BELIEFS

[Concerning Allāh Ta'āla | Concerning the Prophets | Concerning angels and jinn]
[Concerning the auliya (friends of Allāh) | Concerning heavenly books]
[Concerning the Sahabah (Companions) | General Beliefs]

Beliefs concerning Allāh Ta'āla

  1. In the beginning, the entire universe was non-existent. Through the creation of Allāh, it came into existence.

  2. Allāh Ta'āla is One. He is not dependent on anyone. He has not given birth to anyone, nor was He begotten. He does not have any wife. There is no one equal to Him.

  3. He has been since eternity and will remain till eternity.

  4. There is nothing similar to Him. He is unique.

  5. He is alive. He has power over everything. There is nothing that is beyond His knowledge. He sees and hears everything. He speaks, but His speech is not like ours. He does whatever He wishes and there is no one to stop or reprimand Him. He alone is worthy of being worshipped. He has no partner. He is merciful to His servants. He is the lord. He is free of all blemishes. He is the one who saves His servants from all calamities. He is the possessor of honour and greatness. He is the creator of all things; nothing has created Him. He is the forgiver of sins. He is all-powerful.

    He gives in abundance. He is the one who gives sustenance. He decreases the sustenance of whoever He wishes and increases the sustenance of whoever He wishes. He humiliates whoever He wishes and elevates whoever He wishes. He gives honour to whoever He wishes and disgraces whoever He wishes. He is just. He is extremely tolerant and forbearing. He values and rewards service and worship rendered to Him. He accepts duas (supplications). He is all-encompassing. He is the ruler over everyone and no one is a ruler over Him. No work of His is devoid of wisdom. He fulfils the needs of everyone. He is the one who created everyone and He is the one who will bring all back to life on the day of qiyāmah. He is the one who gives life and He causes death.

    Everyone knows Him through signs and attributes. No one can know the essence of His being. He accepts the repentance of the sinners. He punishes those who deserve punishment. He is the one who gives guidance. Whatever happens in this universe occurs under His order. Without His order, even an atom cannot move. He does not sleep nor does He slumber. He does not get weary of protecting the entire universe. He is the one who is keeping everything in control. He has all good and beautiful qualities. There is no bad or defective quality in Him, nor is there any blemish in Him.

  6. All His qualities are from eternity and will remain till eternity. No quality of His can ever disappear.

  7. He is free from the qualities of the creation. Wherever such qualities have been mentioned in the Quran or Hadith, we leave the meanings of them to Allāh. He is the one who knows the reality of these things. We believe in these things without delving into them and have the conviction that whatever their meanings may be, they are correct. And this is the best way of looking at these things. Alternatively, we could give them some appropriate meaning with which we could get an understanding of them.

  8. Whatever good or evil that takes place in the world, Allāh Ta'āla knows of it from eternity; and according to His knowledge He brings it into existence. This is what is meant by taqdir (pre-destination). There is a lot of mysterious wisdom in creating even evil things. Everyone is not aware of this wisdom.

  9. Allāh Ta'āla has given man an understanding and the power of choice with which he chooses between good and evil. However, man does not have the power to bring anything into existence of his own accord. Allāh Ta'āla is pleased with good deeds and displeased with evil deeds.

  10. Allāh Ta'āla has not ordered man to do anything which is beyond his power.

  11. Allāh Ta'āla is not bound by anything. Whatever mercy He shows is solely out of His kindness and virtue.

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Beliefs concerning the Prophets

  1. Allāh Ta'āla has sent down many prophets to guide mankind onto the right path. They are all free from sins. Their actual number is known to Allāh alone. In order to establish their truthfulness, Allāh caused new and difficult acts to happen through them which others cannot do. Such acts are called miracles (mu'jizāt).

    The first prophet is ādam alayhis salām and the last is Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. All the others came in between these two. Some of them are famous, such as: Nuh alayhis salām, Ibrahim alayhis salām, Is'hāq alayhis salām, Ismail alayhis salām, Yaqub alayhis salām, Yusuf alayhis salām, Daud alayhis salām, Sulayman alayhis salām, Ayyub alayhis salām, Musa alayhis salām, Harun alayhis salām, Zakariyyah alayhis salām, Yahya alayhis salām, Isa alayhis salām, Ilyas alayhis salām, al-Yasa' alayhis salām, Yunus alayhis salām, Lut alayhis salām, Idris alayhis salām, Zul Kifl alayhis salām, Salih alayhis salām, Hud alayhis salām, and Shuayb alayhis salām.

  2. Allāh Ta'āla did not show the exact number of prophets to anyone. We should therefore have this belief that we have faith in all the prophets that Allāh sent down; those that we know of and those that we do not know of as well.

  3. The status of some prophets is higher than that of others. The highest status is that of our Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. No new prophet can come after him. He is the prophet of all mankind and jinn right until the day of Qiyamat.

  4. Allāh Ta'āla took our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam physically while he was awake, from Makkah to Baitul Maqdis, and from there to the seven heavens, and from there to wherever Allāh wanted. He then sent him back to Makkah. This journey is known as the Mi'raj.

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Beliefs concerning angels and jinn

After creating certain creatures from light, Allāh Ta'āla concealed them from our sight. These creatures are called angels. A lot of work has been given to them. They never do anything contrary to the orders of Allāh Ta'āla. They continue doing whatever work they have been assigned to do. Among them, four angels are very famous. They are: Hadrat Jibra'eel alayhis salām, Hadrat Mika'eel alayhis salām, Hadrat Israfeel alayhis salām, and Hadrat Izra'eel alayhis salām.

Allāh Ta'āla created certain creatures from fire. We cannot see them as well. They are called jinn. There are all types of jinn; both good and bad. They also have children. The most famous among them is the accursed Iblis, i.e. Shaytān.

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Beliefs concerning the auliya (friends of Allāh)

  1. When a Muslim engages in an abundance of ibādah, abstains from sins, does not become attached to the world, and follows the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in every way, he becomes the friend and beloved of Allāh Ta'āla. Such a person is called a wali. At times, a wali does certain acts which cannot be done by others. These acts are called karamāt (miracles, or noble and excellent deeds).

  2. No matter how high a stage a wali may reach, he will never be equal to a prophet.

  3. No matter how beloved to Allāh a wali may become, as long as he is in his senses, it will be incumbent upon him to follow the Shariah. Salāt, fasting, and any other act of worship is not forgiven. Acts which are sinful do not become permissible for him.

  4. The person who acts contrary to the Shariah cannot be a friend of Allāh. If he does some miraculous act, then it is either magic or something enacted through the influence of the soul or satan. These things should not be believed in.

  5. At times, a wali comes to know of certain mysterious things either in his sleep or while awake. This is known as kashf or ilhām (manifestations or inspirations). If these things are in conformity with the Shariah, they are acceptable, if not, they have to be rejected.

  6. Allāh and His Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa sallam have shown all the matters pertaining to the Deen in the Quran and Hadith. To bring some new thing into the Deen is not permitted. Such new things are known as bid'āt (innovations). An innovation is a major sin.

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Beliefs concerning heavenly books

Allāh Ta'āla has sent down many small and large books through the angel Jibra'eel alayhis salām to the prophets so that they may teach the matters of Deen to their respective communities. Among these books, four are very famous: the Torah which was sent to Musa alayhis salām, the Zabur which was sent to Daud alayhis salām, the Injil which was sent to Isa alayhis salām, and the Quran which was sent to our Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. The Quran is the last of the books. Now, no new book will be sent from the heavens. The instructions of the Quran will remain valid right until the day of qiyāmah. Misguided people changed a lot of things in the other books. But Allāh Ta'āla has promised the protection of the Quran. No one can change it in any way.

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Beliefs concerning the Sahabah (Companions)

  1. 1. Those Muslims who have seen our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and have died as Muslims, are known as Sahabah. Very great virtues have been mentioned with regard to them. We have to love and think good of all of them. If we hear of any dispute or conflict among them, we should regard it as a misunderstanding or a miscalculation. We should not speak any ill of them.

    The greatest among them are four Companions: Hadrat Abu Bakr Siddiq radiallahu anhu. He took the place of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and supervised the matters of the Deen. He is therefore called the first Khalifah. He is the best person in the entire ummat. After him comes Hadrat Umar radiallahu anhu. He is the second Khalifah. After him is the third Khalifah, Hadrat Uthman radiallahu anhu. After him is the fourth Khalifah, Hadrat Ali radiallahu anhu.

  2. The status of the Sahabah is so high that even the greatest of walis cannot reach a stage equal to the lowest Sahabi.

  3. All the children and wives of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam are worthy of respect. Among his children, Hadrat Fatima radiallahu anha has the highest status. Among his wives, Hadrat Khadija and Hadrat Aisha radiallahu anhuma have the highest status.

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General Beliefs

  1. One's Imān (faith) is only complete when one regards Allāh and His Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa sallam as true in everything and accepts everything from them. To have a doubt regarding any aspect of Allāh and His Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, or to reject it, or to find faults with it, or to mock at it will cause the Imān to go away.

  2. To reject the clear meanings of the Quran and Hadith, and to twist their meanings by concocting one's own meaning amounts to disbelief.

  3. By regarding a sin to be permissible, one's Imān goes away.

  4. No matter how serious a sin may be, as long as it is regarded as a sin, Imān will remain. However, it (Imān) does get weaker (diminish).

  5. To be absolutely fearless of Allāh Ta'āla, or to despair of His mercy amounts to kufr.

  6. To ask someone of unseen things (ghayb) and to have conviction in them is kufr.

  7. No one knows the unseen except Allāh Ta'āla. However, certain things are made known to prophets through revelations (wahi), to walis through manifestations and inspirations (kashf and ilhām), and to ordinary people through signs.

  8. To call a person a kafir by name or to curse him is a major sin. However, we can say in general terms: Allāh's curse be on the oppressors, or Allāh's curse be on the liars. If Allāh and His Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa sallam have cursed someone specifically by name, or informed us of them being kafir; it will not be a sin for us to call them kafir or mal'un (accursed).

  9. When a person dies and if he is buried, then after he is buried; and if he is not buried, then in whatever state he may be in; two angels come to him. One's name is Munkar and the other is Nakeer. They come and ask him: "Who is your creator? What is your Deen?" and pointing to Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, "Who is this person?" If the deceased was a strong believer, he will answer all the questions correctly. Thereafter there will be all sorts of comforts for him. They will open a window towards jannah from which a cool and fragrant breeze will continue blowing and he will continue sleeping peacefully. As for the one who was not a believer, to all the questions he will reply that he does not know anything. Thereafter, he will be subjected to great hardships and punishment right until the day of qiyāmah. Allāh Ta'āla exempts some people from this test, but all these things are known to the deceased only. We cannot see these things, just as a sleeping person sees everything in his dream, while a person sitting next to him remains totally unaware.

  10. After death, the deceased is shown his abode every morning and evening. A jannati [dweller of paradise] is given glad tidings by being shown his abode in paradise, while a jahannami (dweller of hell) is shown his abode in hell and thereby made more despondent and wretched.

  11. By making dua for the deceased and giving in charity on his behalf, rewards reach him and is very beneficial to him.

  12. All the signs of qiyāmah as foretold by Allāh and His Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa sallam will definitely occur. Imam Mahdi will appear and will rule with absolute justice. The one-eyed Dajjal will appear and cause a lot of corruption in the world. Hadrat Isa alayhis salām will come down from the heavens in order to kill him and will succeed in killing him. Yajuj and Majuj is a very powerful nation. They will spread throughout the earth and create a lot of disturbance. Then through the power of Allāh they will be destroyed. A strange animal will come out from the ground and converse with people. The sun will rise from the west. The Quran will be raised and within a few days all the Muslims will die and the world will be filled with kuffar. Apart from this, many other incidents will take place.

  13. When all the foretold signs are fulfilled, preparations for Qiyamat will commence. Under instruction from Allāh Ta'āla, Hadrat Israfeel alayhis salām will blow the trumpet. This trumpet will be in the shape of a very large horn. On the blowing of the trumpet, the earth and skies will be blown into smithereens. All the creatures will die, and those that have already died, their souls will become unconscious. But those whom Allāh wishes to protect, will remain as they are. A specific period will pass in this condition.

  14. When Allāh wishes the entire universe to arise again, the trumpet will be blown a second time. By the blowing of the trumpet, the entire universe will be re-born. All the dead will be brought to life and they will all gather in the field of resurrection. In apprehension of all the difficulties of qiyāmah, they will all go to the prophets for intercession. Eventually, our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam will intercede. The scales will be raised and all good and bad deeds will be weighed and accounted for. A few people will enter paradise without reckoning. The pious people will be given their book of deeds in their right hands while the sinners will be given in their left hands. Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam will make his followers drink water from the Haud-e-Kauthar (the fountain of abundance). The water of this fountain will be whiter than milk and sweeter than honey. Everyone will also have to cross the Sirat. Those who were pious, will cross it and enter paradise. Those who were sinners, will fall down into hell.

  15. Hell has already been created. It has snakes, scorpions and many other types of punishments. Among the dwellers of hell, those that have even an iota of Imān will be taken out of hell and admitted into paradise after having been punished for their evil deeds, and after the intercession of the prophets and pious servants of Allāh. This is irrespective of how great sinners they may have been. As for the disbelievers and polytheists (mushrikeen) they will abide therein forever and will not even die.

  16. Paradise has also been created. It has various types of comforts and luxuries. The dwellers of paradise will have no sort of fear or concern whatsoever. They will abide therein forever. They will not come out of it, nor will they die.

  17. Allāh Ta'āla has the full right to punish over minor sins or to forgive over major sins and not to punish at all.

  18. Allāh Ta'āla does not ever forgive kufr or shirk. Apart from this, whatever other sins there may be, He will forgive whoever He wishes out of His mercy.

  19. Apart from all those whom Allāh and His Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa sallam have taken by name that they will enter paradise, we cannot say with certainty in regard to anyone else that they will enter paradise. However, after looking at good signs, it is necessary to be optimistic and hopeful of His mercy.

  20. The greatest bounty in paradise is seeing Allāh Ta'āla. This will be given to the dwellers of paradise. In comparison to this pleasure, all other bounties will appear insignificant.

  21. While awake, no one has seen Allāh with his very eyes in this world, nor can anyone see Him.

  22. No matter how good or bad a person may have been throughout his life, he will be recompensed according to the state in which he dies.

  23. Whenever a person repents or accepts Islam, his repentance or Islam will be accepted by Allāh Ta'āla. However, at the time of death, when he is breathing his last and he sees the angels of death, neither repentance nor his accepting Islam will be acceptable.

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