THE PILLARS OF

IMAN(faith)
Pillars of Iman
The meaning of Iman is to belief in or to have faith in something.
There are six pillars of Iman as mentioned in the Quran:
“The messenger believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord as do men of faith. Each one (of them) believes in
Allah, His Angels, His books and His messengers. We make no distinctions (they say) between one and another of His
Messengers. ‘And they say ‘We hear and we obey :( we seek) Your forgiveness our Lord and to you is the end of all
journeys.” [Q: 2:285]
The prophet (saw) said :
“Iman is to believe in God, and His Angels, and His Scripture, and
His apostles, and to believe in the resurrection and the last day and the divine premeasurement of good and evil, and to have
faith in all these things.”(Muslim)
 1. BELIEVE IN ALLAH (tawheed)
• Literally Tawheed comes from the word Wah-hada , which means to make something Wahid (singular/one).

• Technically-Tawheed means attributing oneness to Allah and describing Him as being one and unique.

• It is the first pillar of the six pillars of Iman and the most fundamental and important teaching of all the prophets

and messengers who all taught the believe in the oneness of Allah 'It is expressed in the primary Kalima

“LA ILLA ILA LLAH” Meaning there is no God but Allah, or there is no one who has the right to be worshipped

except Allah.

• Tawheed differentiate between a Muslim and a Kafir

Allah says – “Say (O Muhammad). He is Allah the one. Allah, the self-sufficient
master, whom all creatures need. He begets not, nor was he begotten. And there is none
equal or comparable unto Him.”[Q112]
Allah says: “There is nothing like unto him and He is the All-Hearer, the All-sear.” [Q:
42: 11]
Categories of tawheed
1. Tawheed ar-rubabiyah.
This concept of Tawheed is based on the belief of unifying Allah(SWT) as the sovereign Lord(Rabbi).And that He
is the sole Lord of the universe who sustains and maintains all creation with any need for it or for it.
According to this category, since God is the real power in existence, it is He Who gives all things the power to
move and to change.
Allah (S.W.T) says “And if indeed thou ask them who it is that sends down rain from the sky, and gives life there with to
the earth after its death, they will certainly reply “Allah” say “praise be to Allah!” But most of them understand not.”
[Q: 29:63]
2. Tawheed al-Uluhiyah
This means to believe that Allah (Swat) the most High is the one worth of true worship. Therefore all acts of
worship like Salat, working, fasting, among others should be dedicated to Allah alone. Hence it’s not permissible
to associate anything in worship with Him.
Allah says , “To the ‘Aadpeople (we sent) Hud, one of their (own) brethren: He said,” O my people! Worship Allah! You
have no other god but him. Will you not fear (Allah)?”[Q: 7:65]
Allah (SWT) also says, “Say; Truly, my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death, are (all) for Allah, The
cherisher of the worlds”.[Q: 6:162]
3. Tawheed al-asma wasifat. (Names and attributes)

This category helps us to understand who our creator is through His names and qualities through which we

know that Allah (SWT) is beyond our imagination and bears no resemblance.

Allah says “And (All) the most beautiful names belongs to Allah, so call on him by them.”[Q: 7: 180]

Attributes of Allah
The Prophet said “Allah has ninety nine names, i.e. one hundred minus one, and whoever guards [or counts]
them (i.e. believes in their meaning and acts accordingly), will enter paradise: And Allah is witr (one) ‘and loves
the witr.’
Attributes of Allah
Belief in Angels
The belief in the angels is the second pillar of Iman. Angels are holy and pure creatures of Allah(S.W.T) to whom He
Has bestowed the power to perform specific divine duties.
The Messenger ˹firmly˺ believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord, and so do the believers. They ˹all ˺ believe in
Allah, His angels, His Books, and His messengers. ˹They proclaim, ˺ “We make no distinction between any of His messengers.”
And they say, “We hear and obey. ˹We seek˺ Your forgiveness, our Lord! And to You ˹alone˺ is the final return.” (Surah Al-
Baqarah 2:285) Angels do not execute their duties just for the sake of it but are dedicated to their duties for which
they were created.
They are characterized by the following main features:
• Angels are a part of the unseen world, that they are created from light with the sole purpose of obeying God.
• They do not need rest or food.
• The angels are very large.
• They are neither male nor female.
• They can take on the form of humans.
• They have wings.
Names of Angels and their duties

Jibril is in charge of communicating Allah’s words to His prophets.

Mikail who provide daily sustenance to humankind by bringing forth rain.

Israfil will blow the trumpet first, to mark Yawmul Qiyamah and second, to commence the Resurrection.

Izrail has the task of taking life with the permission of Allah also called Malakul-Maut (The Angel of death)

Munkar & Nakir questions man after he dies in the grave.

Raqib & 'Atid are names of the angels who are attendant on the right and left of humans, writing down their good

and bad deeds and manners.

Ridhuan serves as the guardian of heaven.

Malik serves as the guardian of hell.

•Belief in angels makes a Muslim’s faith stronger.

•Beliefs in angels is a part of a Muslim’s faith and without it their faith would not be complete.

•By believing in them, even though they cannot be seen, a Muslim is confirming his/her firm belief in all that the

Qur’an says about them and what the Prophet (pbuh) has said about them.

•The revealed faiths prior to Islam also believe in angels and this belief confirms the Muslim belief that Islam is a

continuation and culmination of the previous faiths revealed by God hence making their faith even stronger.

•By believing in angels (e.g. Jibri’il being the angel who brought revelations to the Prophet) Muslims are convinced

of the Qur’an being sent by God which in turn makes their faith stronger.

•Angels are the recorders of our deeds and belief in this task of theirs keeps Muslims righteous.
Belief in Holy Books
 Muslims belief that God sent holly books to various prophets and that they contained the words of God.
 All divine books invited people to worship one God, and contained belief in prophethood, the Day of Judgement,
accountability before God.
 Along with these teachings the revealed books contained a code of conduct, a code of morality and justice, but the
books besides the Qur’an were not comprehensive enough to contain a complete code of life for all times.
 None the revealed books besides the Qur’an are in their original form today
 The Qur’an is the most comprehensive book sent by God.
 It deals with every aspect of life: social, economic, moral, legal.
 God says, ‘This day I have perfected your religion for you and completed my favours upon you and chosen for
you Islam as your religion’. (Al Maidah 5:3).
 Answers could also talk about the finality of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and the Qur’an being the last
universal and most perfect book of guidance sent by God to humankind for all ages.
The Qur'an mentions 5 Holy Books
• The Suhuf (Scrolls) of Ibrahim;
• The Zabur (Psalms) revealed to Dawud (David);
• The Tawrat (Torah) revealed to Musa (Moses);
• The Injil (Gospel) sent to Isa (Jesus);
• The Qur’an revealed to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh);
Belief in Prophets
Who are the Prophets?
•A prophet was sent to every nation.
•The total number of prophets was 124 000.
•25 Prophets were mentioned in the Qur'an.
•The line of prophets started from Adam (AS) and ended with Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
•Respect and obedience to them is due and that Muhammad (pbuh) is the seal of prophets.
• Every prophet carried the legacy of the prophet before him and the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) carried this
legacy in totality.
• Though belief in all prophets is essential in Islam, the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) has the distinction of being
the last prophet of God and was the one on whom the religion was perfected.
•Muslims believe that prophethood is a gift from God and He bestows this honour on whomsoever He chooses.
•Muslims believe that some of these prophets were nabis and others were rasuls.