Short answer
Muslims believe in one God (﷾), Allah (﷾), who alone is to be worshipped. He has no partner, no son and no equal. They believe in His angels. They believe in the books He revealed, as each was first given. Among them are the Torah, the Psalms, the Injil (the Gospel Jesus preached) and the Qur'an. They believe in all His prophets, from Adam through Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus to Muhammad (ﷺ), the last. All of them were human, and all brought one message: worship God (﷾) alone. They believe in the Day of Judgement, when everyone will be raised and judged by their faith and deeds. And they believe in God's (﷾) decree: He knows and wills all things, while each person is free to choose and answers for that choice. Islam is a complete way of life. Faith comes first, and it shapes worship, character, family, work and law.
Full explanation
The six articles of faith
The angel Gabriel once came in human form and asked the Prophet (ﷺ) what faith is. The Prophet (ﷺ) named six things. They are belief in Allah (﷾), His angels, His books, His messengers and the Last Day. The sixth is belief in the divine decree, its good and its evil. The Qur'an lists the first five together. It says the believers make no distinction between any of God's (﷾) messengers.
Umar ibn al-Khattab reports that a stranger in very white clothes, with no sign of travel on him, sat before the Prophet (ﷺ) and asked him about Islam, faith and excellence in worship. Asked about faith, the Prophet said it is to believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers and the Last Day, and to believe in the divine decree, its good and its evil. Afterwards the Prophet told Umar the stranger was Gabriel, who had come to teach them their religion.
“The Messenger believeth in what hath been revealed to him from his Lord, as do the men of faith. Each one (of them) believeth in Allah, His angels, His books, and His messengers. "We make no distinction (they say) between one and another of His messengers." And they say: "We hear, and we obey: (We seek) Thy forgiveness, our Lord, and to Thee is the end of all journeys."”
“It is not righteousness that ye turn your faces Towards east or West; but it is righteousness- to believe in Allah and the Last Day, and the Angels, and the Book, and the Messengers; to spend of your substance, out of love for Him, for your kin, for orphans, for the needy, for the wayfarer, for those who ask, and for the ransom of slaves; to be steadfast in prayer, and practice regular charity; to fulfil the contracts which ye have made; and to be firm and patient, in pain (or suffering) and adversity, and throughout all periods of panic. Such are the people of truth, the Allah-fearing.”
“O ye who believe! Believe in Allah and His Messenger, and the scripture which He hath sent to His Messenger and the scripture which He sent to those before (him). Any who denieth Allah, His angels, His Books, His Messengers, and the Day of Judgment, hath gone far, far astray.”
| Belief in | What it means |
|---|---|
| Allah (﷾) | One God (﷾), with no partner, no son and no equal, who alone is worshipped. |
| His angels | Honoured creatures who carry out what God (﷾) commands and never disobey Him. |
| His books | The Torah, the Psalms, the Injil and the Qur'an, as each was first revealed. |
| His messengers | One message to every people, from Adam to Muhammad (ﷺ), the last: worship God (﷾) alone. |
| The Last Day | All are raised and judged; even an atom's weight of good or evil will be seen. |
| The decree | God (﷾) knows, records, wills and creates all things, and each person is still free to choose. |
The Prophet (ﷺ) named these six when the angel Gabriel asked him what faith is.
Tawhid: God (﷾) is One
Tawhid, the oneness of God (﷾), is the foundation of everything else. God (﷾) is One and Eternal. He does not beget (have offspring) and was not begotten, and nothing is like Him. No one but He may be prayed to or worshipped. Every messenger before the Prophet (ﷺ) was sent with that same message. God (﷾) is close and answers whoever calls on Him, with no one in between. The Prophet (ﷺ) said God (﷾) is more merciful to His servants than a mother to her child.
“Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him.”
“Not a messenger did We send before thee without this inspiration sent by Us to him: that there is no god but I; therefore worship and serve Me.”
“When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me: Let them also, with a will, Listen to My call, and believe in Me: That they may walk in the right way.”
Umar reports that captives were brought to the Prophet (ﷺ), among them a woman whose breasts were full of milk; whenever she found a child among the captives, she held it to her chest and nursed it. The Prophet asked whether she could ever throw her child into a fire. They said no. He said: Allah is more merciful to His servants than this woman is to her child.
Angels and revealed books
Angels are honoured creatures who carry out what God (﷾) commands and never disobey Him. Gabriel brought the revelation to the heart of the Prophet (ﷺ). God (﷾) revealed books to His messengers: the Torah to Moses, the Psalms to David, the Injil to Jesus and the Qur'an to Muhammad (ﷺ). Muslims believe in those earlier books as they were first revealed. They were not preserved as given. So the Qur'an, which God (﷾) promised to guard from corruption, is the standard by which they are judged. The page "Do Muslims believe in the books God gave Moses and Jesus?" explains this in full.
“Praise be to Allah, Who created (out of nothing) the heavens and the earth, Who made the angels, messengers with wings,- two, or three, or four (pairs): He adds to Creation as He pleases: for Allah has power over all things.”
“O ye who believe! save yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is Men and Stones, over which are (appointed) angels stern (and) severe, who flinch not (from executing) the Commands they receive from Allah, but do (precisely) what they are commanded.”
“Say: Whoever is an enemy to Gabriel-for he brings down the (revelation) to thy heart by Allah's will, a confirmation of what went before, and guidance and glad tidings for those who believe,-”
“It is He Who sent down to thee (step by step), in truth, the Book, confirming what went before it; and He sent down the Law (of Moses) and the Gospel (of Jesus) before this, as a guide to mankind, and He sent down the criterion (of judgment between right and wrong).”
“We have sent thee inspiration, as We sent it to Noah and the Messengers after him: we sent inspiration to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, to Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and solomon, and to David We gave the Psalms.”
“We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly guard it (from corruption).”
“To thee We sent the Scripture in truth, confirming the scripture that came before it, and guarding it in safety: so judge between them by what Allah hath revealed, and follow not their vain desires, diverging from the Truth that hath come to thee. To each among you have we prescribed a law and an open way. If Allah had so willed, He would have made you a single people, but (His plan is) to test you in what He hath given you: so strive as in a race in all virtues. The goal of you all is to Allah; it is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which ye dispute;”
Risalah: the prophets
Risalah means prophethood. God (﷾) sent a messenger to every people, all with one message: serve Allah (﷾) and keep away from evil, that is, every false god. Muslims believe in all of them, from Adam to Jesus, and make no distinction between them. Every one was a human being, and none shared in God's (﷾) divinity. Muslim scholars hold that whenever a prophet's teaching was distorted, God (﷾) sent another. The last was the Prophet (ﷺ), whom the Qur'an calls the Seal of the Prophets.
“For We assuredly sent amongst every People a messenger, (with the Command), "Serve Allah, and eschew Evil": of the People were some whom Allah guided, and some on whom error became inevitably (established). So travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those who denied (the Truth).”
“Say ye: "We believe in Allah, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Isma'il, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) prophets from their Lord: We make no difference between one and another of them: And we bow to Allah (in Islam)."”
“Say: "I am but a man like yourselves, (but) the inspiration has come to me, that your Allah is one Allah: whoever expects to meet his Lord, let him work righteousness, and, in the worship of his Lord, admit no one as partner.”
“Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but (he is) the Messenger of Allah, and the Seal of the Prophets: and Allah has full knowledge of all things.”
Akhirah: the life after death
Every soul will taste death. On the Day of Judgement all people will be raised and paid in full for what they did. Even an atom's weight of good or evil will be seen. Whoever is kept from the Fire (Hell) and brought into the Garden (Paradise) has succeeded. This belief, taught by the Prophet (ﷺ), is what gives a Muslim's daily choices their weight.
“Every soul shall have a taste of death: And only on the Day of Judgment shall you be paid your full recompense. Only he who is saved far from the Fire and admitted to the Garden will have attained the object (of Life): For the life of this world is but goods and chattels of deception.”
“Then shall anyone who has done an atom's weight of good, see it! And anyone who has done an atom's weight of evil, shall see it.”
The divine decree and free will
Muslim scholars describe the decree in four parts. God (﷾) knows everything. He has recorded all that will happen. Nothing happens unless He wills it. And He created all things. This does not remove human choice. The Qur'an says God (﷾) showed people the way. Each is free to be grateful or ungrateful, to believe or reject, and will answer for it. The Prophet (ﷺ) named the decree among the six articles of faith.
“Verily, all things have We created in proportion and measure.”
“No misfortune can happen on earth or in your souls but is recorded in a decree before We bring it into existence: That is truly easy for Allah:”
“We showed him the Way: whether he be grateful or ungrateful (rests on his will).”
“Say, "The truth is from your Lord": Let him who will believe, and let him who will, reject (it): for the wrong-doers We have prepared a Fire whose (smoke and flames), like the walls and roof of a tent, will hem them in: if they implore relief they will be granted water like melted brass, that will scald their faces, how dreadful the drink! How uncomfortable a couch to recline on!”
Umar ibn al-Khattab reports that a stranger in very white clothes, with no sign of travel on him, sat before the Prophet (ﷺ) and asked him about Islam, faith and excellence in worship. Asked about faith, the Prophet said it is to believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers and the Last Day, and to believe in the divine decree, its good and its evil. Afterwards the Prophet told Umar the stranger was Gabriel, who had come to teach them their religion.
Faith declared and lived
Faith is declared in one sentence: there is no god but Allah (﷾), and Muhammad (ﷺ) is the Messenger of Allah (﷾). It joins tawhid and risalah together. The Prophet (ﷺ) said Islam is built on five pillars. They are that testimony, the prayer, the zakat (the yearly alms), the pilgrimage and the fast of Ramadan. The name "Muslim", one who submits to God (﷾), was given by God (﷾) Himself, and the Qur'an gives it to Abraham too. The Qur'an says the disciples of Jesus also said: we are Muslims. The word "Christian", by contrast, appears only three times in the New Testament and never in the New Testament Gospels.
Ibn Umar reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said Islam is built on five: to bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, to establish the prayer, to pay zakah, to perform the pilgrimage, and to fast the month of Ramadan.
“And strive in His cause as ye ought to strive, (with sincerity and under discipline). He has chosen you, and has imposed no difficulties on you in religion; it is the cult of your father Abraham. It is He Who has named you Muslims, both before and in this (Revelation); that the Messenger may be a witness for you, and ye be witnesses for mankind! So establish regular Prayer, give regular Charity, and hold fast to Allah! He is your Protector - the Best to protect and the Best to help!”
“Abraham was not a Jew nor yet a Christian; but he was true in Faith, and bowed his will to Allah's (Which is Islam), and he joined not gods with Allah.”
“When Jesus found Unbelief on their part He said: "Who will be My helpers to (the work of) Allah?" Said the disciples: "We are Allah's helpers: We believe in Allah, and do thou bear witness that we are Muslims.”
“And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”
Perspectives
The Islamic perspective
Faith rests on six articles, which the Prophet (ﷺ) named when the angel Gabriel questioned him. They are God (﷾), His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day and the divine decree. Three of them are the foundations: tawhid, risalah and akhirah.
The Prophet (ﷺ) defined faith. It is belief in Allah (﷾), His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day and the divine decree.
God (﷾) is One, with no partner, son or equal, and He alone is to be worshipped.
Every prophet was human and brought the same message, and Muhammad (ﷺ) is the last of them.
All people will be raised and judged by their faith and deeds.
God's (﷾) decree covers all things, yet people choose freely and are answerable for their choices.