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Praise and gratitude is due to Allah, He the One, who sent
the Final Messenger with the Guidance and the True Way.
Peace and Salutations be upon the Final Messenger Muhammad .
The Principles of Islam
"There is no true god except Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah ”.
The requirements of this Testimony is the submission and declaration that Allah is the true God, and that all other deities are false, and are not capable of neither harming or benefiting, nor do they deserve to be worshipped.
It is obligatory to obey his commands and to refrain from his prohibitions because obeying him is in fact obeying Allah. The Prophet , peace be upon him, is the one commissioned by Allah to convey His message, laws, and commands. Therefore, it is not permissible to disobey the Messenger, peace be upon him, for disobeying him means disobeying Allah.
As-Salah, or prayer is the second pillar of Islam. It begins with the purification of the body and ends with the purification of the soul. It is performed five times in a day.
Zakat is the third pillar of Islam. It is a financial act of worship, which is due on the wealth kept in possession for one year. A certain percentage is taken from every kind of property to be given out to the poor to enable them meet their needs. The Zakat fulfills the poor's needs, and purifies the donors from selfishness, a natural tendency in men.
As-Siyam, in the month of Ramadan is the fourth pillar of Islam. Through fasting all aspects of worship become integrated, and the sense of obedience, and the will to observe is strengthened. Fasting is an act of worship, and a means of bringing man closer to Allah, refining the manners, self-restraint and setting the behavior aright. It is also a means of maintaining the fear of Allah.
The Hajj is the fifth pillar of Islam. This pillar has the same objectives like those of the other pillars of Islam. The Hajj trains self-restraint, endurance, resisting hunger, enduring patiently the hardship of the journey, leaving the family behind, and other desirous things. The Hajj like the Zakat, has a financial aspectA Muslim who fulfills the five pillars of lslam believing that Allah is his Rubb, and Islam is his faith, and Muhammad is his Prophet and Messenger, and dies while upholding this belief, will eventually gain the pleasure of his Rubb, and admittance to Jannah. But if a person has fulfilled the pillars of Islam without faith, it would not benefit him nor would it deliver him from the punishment promised by his Rubb even though he appears to be a Muslim.
We have already mentioned that the first article of iman is the Testimony:
“There is no true god except Allah and that Muhammad, is the Messenger of Allah ", peace be upon him.
The second part of the Testimony necessitates attesting to the truth that he is sent by Allah to mankind at large, and it is imperative to attest to the veracity of everything he told, to obey him, and avoid his prohibitions. And of the things he commanded is :
1.Believing in Allah.
2.Believing His angels
3.Believing His Scriptures,
4.Believing His Messengers,
5.Believing the Last Day,
6.and Believing the Qadr.
The firm belief that Allah is the self-sufficient, who stands in need of none of His creatures. Allah is neither an offspring of previous roots, nor does He have offspring. Allah describes Himself saying: He neither begets, nor is He begotten. He is far removed from having a spouse or a son. He is qualified with all attributes of perfection.
It is imperative to believe that Allah is ever-living, unaffected by cessation or extinction, and that He is ever alert, and He is the Proprietor of all. It is also incumbent upon us to believe that intercession is valid only after He permits, and that He is the One and only, having no partner in His Ruboobiyyah, nor in His divinity, nor is there anyone to share His names and attributes. He has no intermediaries from among His creatures. It is He in Whose hand is the provision, life and death, and harm and benefit. He hears their supplications, responds to the distressed when they call Him for help. Allah's creatures stand in need of Him, while He stands in need of none. Believing in all this makes man expect relief from only Allah, fear only Allah, and ask only Allah, without going through middlemen or intercessors. Allah's creatures have no power to extend benefit, or cause harm to anyone without Him. What some allege that there are intermediaries or intercessors to whose graves they go seeking help, and whom they call, awliya, or the favorites of Allah is not only false allegation, but it is paramount to shirk, or ascribing partners to Allah, the Ever living, the All-knowing, the All-powerful.
The angels are part of the unseen world about which Allah the Exalted, has informed His Messenger Muhammad , peace be upon him. The angels are honorable slaves of Allah. Allah says:
They do not rebel against His commands, and do exactly what they are commanded.
Allah has created the angels to worship Him, and charged them with duties that they fulfill obediently as Allah the Exalted, mentions in the Qur'an rebuffing thus what some people falsely believe that the angels are the intercessors and the daughters of Allah.
Believing in the divine Scriptures is one of the articles of faith. It is mandatory to believe that they are revealed and sent down by Allah. Belief in the Scriptures is of two levels; general, and particular. The general entails believing in all Scripture sent down to any of Allah's Messengers, whether we know him by name or not. As for the particular belief, we must believe in every Scripture that is mentioned in the Qur’an by name. They are five:
1. The Qur’an, which is in our hands, the Book that was sent down to Muhammad , peace be upon him.
1. The Torah, The Old testament, sent down to Musa, peace be upon him.
1. The Injeel, The Evangel, or Gospel, sent down to Isa (Jesus), peace be upon him.
1. Az-Zaboor, the Psalms, sent down to Dawood (David), peace be upon him.
1. The Sheets of Ibraheem, peace be upon him.
1. The languages of those Scriptures have been altered(except Qur', or became archaic. Even if those Scriptures were available today in their original texts, it is most unlikely that there would be any people, who would be able to decode their languages, thus such Scriptures would not be valid to use without understanding their texts. As for the text of the Qur'an, it is still available in its original language in which it was sent down to Muhammad, peace be upon him. The Qur'an maintains its originality and validity for the following reasons:
a. Allah Himself has promised to preserve the Qur'an. He said: We it is Who sent down the Dthikr and we are preserving it.
Believing in the Messengers is an article of faith. This does not mean to recognize some of the Messengers and deny the others. Rather it is obligatory to believe in all of them in general, whether we know their names or not. Those Messengers whose names are mentioned in the Qur'an must be recognized in particular. Allah has made mandatory recognizing them all, for they are like a chain whose rings are connected to one another; everyone of them completed the Message of the proceeding Messenger until Allah has sent Mohammed, peace be upon him as the last Messenger with whom He concluded their line. Peace be upon them all. A person who acknowledges some of the Messengers, and denies the others is as though he has broken their chain.
This belief necessitates:
1. Believing that this world and all that is in it has an end.
2. Allah, the exalted, will resurrect the creatures once again.
3. The people will be held accountable for their deeds. He who does good, it will be good for him, and he who errs, will suffer the consequences. Everyone will be held responsible for his own deeds.
4. Mankind's deeds are being recorded and will be reviewed by them on the Day of Reckoning.
5. The Muslim will eventually be admitted to Jannah, (the heavenly garden), and the unbeliever will be admitted to Hell Fire.
Believing in Al-Qadar is one of the central fundamentals of Islam. Allah does not accept any good deed from a person until he believes in the Al-Qadar, even if he observes fasting, performs prayers, and claims to be a Muslim, because he did not maintain sound belief in Allah. He who does not believe in Al-Qadar, implies that Allah is incapable, unaware of the events taking place in the universe, and impotent. Such is not fit to be a god; for among the intrinsic attributes of Allah the Ever-living, the One Who sustains and maintains the creatures, the Omnipotent, the All-Hearing, All-Seeing – The Perfect. Disbelieving in Al-Qadar necessitates denying Allah all of these attributes of perfection. Far is Allah removed from every imperfection.
Believing in al-ghaib is also a central fundamental in Islam. Allah has endowed us with the ability to believe in it. Man cannot perceive the essence of Allah, His nature, or attributes with his senses, nor can he imagine them in his mind, and yet he sees the effects of Allah's existence, and His disposal of the affairs of the universe. Of the greatest graces that Allah conferred on man is enabling him to believe submissively in the issues of al-ghaib.
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