From Muhammad's teaching and life, a doubled-edged movement was born: the religious and the political. (Islam makes no distinction between the two.) Religiously, the essence of Islam can be broken into two categories: the beliefs (Iman) and the duties (Din). In reality, there are hundreds of items in the area of beliefs and thousands in the area of practices; but for practical purposes, they are summarized under six articles in each category. These are the distinctives of Islam.

(Taken from Now You Can Know What Muslims Believe: A Muslim World Overview by Don McCurry. Used by permission.)

The Belief System of Islam (Iman)

1. There is One God. He has no partners (No Trinity). He does not beget (like humans, therefore, God could not have a Son.) He is absolutely sovereign, responsible for all that happens (thus making Him the author of evil).


2. God Created Angels. These angels are everywhere. One sits on one's right shoulder recording one's good deeds; another sits on one's left shoulder recording the bad deeds. On judgment day these records are opened and on the basis of them the person is rewarded or punished. Satan was formerly an angel. He was turned into a jinn because he disobeyed God in refusing to worship Adam. Jinn are another order of supernatural beings, supposedly created from fire. They can possess humans.


3. God Appointed Prophets for Every Age. This line starts with Adam, includes many biblical characters such as Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and others like: David, Solomon, Jonah, Zechariah (the father of John the Baptist), John the Baptist, Jesus, then a couple of non-biblical prophets from Arabia, and finally, Muhammad. In these schema, Jesus is only a prophet, and Muhammad is the last and greatest of the prophets, the "Seal of the Prophets."


4. Holy Books. Every prophet was given a holy book by God. Supposedly there were as many as 124,000 prophets from Adam to Muhammad. Muslims believe that all of these holy books have been lost except: the Torah (Law) given to Moses, the Zabur (Pslams) given to David, the Injil (Gospel) given to Jesus, and of course, the Quran (Recitation) given to Muhammad. Muhammad believed each book was pre-existent and was sent down to each prophet as needed. Muslims believe the same thing today.


5. The Day of Judgment. God will judge the world on the "Day of Doom." Everyone's good deeds will be weighed in a balance scale against his bad deeds. A wonderful sensuous paradise of gardens, fruit trees, streams, rivers of wine, and black eyed virgins will be awarded to every man whose good deeds outweigh his bad deeds. A fiery hell is the reward of those whose bad deeds outweigh their good deeds.


6. The Decrees of God. Everything is determined by a Sovereign God. He is responsible for everything, including evil. He chooses to lead astray whom He will and to guide aright whom He will. No one can withstand His decree on any point.

(Taken from Now You Can Know What Muslims Believe: A Muslim World Overview by Don McCurry. Used by permission.)