge) knowing, and willing all deeds of human beings and other creatures that will be performed Qadâ means the instance creation of anything just compatibly with qadar They are termed qadâ and qadar

Though everything and good or evil deeds of human beings are created by Allahu ta’âlâ, He has bestowed irâdai juz’iyya partial will upon people Using this partial will, if one wants a good deed created, then one gains thawâb But, if one wants an evil deed created, then one will have committed sins If people commit sins, they will be meted out punisments In contrast, if they earn thawâb, then they will be awarded in the Hereafter In other words, Allahu ta’âlâ does not compel his born slaves to commit sins

The fundamentals of Islam

1 To say the Kalimai shahâdat
That is, to say, “Ashhadu an lâ ilâha illAllah wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduhû wa rasûluh
( I bear witness I know and confirm by word of mouth as if I saw that there is no ilâh save Allah; and again I bear witness that Muhammad (‘alaihissalâm) is His born slave and Messenger)
Having faith in the Messenger of Allah means accepting and loving all of what he communicated

2 To perform namâzes ritual prayers
It is fard obligatory for every Muslim who is sane and has reached the age of puberty to perform the five daily namâzes Namâz is the pillar of religion, and not to perform it is one of the grave sins If people do not perform namâzes, it is very difficult for them to keep their credal state at their last breath It is stated in a hadîthi sharîf:

( A person who performs namâz will be saved in the Hereafter, but a person who does not perform it will be in a miserable state) Tabarânî

3 To give the zakât of one’s property
For a person who has money or commercial property at a certain amount termed nisâb that is, after one has subtracted one’s debts from the total of what one has of gold or commercial property, if the remainder, including one’s dues that are to be received, is the amount of or equal to nisâb 96gr , it is fard to give onefortieth of it as zakât It is also fard to give onetenth of the crop harvested from one’s land to the poor This onetenth of zakât is termed ‘ushr It is stated in a hadîthi sharîf:

(Allahu ta’âlâ accurses one who does not give the zakât of one’s property) Nasâî

4 To fast
It is fard to fast every day of the month of Ramadân It is a grave sin to omit it

5 To perform the hajj pilgrimage
For an able person who has money enough to go to and come back from the city of Mecca besides the property sufficient for the subsistence of one’s family one leaves behind until one comes back, it is fard to perform tawâf around the Ka’ba and to perform waqfa on the plain of ‘Arafât

Does it suffice only to say, “I believe?
Question: It is declared in hadîthi sharîfs that every person who says the Kalimai shahâdat becomes a Muslim If a person says the Kalimai shahâdat without believing in its bases of faith, or if a person believes it without having faith in the fundamental principles in the Âmantu, is such a person still a Muslim?
ANSWER
Îmân is defined as certifying it with the heart, and confirming it by word of mouth One is not a Muslim as long as one does not certify it with one’s heart

The Kalimai shahâdat necessitates believing in Allahu ta’âlâ’s existence, Oneness and there being no ilâh except Him, also believing that Muhammad (‘alaihissalâm) is His Messenger and His Last Prophet, and having faith in and loving all of what he communicated Indeed, saying, like narrating a historical event, “There was such a Prophet does not constitute îmân Îmân must be as follows, “I believe, accept and love that exalted Prophet and all of what he communicated Every word he said is true There is not even a shadow of doubt that it may be wrong As it is seen, one has to believe in all the six tenets of belief in the Âmantu One is not a Muslim as long as one does not believe in them; what is more, one still isn’t a Muslim if one does not love them after believing Likewise, one who does not accept any of the six fundamentals of îmân, or who does not accept and love any of the commonlyknown fards, sunnats or harâms in the religion is not a Muslim You have to accept and love Islam as a whole ensemble

In their endeavors to understand the meanings of hadîthi sharifs, if people read them without taking notice of Islamic scholars’ expounding on them, this act of theirs is very dangerous and may result in disbelief For example, we should understand the meaning of the following hadîthi sharîf in light of the foregoing:

(Such a person is a Muslim One believing in Allahu ta’âlâ and pleased with Him as one’s Rab, believing in Islam and pleased with it as one’s religion, and believing in Muhammad ‘alaihissalâm all of what he communicated and pleased with him as one’s Last Prophet will be awarded Paradise if one keeps this credal state at one’s last breath) Muslim, Nasâî