What Muslims Believe
Niall Christie
The Qur’an:
The first source of Muslim belief is the Qur’an, which is regarded by Muslims as the very word of God, transmitted to humanity through His Prophet. It is seen as the final, perfect version of the revelation that was previously made humans, who misunderstood or distorted its teachings on earlier occasions. The book itself is roughly the size of the New Testament, and deals with a number of themes:
- God: We are told about the nature of God. He is omnipotent and omniscient, but also kind and benevolent to humanity. Most importantly, God is one single being, with no partners, associates, or offspring. Idolatry is thus fiercely opposed. Meanwhile Christians and Jews are also criticised for associating other figures with God. In particular, the Christian claim that Jesus is the son of God, and also God, is explicitly refuted; indeed, in the text Jesus himself is described as denying the truth of such a claim.
- Stories of the Prophets: The Qur’an also recounts or alludes to stories of the prophets, most of whom would be recognised by readers of Bible. In the Muslim view, the first prophet was Adam, and then God communicated with many subsequent figures such as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus; the latter was the precursor to Muhammad, the very last and Seal of the Prophets. Of these figures, Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus were given scriptures to share with humanity, but as noted above, humans misunderstood or distorted these revelations, making the new revelation to Muhammad necessary.
- Legal Teaching: The text describes or at least alludes to a range of legal teachings, making it a social contract as well as a book of religious doctrine. Thus one may consult the Qur’an to establish how to divide up inheritance, how to treat the women in the community, how to look after the poor, the correct manner in which to undertake warfare, and how to deal with non-Muslims. Not all the teachings in the text are clearly stated, however, and as time went on the Muslims periodically encountered situations where Qur’anic teaching could not be applied easily, and so legal scholars used hadith material (see above) and further legal argumentation to develop the Qur’an’s teachings into a full-blown legal code known as the shari‘a.
- The Day of Judgment: The Qur’an tells us that we will all die at the times appointed for us. Then, at time known only to God, we will all be resurrected and judged according to our deeds, finding our way to Paradise or Hell as appropriate. Both these places are described in great detail in the Qur’an; Paradise is a garden, with trees and rivers, where food and drink are plentiful, there are gems and gold, and (depending on the translation) beautiful maidens who will be heavenly wives for the pious.
The “Pillars of Islam”:
To avoid Hell and gain a place in Paradise, Muslims are expected to believe in God and His scripture, and to express that belief through their actions, obeying Islamic legal teac