In Sunni Islam, there are six main articles of faith.

These are based on statements in the Qur’an:

Oh you who have believed, believe in Allah and His Messenger and the Book that He sent down upon His
Messenger and the Scripture which He sent down before. And whoever disbelieves in Allah, His angels,
His books, His messengers, and the Last Day has certainly gone far astray.

Surah 4:136

Eduqas-specific spelling in a visualisation of the six articles of Sunni Islam.

Belief in one God (Tawhid) This means having absolute faith in the oneness of God. Allah is simply the
Arabic word for God. It has no plural in Arabic, which shows that there is only one God. Muslims believe
that no being is like Allah.

Belief in angels (malaikah) Muslims believe that God’s greatness means he cannot communicate directly
with humans. Instead, God passed messages, called risalah, to his prophets via the angels, called
malaikah, who were his first creation and who always obey him.

Belief in holy books (kutub) The holy books of Islam should be respected. This is especially true of the
Qur’an, which is the unchanged word of Allah, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad.

Belief in the prophets (nubuwwah) Allah is believed to have communicated with the prophets, called
nubuwwah, through the angels. Muslims believe the prophets should be respected but never
worshipped.

Belief in the Day of Judgement and the afterlife (Akhirah) Muslims believe that life on Earth is a test and
that, after they die, they will be judged by God and sent to either Paradise or Hell.

Belief in predestination (Al-Qadr) This means that everything in the universe follows Allah’s masterplan
– Muslims believe that Allah has decided everything that happens. This shows the importance of God’s
will: In all things the master-planning is God’s (Surah 13:42). The Prophet Muhammad also told his
followers: There is not one amongst you who has not been allotted his seat in Paradise or Hell (Sahih
Muslim, Book 33, Hadith 6400). Muslims take this as further proof that every person’s life is already
mapped out in Allah’s plan.

1- Belief in the existence and unicity of Allah

It’s the first and most important pillar. To believe in Allah is to believe that there is only one God worthy
of worship, with no partner, or son. This concept is known as Tawheed. Also, it is to completely believe
in the way he is described in the Quran, Sunnah and in his 99 names.
Allah clearly explains Tawheed in the Holy Qur’an as He says in Surah Ikhlas:

“‫ َولَ ْم يَ ُك ْن لَهُ ُكفُ ًوا أَ َح ٌد‬، ‫ لَ ْم يَلِ ْد َولَ ْم يُولَ ْد‬، ‫ص َم ُد‬
َّ ‫ هَّللا ُ ال‬، ‫”قُلْ ه َُو هَّللا ُ أَ َح ٌد‬

“Say, He is Allah, [who is] One, Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born, Nor is there to
Him any equivalent.”

2- Belief in the existence of Angels

The second pillar is to believe in Allah’s angels. They are not his children as some may think. They were
created from light and were created before humans for the purpose of worshipping Allah.

Angels do not sleep, eat or suffer from illnesses. It is crucial to believe in the angels, as they keep a
record of our deeds. Some of the other duties of angles include: blowing the trumpet on judgment day,
taking people’s souls (i.e. angel of death) and to be the keepers of heaven and hell.

Allah clearly confirmed the importance of this pillar in the Holy Qur’an as He says in Surah An-Nisa:

“ ‫ي أَن َز َل ِمن قَ ْب ُل َو َمن يَ ْكفُرْ بِاهَّلل ِ َو َمالئِ َكتِ ِه َو ُكتُبِ ِه َو ُر ُسلِ ِه‬ ِ ‫ب الَّ ِذي نَ َّز َل َعلَى َرسُولِ ِه َو ْال ِكتَا‬
َ ‫ب الَّ ِذ‬ ِ ‫وا ِباهَّلل ِ َو َرسُولِ ِه َو ْال ِكتَا‬
ْ ُ‫وا آ ِمن‬
ْ ُ‫يَا أَيُّهَا الَّ ِذينَ آ َمن‬
‫ضالالً بَ ِعيدًا‬َ ‫ض َّل‬ َ ‫اآلخ ِر فَقَ ْد‬ ِ ‫”واليَوْ ِم‬ ْ َ

“O you who have believed, believe in Allah and His Messenger and the Book that He sent down upon His
Messenger and the Scripture which He sent down before. And whoever disbelieves in Allah, His angels,
His books, His messengers, and the Last Day has certainly gone far astray.”

Newsletter Signup - Madrasat El-Quran

3- Belief in the books of Allah

The third pillar is to believe in the books of Allah which delivered to the nations by the messengers. Allah
revealed books to his messengers as a form of guidance and proof for mankind. Among these books, is
the Quran, which was revealed to Prophet Muhammad.
Allah has guaranteed the protection of the Quran from any distortion or corruption and clearly
mentioned that in the Holy Qur’an as He says in Surah Al-Hijr:

“ َ‫”إِنَّا نَحْ نُ نَ َّز ْلنَا ال ِّذ ْك َر َوإِنَّا لَهُ لَ َحافِظُون‬

“Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur’an and indeed, We will be its guardian.”

The books that were sent and known to mankind are:

The Scrolls (Suhof) that Allah revealed to the Prophet Ibrahim, peace be upon him

The Psalms (Zaboor) that Allah revealed to the Prophet Dawud (David), peace be upon him

The Torah (Torah) that Allah revealed to the Prophet Musa (Moses), peace be upon him

The Gospel (Injeel) that Allah revealed to the Prophet Isa (Jesus), peace be upon him

The Quran which sent with the last Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him

Muslims believe in all of the books revealed to the messengers. However, they only follow the Quran, as
it is the final revelation, and aims to implement the rulings into their daily lives.

4- Belief in Allah’s messengers and that Muhammad is the last of them

The fourth pillar is to believe in all prophets and messengers sent by Allah and that the prophet
Muhammad, peace be upon him, is the last of them.

Most of the messengers of Allah were sent to a specific nation except Prophet Muhammad, who was
sent to guide all of mankind. It is a duty of Muslims to send salaams (Peace and Blessings of Allah) when
mentioning the names of any of the Prophets.

Allah clearly mentioned that he sent the messengers in the Holy Qur’an as He says in Surah An-Nahl:
“‫ض‬ ِ ْ‫ُوا فِي األَر‬ ْ ‫ت َعلَ ْي ِه الضَّاللَةُ فَ ِسير‬
ْ َّ‫ُوا الطَّا ُغوتَ فَ ِم ْنهُم َّم ْن هَدَى هَّللا ُ َو ِم ْنهُم َّم ْن َحق‬ ْ ‫َولَقَ ْد بَ َع ْثنَا فِي ُك ِّل أُ َّم ٍة َّرسُوالً أَ ِن ا ْعبُد‬
ْ ‫ُوا هَّللا َ َواجْ تَنِب‬
َ‫ُوا َك ْيفَ َكانَ عَاقِبَةُ ْال ُم َك ِّذبِين‬
ْ ‫”فَانظُر‬

And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger, [saying], “Worship Allah and avoid Taghut.” And
among them were those whom Allah guided, and among them were those upon whom error was
[deservedly] decreed. So proceed through the earth and observe how was the end of the deniers.

5- Belief in the Day of Judgment

Muslims attest to the truth of everything Allah or his messenger, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said about
death.

Allah has not created his creation in vain. He created men and jinn to worship him and promised
paradise as a reward to those who obey him and his messengers, and promised hellfire to those who
disobey him or his messengers.

Allah has set a certain period for the whole universe, whose end will be the final hour. During the final
hour, humans will be questioned about their deeds in this world. Those deeds will be weighed for them.
One whose good deeds overweigh his evil deeds will prosper, while whose bad deeds outweigh his good
ones will be condemned to hellfire – unless he died in the state of Islam. Then, Allah would either
forgive him or punish him, and eventually, he would enter paradise.

Allah described justice of the judgment day in the Holy Qur’an as He says in Surah Al-Anbya:

ِ ‫ال َحبَّ ٍة ِّم ْن َخرْ د ٍَل أَتَ ْينَا بِهَا َو َكفَى بِنَا َح‬
“ َ‫اسبِين‬ ْ ُ‫ازينَ ْالقِ ْسطَ لِيَوْ ِم ْالقِيَا َم ِة فَال ت‬
َ َ‫ظلَ ُم نَ ْفسٌ َش ْيئًا َوإِن َكانَ ِم ْثق‬ ِ ‫ض ُع ْال َم َو‬
َ َ‫”ون‬
َ

“And We place the scales of justice for the Day of Resurrection, so no soul will be treated unjustly at all.
And if there is [even] the weight of a mustard seed, We will bring it forth. And sufficient are We as
accountant.”
6- Belief in the Qadhaa’ & Qadr (Doom & Divine Decree)

Doom (Qadhaa’) is the general decree of Allah that every human shall die, whereas a divine decree
(Qadr) is a particular decree of Allah or the execution of Qadhaa’, that a certain person is to die at a
particular time and place. Hence, believing in this pillar entails believing that Allah has created
everything and has foreordained its proper measure.

Moreover, The belief in Divine Predestination includes belief in four things:

Allah is well acquainted with everything taking place, and His Knowledge encompasses everything.

Allah has pre-assigned portions of everything in the preserved tablet.

Nothing takes place in the heavens or on the earth without the will of Allah and his wish. Whatever Allah
wills, takes place and whatever he does not, will do not take place.

Allah is the creator of all things. There is no other creator besides him.