Islam means to worship Allāh alone, and to believe that everything which the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ came with is the truth. The person who does this is a Muslim.
Muslims follow the teachings of the Qur’an and act in accordance with the Prophetic behaviours (Sunnah) as understood and explained by the Sahabah (companions of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ), Salaf Saliheen (Pious Predecessors) and scholars of Islam.
Islam means submission, and it primarily relates to our actions.
Iman means faith and relates to our beliefs.
Ihsan refers to spiritual excellence and relates to the state of our hearts and souls.
Islam has five pillars, which are listed below. We have dedicated courses that can help you better understand each of these five pillars.
Iman consists of firm belief and conviction in the following six articles of faith.
When referring to Allāh, we discuss two things about Him: His essence (dhāt) and His attributes (ṣifāt).
These include:
One must also believe in the scriptures that God has revealed to his select Prophets. This includes the Scrolls (Psalms), the Torah, the Bible and the best of them all, the Majestic Qur’an. The Qur’an abrogates all previous scriptures and will not be abrogated, nor will it be distorted through the passage of time.
It is obligatory for a Muslim to believe the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is the most superior Prophet and Messenger. However, he is not the only Prophet or Messenger Muslims believe in. It is a core tenant of the Islamic Religion to believe in Prophet Jesus (Isa), Prophet Moses (Musa), Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim), Prophet Noah (Nuh), as well as all the Prophets and Messengers who came after Prophet Adam, the first human created.
The Judgement Day is an important event, and a core tenant of belief. As we pass through the journey of life, death is an inevitable encounter. Following death, Muslims believe all creation will be resurrected and gathered to account for the good and evil which was committed on the Earth. God has created Paradise to reward those who did good in life, and likewise, Hell has been prepared for those who committed evil in life.
We believe everything happens with the Divine Will (Iradah) and predestination of Allāh. The will of the creation is created by Allāh. Whatever Allāh has willed will happen and whatever Allāh has not willed will not happen.
Nothing is hidden from the Divine Knowledge of Allāh before the creation was in existence and He knows what they will do before they carry out those actions. The fate of everything in creation has been preordained by Allāh.
However, human beings are responsible for their actions, and will be accounted for their actions by Allāh.
Otherwise known as Spiritual excellence or perfection, ihsan forms the nucleus of a Muslims conduct with the rest of the world. Every practitioner of the religion must strive to be aware of God at all times or be aware he is being watched by God at all times.
The below hadith is narrated by a companion of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, who describes what ihsan is:
One day while the Prophet (ﷺ) was sitting in the company of some people, (The angel) Gabriel came and asked, "What is Ihsan (perfection)?" Allāh's Messenger (ﷺ) replied, "To worship Allāh as if you see Him, and if you cannot achieve this state of devotion then you must consider that He is looking at you."
