IB World Religions 1.7.4. How Do We Get There? Tawhid, the Articles of Faith and the Five Pillars Notes

1.7.4. How Do We Get There? Tawhid, the Articles of Faith and the Five Pillars

Tawhid at the centre

1. Muslims teach that the road to janna (paradise) starts with acknowledging tawhid, the oneness of Allah, and then submitting to his will in practice.
2. Tawhid means that Allah is one, without partner, parent or offspring, and that nothing in creation resembles him. Surah al-Ikhlas states this in four short verses that most Muslims know by heart.
3. Because Allah has no image and no equal, Muslims do not represent him in art. Mosques are decorated with calligraphy and pattern rather than with figures.
4. The opposite of tawhid is shirk, treating anything as a partner of Allah. Muslims therefore watch not only for idols but for anything trusted above Allah, wealth and reputation included.
5. Tawhid also carries a social claim. Muslims argue that if there is one creator then all people stand in the same relation to him, which is why the ummah (worldwide Muslim community) crosses tribe and nation.

The articles of faith

1. Iman means faith, and Muslims set out its content as a list of things to be believed. Sunni Muslims usually count six articles.
2. The first is belief in Allah as the one creator. The second is belief in the mala'ikah (angels), beings made of light who carry out his commands and record human deeds.
3. Muslims also believe in the jinn, beings made of smokeless fire who, unlike angels, choose freely and are answerable for what they do.
4. The third and fourth articles are the kutub (books) and the prophets. Muslims name the Tawrat given to Musa, the Zabur given to Dawud, the Injil given to Isa and the Qur'an given to Muhammad.
5. The fifth is akhirah (life after death), with Yawm al-din (the Day of Judgment). The sixth is qadar, Allah's decree, which Sunni Muslims hold alongside real human responsibility for what a person chooses.
6. Shi'ah Muslims arrange the same material differently, listing five roots of religion: tawhid, adalah (the justice of Allah), nubuwwah (prophethood), imamah (the leadership of the imams) and ma'ad (the return for judgment).

Qur'an and Sunnah as sources

1. Muslims hold that the path is taken from revelation rather than worked out privately. The first source is the Qur'an, which they hold to be the speech of Allah.
2. The second source is the Sunnah, the Prophet's example, preserved in reports called hadith. Muslims describe his sayings as divinely inspired without being the direct speech of Allah.
3. Scholars judged each hadith by its isnad, the chain of transmitters behind it, and graded reports sound, good or weak. Sunni Muslims rely most on the collections of al-Bukhari and Muslim.
4. Shi'ah Muslims use their own collections, which carry the teachings of the imams alongside those of the Prophet. Both branches read the Qur'an through this second body of material rather than on its own.
5. For questions the sources do not settle directly, Sunni jurists use analogy and the agreement of scholars, while Twelver Shi'ah Muslims take the reasoning of a living scholar they have chosen to follow.

The Five Pillars

1. Muslims describe the practice of Islam as resting on five duties, the Five Pillars. Performing them is submission made visible.
2. The first is the shahadah (testimony of faith): there is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. Shi'ah Muslims add the words and Ali is the friend of Allah.
3. The second is salah, the five daily prayers, preceded by wudu (ritual washing) and by niyyah (intention), and performed facing Makkah. Many Shi'ah Muslims combine the five into three sittings.
4. The third is zakah, the yearly gift of a set share of savings, usually one fortieth, to categories of people the Qur'an names, including the poor and the stranded traveller. Shi'ah Muslims also pay khums, a fifth of surplus income.
5. The fourth is sawm, the fast of Ramadan, kept from first light to sunset for a lunar month. The sick, travellers, pregnant and nursing women, young children and the frail elderly are excused, and some make the days up later.
6. The fifth is hajj, the pilgrimage to Makkah, required once in a lifetime of Muslims who can afford it and are well enough to go.
7. The pillars are personal duties with communal effects. Id ul-Fitr closes Ramadan, Id ul-Adha falls during hajj, and jum'a, the Friday midday prayer, gathers the local community every week.

Intention, ihsan and diversity

1. Muslims hold that the pillars only count when done with niyyah (intention). The Prophet is reported to have said that actions are judged by the intentions behind them.
2. A well known hadith sets out three levels: islam, the outward duties, iman, the inner faith, and ihsan, excellence, described as worshipping Allah as though you see him, knowing that he sees you.
3. Sufi Muslims concentrate on that third level, adding dhikr (remembrance of the names of Allah) and the guidance of a shaykh to the ordinary duties rather than putting anything in their place.
4. Someone joining Islam does so by saying the shahadah sincerely. Muslims call this reversion rather than conversion, holding that everyone is born already inclined to worship the one God.
5. Muslims hold that no amount of practice buys paradise. They teach that Allah's mercy admits a person, and that the pillars are how someone who hopes for that mercy lives now.