The

Pillars

Of

Faith
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Islam 101 | Student Course Notes | Written by Bilal Dannoun 5
 “Every child is born with the pure nature. It is his parents who change him to a Jew, a
Christian, or a pagan” (Bukhari & Muslim)

The Prophet (sallalaahu ‘alayhi wasallam) was asked about “Faith” to which he
responded:

"…It is that you believe in Allah and His angels and His Books and His Messengers and in
the Last Day, and in fate (qadar), both in its good and in its evil aspects..."

(Hadith Jibreel, Sahih Muslim)

IMPORTANT!

A PERSON IS NOT A BELIEVER UNTIL HE BELIEVES IN ALL THE

PILLARS OF FAITH

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Islam 101 | Student Course Notes | Written by Bilal Dannoun 6
1ST PILLAR |Belief in Allah (Tawheed – Monotheism)

“That is Allah, your Lord. There is no (true) god other than Him. He is the Creator of
everything, so worship Him. And He also takes care of everything.”

[Al-An‘aam, 6: 102]

Introduction
Believing in Allah is the first pillar of

faith - All other pillars are useless
without the first one

He is the true Lord

He has the best and greatest
qualities

No one deserves our complete love
and obedience but Allah

Aayat-ul Kursi [Al-Baqarah, 2: 255]
contains a beautiful description of
Allah

Ways of Knowing Allah

1. Through His Creation
2. Through the Quran
3. Through the Sunnah

Belief in Allah consists of three parts 1. That He is the Creator and Master of
everything. He is the true Lord. (al-
Ruboobiyyah)

2. That He has the best and greatest

qualities. (al-asmaa’ wassifaat)

3. No one deserves our complete love

and obedience but Allah. (al-
Uloohiyyah)

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Islam 101 | Student Course Notes | Written by Bilal Dannoun 7
His Excellent Names
“99”
“Surely, Allah has ninety-nine names, one
less than a hundred. Whoever counts
these names will enter Jannah.” (Bukhari)
Understanding Allah’s Qualities
“Nothing is like Him, and He is the All-
Hearing, and the All-Seeing.” [Ash-shoora, 42:
11]
Where is Allah?
Allah’s Qualities with Bodily names
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Islam 101 | Student Course Notes | Written by Bilal Dannoun

Only Allah knows how many they
are

Learning them enables us to know
Him better
Counting Allah’s names means:
1. Know them
2. Understand their meaning
3. Live in a way that shows that we
know and believe in them
• They are not like the qualities of
people or other created things
• He does not need a wife, child, or
helper to take care of the rest of
creation
• He is above the world that we know
and above the heavens
• He is above the throne
• Nothing is above Him
• We must believe in Allah’s highness,
His highness of respect and honor
• His highness is not only symbolic but
that it is true and real, not like the
highness of creation
• Allah tells us He has some qualities
that have bodily names. These
qualities would not have bodily
meaning when they are applied to
Allah.
• We cannot imagine how these
qualities are for Allah, because this
is beyond our human ability.
• Among Allah’s perfect qualities with
bodily names are the face, eyes,
hands, foot.
8
More Qualities • Allah speaks
• Allah Loves and Hates
• Allah Laughs

Seeing Allah in this life No Human can see Allah in this life

Seeing Allah in the Hereafter

“On that Day (of Judgment), some
faces will be happy, looking at their
Lord.” [75: 22-23]

“You will surely be able to see your

Lord (in Jannah), just as you can see
this full moon. It will not hurt you to look
at Him.” (Bukhari)

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Islam 101 | Student Course Notes | Written by Bilal Dannoun 9
Shirk (Polytheism) | The Opposite of Tawheed

“Surely Allah will not forgive the association of partners with Him, but He forgives (sins)
less than that of whomever He wishes.”
[An-Nisaa, 4: 48]

Categories of Shirk Sub-Category

1. Shirk in Ruboobiyyah (i) Shirk by association

The belief that others share Allah’s Recognising a main God or Supreme Being
Lordship over creation as His equal or over creation, but that His dominion is
near equal or to believe that there exists shared by other lesser gods, spirits, mortals,
no Lord over creation at all. heavenly bodies or earthly objects

(ii) Shirk by negation

Denying the existence of God explicitly

(Atheism) or implicitly (Pantheism)

2. Shirk in Uloohiyyah (‘Eebaadah) (i) Ash-Shirk Al-Akbar (Major Shirk)

Acts of worship are dedicated to other This occurs when any act of worship is
than God and the reward of worship is directed to other than Allah.
sought from the creation instead of the
Creator. (ii) Ash-Shirk Al-Asghar (Minor Shirk)

This has occurred when an action is done

insincerely, out of showing off (Riyaa’),
seeking reward from others besides Allah.

This category of shirk is also known as the

secret shirk.

3. Shirk in al-Asmaa’ was-Sifaat (i) Shirk by Humanisation

(names and attributes)
Giving Allah the attributes of His creation
or giving created beings Allah’s names
and attributes.
Allah is given the form and qualities of
human beings. E.g. Hindus and Buddhists
worship many idols in the likeness of Asian
men, considering them manifestations of
God in creation. Another example is those
who believe that ‘Isa (Jesus) was God
incarnate and such as those who paint
pictures of God as a naked old European
man with long flowing white heair and a
beard.

(ii) Shirk by Deification

This form relates to beings or things given

claim to Allah’s names or His attributes.

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Islam 101 | Student Course Notes | Written by Bilal Dannoun 10