Religious Studies GCSE Cheat Sheet

Islam: Beliefs

Nature of Allah – oneness and omnipotence

Oneness (tawhid)

 Muslims believe that Allah is One God, indivisible and absolute; nothing comes close to Him as
the ultimate source of power and creation.
 He is totally supreme.
 There is nothing that can be likened to Him.
 He is beyond human understanding.
 Everything belongs to Allah; everything humans have is on loan from Allah.
 Humans only exist because Allah wills them to. Muslims are what Allah makes them.
 They believe any talents come from Allah, so it is wrong to be arrogant.
 Nothing happens without Allah allowing it.
 Allah has absolute compassion, so even suffering is Allah’s will and for a reason.
 Muslims should not question this and should never forget His power.
 Humans cannot obstruct Allah or indeed try to fool Allah as He knows their every thought and
intention.
 Anything that goes against these beliefs breaks tawhid.

He is Allah, One,
Allah the eternal refuge.
He neither begets nor is born,
Nor is there to him any equivalent.
(Quran 112:1–4)
 If Muslims liken themselves to Allah or to His qualities, then they commit the sin of shirk.
 For example, Muslims believe that Jesus could not have been the Son of God, as he could not
have had God’s qualities (which also means there is no Holy Trinity).
 The Christian belief in the Trinity divides Christianity and Islam in the modern world.
 Many positives can come from belief in tawhid.
 Having total faith, humility and modesty should mean a Muslim cannot be jealous of what does
not belong to them.
 They can trust in Allah and know everything happens for a reason.
 If they dedicate themselves to Him, they will be courageous and determined in their lives to
please Him.

Omnipotent

 Allah is Al-Qadeer – (all-powerful).

  The idea that ‘He is able to do all things’ ensures a Muslim’s submission to Him.
 Humankind will always need Him and there is a reason for everything that happens.
 Muslims can be secure in knowing that Allah knows what is happening in the world.
 He sees their every action and knows their innermost thoughts and desires and He hears when
they call Him.
 There are hidden blessings to everything that happens.

‘…He who is the All-knowing, the All Powerful, able to do anything’ (Surah 30:54)
As a Muslim I believe that the omnipotence of Allah affects my life because He is always there for
me. To me, the impossible is never impossible. I know I can trust Allah, and that trust brings me
peace. I am weak; Allah strengthens me. It is all part of His design and weakness is for my own good,
so that I always come back to Allah even if I stray. I cannot be content without Allah.

Nature of Allah – immanence and transcendence

Immanence

‘We are closer to human than his jugular vein.’ (50:16)

‘And He is with you wherever you may be.’ (57:4)
 These quotes from the Qur’an show Allah is vital to human existence.
 If the jugular vein is cut, humans die so trying to live without Allah is worse than death.
 Allah knows humans so well that, for example, He knows what someone will say even before
they say it.
 Muslims believe Allah must be in this world to help and guide, to give people the purpose and
ability to live this life.
 This is what immanence means; that Allah is very active in the world.

Transcendence
‘No vision can grasp Him…He is above all comprehension.’ (6:103)
‘Nothing there is like Him.’ (42:11)
 He is outside this world, outside everything that He created.
 Allah is outside time, whereas humans are subject to time.
 Allah has no beginning or end, so He cannot be part of time.
 Allah is beyond human understanding, limitless and therefore He is not part of this world.
 Transcendence is being separate to the world, beyond it, which allows Allah to control and act
in the world, but not be affected by it.

Nature of Allah – beneficence and mercy

 In Islam Allah is known as the Beneficent (Al-Rahman) and the Merciful (Al-Rahim), so Allah is
kind, compassionate and forgiving.
  Allah shows these by being just and fair.
 In the Qur’an, Allah is referred to 57 times as the Beneficent and over 160 times as the
Merciful.
 In daily prayer the names are recited seventeen times.
 So how is Allah beneficent and merciful in a world of suffering and evil?

1 He sent prophets as guides to the right path…so He is compassionate and humans have free will to
follow His path.

2 The mercy of Allah is reflected in the rules within the Qur’an.

3 Making mistakes is part of being human, but Allah always forgives those who repent. Out of mercy
Allah forgives and even repeated sin is forgiven. Muslims have the chance to make up for bad deeds.

4 Allah’s mercy allows humans to exist, to live, to love and to care. Muslims are never alone. Allah’s
compassion surrounds them and mercy helps them deal with being human.

5 Suffering clearly exists, but it is a test of faith to see how humans respond even where it seems
beyond comprehension.

6 Humans should focus on the good (charity, loving kindness, family togetherness, selflessness) of
which there is much. They should not think only of the bad, for example, war, crime, poverty, disease.

Nature of Allah – fairness and justice

 Justice (Adalat) means fairness, that is, to do what is right.

 Allah is absolute, so always does what is right.
 Muslims must accept this and try to act in a fair way to others.
 Humans cannot always see justice being served, because they are incapable of fully
understanding how Allah acts. Allah is just in His creation, in His laws and in all His actions.
 Allah created all things perfectly through His true wisdom.
 Allah rewards a good act with a good act and an evil act with consequences. Allah’s divine
justice rules the universe.
 Humans are commanded to be just and fair in their actions: ‘Be steadfast witnesses for Allah
in equity and let not hatred of any people seduce you that you deal not justly’ (Surah 5:8) and
also ‘We have made you a moderate nation’ (Surah 2:143). The Five Pillars are all just to help in
life.
 Shi’a Muslims believe that the justice of Allah is absolute.
 Everything belongs to Allah, so humans can never lose anything.
 Humans only have things by the grace of Allah.
 Allah punishes humans for any bad deed.
 Any situation which seems negative is actually for our own good as Allah would never be cruel
or carry out injustice.
 At least 40 verses of the Qur’an discuss the justice of Allah and on the Day of Judgement
each individual will face justice for their own actions.
The 6 Articles of Sunni Faith
1. Tawhid

 ‘The Oneness of Allah’ is the concept of tawhid meaning ‘oneness, absolute, alone’. Surah 112:1–
4 says:
 ‘He is Allah, the One, Allah is Eternal and Absolute. None is born of Him, He is unborn. There
is none like unto Him.’
 This means that Allah is the creator and sustainer of life.
 He is beyond any human limitations like age and death because He was not born and cannot die.
 He has no partners or children and nothing is like Him.
2. Angels
 Angels do the work of Allah.
 They deliver revelations via the prophets so that Muslims know what Allah wants them to do.
 They record the words and actions of each individual person, so that they have a book to
account for their lives.
 They receive souls at death. Angels do not have free will like humans and they obey Allah’s
commands.
3. Sources of Authority
 Five sources of authority are books: the Torah of Moses; the Psalms of David; the Gospels;
the Scrolls of Abraham; and the Qur’an.
 According to Muslims, the first four books have been lost in their original form or changed.
 The Qur’an is the only revealed scripture still in its original form.
 It is the direct Word of Allah as given through Angel Jibril.
4. Qadr
 Muslims believe in the supremacy of Allah’s will.
 Sunni believe that Allah knows everything.
 Qadr means everything is ordered by Allah; nothing is random or by chance.
 Humans do have free will though, but as Allah knows the past, present and future their
choices are already known to Him, but not to them.
5. Yawmuddin
 Muslims believe that there will be a day (the Day of Judgement) when all Muslims and others
stand alone in front of Allah, who decides whether they go to heaven or hell based on their
deeds.
 Everyone must answer for themselves and must accept the consequences of their thoughts
and actions on Earth. Human life acts as a test for the eternal life to come.
6. Prophethood
 Prophets and messengers are chosen by Allah to deliver His message to humankind.
 Muslims believe that Allah has revealed messages throughout time to guide humanity and that
Prophet Muhammad was the last (Seal) of the prophets; he was given the ultimate guidance
in the Qur’an.
 As a result of this, there is no need for any more prophets.
‘Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but the messenger of Allah and the Seal of
the Prophets.’ (Qur’an 33:40).

Why are the six articles important?

  These six articles underpin religious life for Muslims.
 They influence all aspects of life.
 If Muslims believe in the absolute power of Allah, then they will live their lives according to
His will.
 The angels are writing up all thoughts and actions, and people will have to justify them, so this
makes Muslims think about how they approach life and the people around them.
 This shows that life here is a test for the afterlife and few have a guaranteed place in
paradise because it has to be earned.
 To know what is the right thing to do, Muslims have the teachings of the prophets, along with
the examples of the lives of the prophets, such as Muhammad and Ibrahim, and the ultimate
guide in the Qur’an.
 If they are to live according to how Allah wants, then paradise is on offer to them.
 Muslims know that they can easily follow the wrong path and that they have to make the right
choices with the free will they have been given.
 Allah knows our actions before we even think about what we do.

The five roots of Usul ad-Din

The nature of Allah

‘Say: He is Allah, the One and only!

Allah, the eternal absolute!
He is the father of none, and none is his father.
And there is none like unto him.’
Surah 112

‘Allah. There is no God but he, the Living, the Self-subsisting, Eternal. No slumber can seize him nor
sleep. His are all things in the heavens and on earth.’
Surah 2:255

‘ No disaster strikes except with God’s permission.’

Surah 64:11

‘…He who is the All-knowing, the All Powerful, able to do anything.’

Surah 30:54

‘This is Allah, Your Lord! There is no God but he, the creator of all things. Worship him, he has the
power over all things. No vision can grasp him, but his grasp is over all things; he is above all
understanding, yet he is aware of all things.’
Surah 6:102-103

- Muslims believe that Allah is the ultimate source of authority,

- There is nothing like him and he has ultimate control over the universe
- Humans only exist because Allah wills them to
- Humans cannot obstruct Allah or try to fool him as he will know their intentions
- If Muslims liken themselves or anything else to Allah they commit the sin of shirk.

Omnipotent
- Allah is all powerful
- The idea that he can do all things enables Muslims to truly submit to Him
- He sees their innermost thoughts and every action

Immanence
- ‘we are closer to him than his jugular vein’
- This quote shows Muslims that they should believe that Allah is always with them
- Allah is active in the world
- This is to help and guide Muslims

Transcendence
- He is also outside of this world and everything that has been created
- Allah is also outside of space and time
- He is limitless and beyond human understanding

Beneficence and mercy

- Allah is all beneficent (kind) and merciful
- He is kind, compassionate and forgiving
- Allah is referred to as being beneficent 57 times in the Qur’an and referred to as merciful
160 times
- This is because he sent his prophets to guide and help Muslims
- Allah always forgives those who repent
 - Suffering only exists as a test of faith and Allah never tests anyone more than they can cope
with

Fairness and Justice

- ‘Adalat’ means justice/fairness
- Allah is always right and is always fair and so Muslims should follow what he says
- Allah rewards good acts and punishes bad acts
- Allah’s divine justice rules the universe
Shi’a Muslims believe that the justice in Allah is absolute and never changes. It is in everything.

Angels
Angels, what are they…?
Angels are made from light.
They have wings and can move at the speed of light. They can appear in human form not to dazzle
humans.
Their main purpose is to obey Allah. They bring the word of Allah to the prophets or messengers of
God.
Angels, what do they do…?
Angels watch over humans
They bring peace
They instil fear
They record every thought and action to report on judgement day.
They escort people to paradise and guard the gates of Hell.
They throw people into the pits of hell
They welcome people at the gates of paradise.
Angels, Jibril…?
Most famous and most important
‘Spirit of Holiness’
First thing to be given life by Allah
He helped Ibrahim when he was thrown into the fire.
He opened up the ZamZam so that Hajar could give her son something to drink
When Jusuf was thrown into the well by his brothers , Jibril caught him and was his protector.
He told Zakariyya he would have a son in his old age
He told Maryam (Mary) She would have a son Isa (Jesus)
Jibril spoke to Muhammad and revealed the Qur’an to him. He taught him the key teachings of Islam.
Angels, Mika’il
The angel of Mercy
Assigned by Allah to reward righteous people for the good they do during their time on earth.
Has responsibility for sending rain, thunder and lightening to earth.
He was the first angel to bow before Adam.
He has wings of Green and hair of saffron in Islamic tradition.
He can communicate in all languages.
He helped Muhammad in the battle of Badr.
Angels, Other…?
Hafaza
Jundullah
Maintain order
Protect people from death until the correct time.
Angels who carry Allah’s throne.
Angels who bestow blessings from Allah.
Angels who give unborn babies their souls.

Al-Qadr – predestination

• Al- Qadr means that everything happens as a result of Allah’s will and nothing is ever random
or without reason. It means predestination of the will of Allah; that Allah is in charge of
everything in life and has a purpose for everything as part of His plan.
• Some Sunni Muslims believe that God has already determined everything that will happen in
the universe. He has written down everything that will happen in a ‘book of decrees’/ God
creates all things, including the actions of his creatures, so they must act according to his will.
• This is linked to the Sunni belief in the supremacy of God’s will. Some Sunni Muslims believe
that because God’s will is so powerful he can determine everything that is going to happen.
This view places greater emphasis on God’s omniscience and less emphasis on human freedom,
but does not mean that people have no choice about how they behave.
• This is because God already knows all occurrences without the restrictions of time. An
individual has power to choose, but since God created time and space he knows what will
happen. God is without any bond of time and space. Therefore, what will happen has meaning
only to humans, who are limited in time and space.
• Many Shi’a Muslims believe that God knows everything that is going to happen, but this does
not mean that he decides what is going to happen. This means that people still have free will,
so they can make their own choices. The Twelver’s reject predestination in the strict sense
and hold that God can alter the course of history as He sees fit.

Akhirah – Life after death

- Muslims believe that after burial the body remains in the grave to wait for the Last Day but
the angel of death takes a person’s soul to a place call Barzakh, where it waits until the Day of
Judgement. At the end of time, every body will be resurrected physically and reunited with its
soul, then go to Allah for judgement. Every person who has ever lived will have to answer to
Allah for the way they have behaved on earth.

- Good outweighs bad= life in paradise close to Allah

- Al-Janna - paradise
- “And with any fruits that they may choose…there will be companions with beautiful eyes like
pearls. Rewards for the deeds of their past life.” Qur’an 56
- What is paradise like?
- Magical
- No growing ill, death or worries
- A reward from Allah
- Only for those who have lived good lives
- Joyous
- People are called to one of 8 gates – each gate represents a good act
- Two angels greet you
- There are seven levels and the best people go to the top level
- Families are reunited and nobody is alone

- Jahannam – hell
 - “They will be in the midst of fire and in boiling water and in the shades of black smoke nothing
will be there to refresh them.” Qur’an 56
- A fire 70 x hotter than anywhere on earth
- People wail in misery
- Boiling water is poured over their heads
- People who go there have lived a wicked life
- They have rejected the teachings of the Qur’an
- There are seven levels, some people stay forever, some for a set time
- Sinners and unremorseful= hell (a place of heat and torment). Some believe this purifies the
sinner, cleansing the soul and allowing them to enter paradise.
- Why they believe this
- Muslims cannot be Muslims if they do not believe in life after death as it is one of the key
beliefs.
- The Quran teaches about life after death and as it contains the exact words given by Allah to
Muhammad it has the highest authority:
o “All things shall in the end return to you Lord; that is He who moves to laughter and
tears, He who ordains death and life” (Quran 30:15-16)
o “He brings forth the living from the dead, and the dead from the living: He resurrects
the earth after its death. Likewise you shall be raised to life. (Quran 30:18)
- Every messenger Allah has sent to earth, including the Prophet Muhammad has taught there is
life after death
- Muslims also believe that only a belief in the afterlife can make sense of this life. Muslims
would say there is no point to life on earth if there was nothing at the end of it.
- How this affects their life
- The Quran teaches that this life is preparation for the next life. You have to be able to
account for your life and choices on earth. A Muslim will therefore try and live in the best
possible way and live their life as Allah requires them (as set out in the Quran and Hadith
which contains the teachings and actions of Muhammad)

Risalah - Prophethood

 The Arabic word for prophethood is Risalah

 A prophet is a person chosen by God to communicate a message to humanity
 Some prophets are especially important and are called Rasul (Messengers).
 These are men to whom Allah has a revealed a book.
 For example:
o The Torah (Tawrat) was given to Moses
o The Pslams (Zabur) were given to David
o The Gospel (Injil) were revealed through Jesus
 According to Islamic tradition there have been 124,000 prophets
 The Qur’an names 25 prophets
 Muslims usually add the phrase ‘peace upon him’ (pbuh) after the name of prophets
 The prophets were men of faith, who passed on the message of Allah perfectly, even in the
face of great danger.
 They were also good men who practised what they preached and their lives are the best
examples of how Allah would want us to act.
 Prophet Muhammad
 Muhammad was born in Mecca (Makkah) in 570 CE.
  Mecca is in modern day Saudi Arabia and at the time of Muhammad was a prosperous city.
Much of the city’s wealth was due to it being the place of pilgrimage (because of the ka’bah)
 The people of Mecca at the time of Muhammad were polytheistic meaning that they
worshipped many gods.
 This upset Muhammad as it had led to idolatry and the Ka’bah was being used to house the
idols.
 Muhammed’s parents died when he was young and he was raised by his grandfather and uncle
 When he grew up Muhammad married a lady called Khadijah who was a trader. They had a
happy marriage and had six children together. He was an honest and trustworthy man and so
became a successful trader himself.
 Besides the idol worship, the people of Mecca lived lifestyles that involved a lot of gambling
and drinking and this upset Muhammad
 In 611 CE, while meditating in one of the caves outside Mecca, Muhammad had his first
experience of God in which he was called to be a prophet.
 This night is called Laylat-ul-Qadr, (the night of power)
 Initially, Muhammad was very scared and he thought he was going mad
 His wife believed that it was a message from God and told him to believe what he had heard
 Muhammad’s public preaching did not impress the people of Mecca.
 They objected to him criticising their lifestyle, this led to hostility and death threats.
Muhammad’s persecution in Mecca became so bad that he eventually left the city in 622 CE to
travel to Yathrib (later known as al-Medinah an-nabi, the city of the Prophet, or simply
Medinah) where his preaching would be welcomed.
 This journey is known as the Hijrah

 Almost half of Muhammad’s years as a prophet were spent in Medinah where he proved
himself a capable leader.

 He preached a basic message of belief in Allah and about the Day of Judgement.

 With the establishment of the first state of Islam the religion became more organised.
Unfortunately hostility continued between Mecca and Medinah and there were two significant
battles were fought.
 In 624 CE the Muslims although outnumbered won the battle of Badr. A year later, however,
they lost the battle of Uhud to a massive Mecca army who lay siege to the city of Medinah.
Finally a truce was agreed and the treaty of Hudaybiya was established in 628 CE. This treaty
allowed Muslims to visit Mecca once again and thus Muhammad made a pilgrimage to the city in
629 CE. By 630 CE, however, the treaty had been broken by the people of Mecca. The people
of Medinah were this time large enough in number to advance on the city and take it for
themselves. Muhammad entered the Ka’bah to destroy the idols within it; he then declared
that Mecca was a Muslim city.
 The prophet died in 632 shortly after giving his last sermon on mount Arafat.

Other Prophets
Adam
  Everything was created for Adam and his descendants
 Adam was taught everything he knew by Allah and was to be the caretaker of the earth
 He was given Hawwa (Eve) for company
 Adam and Hawwa were told to stay in the Garden of Bliss and not eat from a single tree
 However, a Jinn, Iblis, tempted them into disobeying Allah
 They discovered that they were naked and covered themselves
 Allah found out and forgave them because they asked for mercy, but they were sent to live as
normal humans outside of the Garden of Bliss
 Adam is important for Muslims because: he is the father of all mankind, he was a prophet until
his death, he taught the revelations to his sons, he taught about the work of Iblis and how to
avoid temptation
Ibrahim
 Abraham is called Ibrahim by Muslims.
 Ibrahim initially sold statues for his father (idols) but one day realised the statues had no
power and were pointless
 Allah called him to be a prophet and he submitted to him
 Ibrahim preached about the one God, Allah, and on one occasion angered people so much that
they catapulted him into a fire
 An angel spoke to him in the fire and asked him what he wanted most. He said to please Allah
and so Allah made the fire feel cool
 Ibrahim was untouched.
 Ibrahim married Sarah and, because she couldn’t have children, he also married Hajar.
 Hajar had a son called Ismail
 Ibrahim dreamt that he was to sacrifice Ismail and, both Ibrahim and Ismail agreed to this
when they thought that this was what Allah wanted.
 As a reward for their obedience , they were provided with a Ram to sacrifice instead.
 Ibrahim built the Ka’bah with Ismail to show thanks to Allah.

Holy books and sources of authority

 The Muslim holy book is the Qur’an which is revealed to Muhammad between the years 610-
632CE.
 The first revelation took place during the month of Ramadan in a cave called Hira on a
mountain called al-Nur. This night is referred to as the Night of Power or Laylat-ul-Qadr.
 It is believed that the revelations continued to take place until about 80 days before the
Prophet died.
 The experiences of the revelation of God’s word were so strong that Muhammad sometimes
found them hard to bear.
 He would sometimes sweat and shake when the messages came to him. He described some of
his experiences in a hadith:

 ‘Sometimes it is like the ringing of a bell, this form of inspiration is the hardest of all and it
passes off after I have grasped what is inspired. Sometimes the Angel comes in the form of a
man and talks to me and I grasp whatever he says.’

 The word Qur’an means recitation or reading in Arabic.

  Tradition says that Muhammad could not read nor write and thus the belief is that the words
are not his own but instead are the words of Allah given to Muhammad through the archangel
Jibril.
 It is also believed that the original Qur’an, usually called ‘the mother of the book’ is in heaven.
 The Qur’an is in Arabic and is therefore read from right to left starting from the top of the
page.
 The book begins at what readers of English would consider the back of the book.
 The form of the Qur’an is not prose; it is poetry and has rhyme and rhythm.

The Structure of the Qur’an

 It is important to note that although there are these divisions the Qur’an is seen as a whole
book rather than a collection of chapters. It is a unity and is called al-kitab.
 Each chapter has a name taken from near the beginning of the chapter or from a distinctive
word within the chapter.
 For example Surah 2 is called ‘The Cow’ or ‘The heifer’ because verse 69 refers to ‘a fawn
coloured heifer, pure and rich in tone’.
 All surahs apart from Surah 9 begin with the words ‘In the name of Allah, Most Gracious,
Most Merciful.’

Compilation of the Qur’an

 114 Surah
 Juz – 30 parts that Qur’an is divided into
 According to Muslim tradition, after Muhammad recited the revelations his followers
memorised them or wrote them down on anything they could find.
 The first Khalifah, Abu Bakr, at the advice of Umar, a companion of Muhammad, gathered the
pieces together in Medinah just after the Prophet’s death .
 Previously the pieces had been written on a variety of materials such as parchment, cloth,
pottery, leaves, leather and old bones.
 They had been kept in a chest belonging to Umar’s daughter, Hafsa who was also one of the
Prophet’s widows.
 A committee was formed to ensure that the compilation was accurate and after careful
checking and rechecking the work was completed.
 The original copy was given to Hafsa for safe-keeping.
 However, elsewhere in the Muslim world, preachers were reciting the Qur’an from memory and
they made some changes in order to accommodate their local dialects.
 In 650CE, the third Khalifah, Uthman, decided that there needed to be one official written
version of the Qur’an because some of the preachers were not remembering the Qur’an
accurately.
 He ordered that copies be made from that held by Hafsa which would be sent to different
parts of the Islamic world.
 Once the copies were made and checked they were sent along with a teacher who would
instruct the preachers on how to recite the Qur’an accurately.
 This far-sighted action by Uthman made the uniform recitation of the Qur’an possible.
 Two of the original copies still exist today, one is in Istanbul and the other is in Russia.
Why is the Qur’an a sacred text for Muslims?

 People can glimpse truths about Allah from his creation, the natural world, and they are born
with an instinct to worship their creator.
 However, according to Islam they also need to understand the will of Allah and this is done
through the communications Allah has had with the prophets.
 Revelation is an essential part of Islam because Allah is beyond human understanding.
 Muslims believe that throughout history Allah has sent revelations through prophets to help
people live according to his will.
 Sahifah- Scrolls of Abraham, Tawrah- The Torah, Zabur- Psalms, Injil- Gospels
 Muslims believe that these versions of the scriptures were changed and distorted over the
centuries until Muhammad became a prophet.
 Islam was not a new religion preached by Muhammad, it was the original religion from the
beginning of time.
 The art of correctly pronouncing the Qur’an is called tajwid and the different styles of
reciting the Qur’an are called qira’ah.
 Learning and reciting the Qur’an are acts of worship in Islam so it is essential that Muslims
see the Qur’an as being part of their daily lives.
 A person who can recite the Qur’an by heart is known as a Hafiz.
 The Qur’an provides a complete book of guidance for Muslims.
 It covers all aspects of human life. It is applicable at any time of history and in any part of
the world.
 Since the time of Muhammad the whole Ummah has continued to use the same words which
have inspired people for centuries.
 No Muslim would seriously consider changing the language of worship but translations do exist.