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THE NATURE OF ALLAH

• Allah is the arabic word for God 
• Tawhid= oneness of God/ Allah
• Transcendent= beyond human understanding
• Omnipotence= all powerful
• Beneficence= generous
• Mercy= compassion/ forgiveness
• Fairness= just treatment
• Justice= quality of being fair and reasonable 

ADALAT IN SHI'A 

• Adalat is the belief in divine justice
• It is where Allah is always right and fair
• Allah created the world for everyone to be fair and just 

Risallah

• The belief in prophethood
• Prophethood is important because they gave guidance and instruction to their people on how to worship Allah and live their lives
• God also conveys his message and relates his will through prophets, forming a link between humans and the heavens

'' and we have already sent messengers before you and assigned to them wives and descendents ''

Ibrahim

• Regarded as the hanif- this means he knows inner knowledge that there really is only one God
• Greatest prophet before Isa 
• Born into a family of polytheists but rejected those beliefs and became a Muslim

'' Abraham was neither a Jew or Christian, but he was inclining truth, a Muslim''

• Father to Isaac (the prohet to the jews) and Ismail (prophet to the Arabs)
• Ancestor to Muhammad
• There is a tradition that God revealed a Holy Book to Ibrahim known as 'the scrolls of Ibrahim' or the 'Sahifah'

Isa as a prophet

• Islamic name for Jesus
• Apart from Muhammad, Isa and Maryam (his mother) are the most prominent figures in the Qur'an
• Successor to Moses
• He was given the Injil (gospel)
• He performed miracles
• The Qur'an teaches that although it seemed like Isa had been crucified, in fact he did not die.
• Isa will reappear in the second coming when God judges the world

'' and they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him ''

Muhammad

• The last and greatest prophets sent by God
• Role model for Muslims because of the moral and prayerful way he lived his life
• He was born, lived and died an ordinary man

Muhammads message

• There is one true God
• We need to show thanks to God through worship
• There will be a day of judgement where God will judge our lives

• Muslims follow is Hadith (sayings) and his Sunna (way of life)

'' God chooses for himself whom He wills and guides to Himself whover turns back (to Him) ''

Angels- Malaikah

• The belief in Angels is Malaikah
• God's messengers
• We can become aware of God's laws and his purposes in our lives through Angels
• Can take on many to carry out 
• They are without sin meaning that they are able to enter into God's divine presence but also communicate with humans

The nature of angels

• Although they are invisible, they exist everywhere
• Never far away and are always in contact with humans- especially when someone prays or thinks about God
• They have no physical bodies
• Qur'an describes them as having wings and being male

Examples of angels

• Jibril= angel of revelation- responsible for revealing the Qur'an
• Mika'il= archangel responsible for keeping the devil out of heaven and protecting faithful worshippers
• Israfil= the archangel responsible for blowing the trumpet on the Day of Judgement 
• Azrail= the archangel who takes souls at death
• Raqib and Atib= the angels who note down our good and bad deeds, to read from the book on the last day
• Munkar and Nakir= the angels who question each person after their death, testing their faith

Diversity between Sunni Islam and Shi'a regarding angels 

• Sunni believe angels were made from light
  
• Have no free will
• Immortal
• Obey Gods commands

• Shi'a believe angels have limited free will
• Weren't made from light
• Revelation of Qur'an through Angel Jibril
• Immortal
• Obey God's command

Diversity between Sunni and Shi'a regarding free will

• Islam teaches that we all have free will and God will hold us accountable for our decions on the Day of Judgement. 
• However, one of the six roots of faith in Sunni Islam is 'Al - Qadr' this is the belief that things happen because God wills it. Meaning that God knows everything that is going to happen in the future.

''Inshallah'' - if god wills it

Significance of Jibril's revelation of Qur'an to Muhummad

• Muslims believe that the Muhammad was given the Qur'an by Angel Jibril
• If it wasn't for Jibril's revelations, then Muhammad would not have gotten the word of God, so there would be no Qur'an 

Al Qadr- predestination

• Al Qadr is the belief in predestination
• Islam teaches that God has a divine plan for all of us
• God is responsible for all things
• God has a masterplan, everything that happens is predestined to take place
• It is all part of his design and larger plan
• Muslims believe that things we call a coincidence are actually part of God's plan
• They will only succeed in their own plans if God is also willing to make it happen

'' Inshallah''

Akhirah

• The belief in the afterlife
• Muslims believe that our mortal lives are a test and that we will be judged according to how we have lived
• As humas we have been given free will so we are able to make choices about what to believe and how to treat others
• We will be held responsible for these thoughts and actions when God comes to judge us on the last day
• Overall, Muslims believe that suffering is a test and we will be judged deciding where we go in the afterlife
• In the afterlife there is heaven and hell

Judgement

• God weighs our deeds 
• God judges each peron's actions but intentions (niyyah) are also taken into consideration
• if the person has the intention to do a good deed, but was unable to carry it out, this is counted as a good deed
• if they intended a bad deed, but did not do it, that is a good deed
• if they intended and carried out a good deed, this is counted as ten good deeds
• if they intended and carried out a bad deed, God records that as one bad deed
• God tests people's faith
• Barzakh= kept in the state of waiting until the final trumpet is heard- like a waiting room until you are called in

Janna- heaven

• a state of joy
• happiness
• peace
• those who have been blessed by God will successfully cross to heaven
• faithful, moral lives
• those who fought for God and persecuted for their faith
• heaven is a reward for living a good life
• it is believed that God is present in heaven

''paradise''

''beautiful gardens''

Jahannam- hell

• a state of torment and suffering
  
• a place of terror 
• separated from God without a hope to return

'' forced to drink scorching water ''

''wear garments of fire''

6 articles of faith for Sunni Islam

• Tawhid= the oneness of Allah
• Malaikah= the belief in angels
• Kutub= the holy books
• Risalah= belief in prophethood
• Akhirah= belief in the afterlife
• Al- Qadr= predestination

5 roots of Usul ad-Din in Shi'a Muslim

• Tawhid= oneness of Allah
• Adalat= justice of God
• Nubuwwah= prophethood
• Imamate= leadership
• Qayamat= resurrection

Kutub

• the belief in Holy books, not just the Qur'an
• the Qur'an names four other Holy books
• Sahifah= the scrolls of Ibrahim
• Tawrat= the revelation given to Musa
• Zabur= given to Dawud
• Injil= the teaching given to Isa 
• The qur'an is seen as the most important Holy Book because it is believed that the others are corrupt and are fallible (meaning they have errors)