In Arabic, iman means faith, belief or recognition. Iman in islam stands on six fundamental pillars. These pillars are mentioned by prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in a famous narration:
Faith (iman) means to believe in Allah, His angels, His Books, His Messengers, the Last Day, and the Divine Decree, both good and bad.
We will look at each of these 6 pillars in further detail in this post. The Islamic scholars have written extensively about this topic as it is the most important thing for a Muslim to know; And Muslims are required to comply to all these 6 pillars in order to be in the fold of Islam.
1. Belief in the existence and oneness of Allah.
This is the first and the most important pillar. A muslim must belief that there is only one God worthy of worship without any partners or son. This concept is known as Tawheed and it is beautifully explained in the Holy Quran.
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
Angels are from the world of the unseen. They were created to worship and obey Allah. They do not have free will like humans. The following verses describes angels in the Quran:
they do not disobey Allah in what He commands them but do what they are commanded.
And those near Him [i.e., the angels] are not prevented by arrogance from His worship, nor do they tire. They exalt [Him] night and day [and] do not slacken.
They cannot precede Him in word, and they act by His command.
The second pillar of Islam is the believe that angels exists, that they were created by Allah and that some of them have been given names.
- Jibril (Gabriel): Responsible for communicating Allah's revelations to his prophets.
- Mikail: Responsible for managing man’s necessities, bringing forth rain and overseeing the cultivation of crops.
- Israfeel: Responsible for blowing the trumpet on the day of judgment.
- Maalik: Responsible for the Guardians/Gatekeepers of hell.
- Munkar & Nakir: Responsible for questioning people in the grave after death.
- Harut and Marut: They were sent to the people of Babylon to test their faith
- Ridwan: Guardian of Heaven
- Angel of Death: (Izrail): Responsible for taking possession of souls after death by the Will of God.
- Atid: Sits on a human's left shoulder to record his/her evil deeds.
- Raqib: Sits on a human's right shoulder to record his/her good deeds.
It is very important for Muslims to believe that every human being has two angels with them at all times. They record all of their deeds in a book, both good and bad.
3. Belief in all the books/scriptures of Allah
The third pillar is to believe in all the books/scriptures revealed by Allah through his messengers to warn/guide different people throughout history. Among these books, is the Quran, which was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The last and final prophet of Allah.
Indeed, it is We who have sent down to you, [O Muḥammad], the Qur’ān progressively.
Here is the list of some of the other scriptures sent down by Allah to guide human beings.
- The Scrolls (Suhof) that Allah revealed to Prophet Ibrahim (pbuh)
- The Psalms (Zaboor) that Allah revealed to Prophet Dawud (David) (pbuh)
- The Torah that Allah revealed to Prophet Musa (Moses) (pbuh)
- The Gospel (Injeel) that Allah revealed to Prophet Isa (Jesus) (pbuh)
4. The belief in Allah's messengers and the fact that prophet Muhammad is the seal of prophethood
The fourth pillar is to belief in all the messengers of Allah and that prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is the last of them. There will be no more prophets sent after him.
Most of the messengers of Allah were sent to a specific nation except for prophet Muhammad (pbuh). He was sent as a guide and mercy to all the world's creatures.
And We have not sent you, [O Muḥammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.
5. Belief in the last day (day of judgement)
The day of judgement is when Allah will judge mankind based on their deeds. Allah has not created humans in vain. He created mankind to worship him and has promised paradise for those who obey Him and his messengers; And those who do not believe will be in hell.
Although the concept of resurrection, paradise and hell may seem far-fetched or even as myth to some. The Qur’an has predicted and addressed this issue in many of its verses. Here is one of them:
And they will say, "Who will restore us?" Say, "He who brought you forth the first time." Then they will nod their heads toward you and say, "When is that?" Say, "Perhaps it will be soon - On the Day He will call you and you will respond with praise of Him and think that you had not remained [in the world] except for a little."
6. Belief in the divine decree (Al-Qadar)
The 6th and final pillar of iman is the belief in the decree of Allah. This pillar requires Muslims to believe that everything that happens, good or bad, happens only according to Allah’s divine decree. Everything is written in a clear record, including the day we will be born and the day we will die.
What comes to you of good is from Allah, but what comes to you of evil, [O man], is from yourself. And We have sent you, [O Muḥammad], to the people as a messenger, and sufficient is Allah as Witness.
Does this mean that human beings have no free will and no matter what we do, our faith is sealed? Of course not, Allah all mighty already knows the choices we will make hence the written record, but those choices/decisions were and is ours to make.
May Allah grant us understanding and He knows best.
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