Boreal

Pain, Pleasure and Prejudice

To Be A Believer

THE COW

2 Al-Baqarah

In the Name of Allah,

the Compassionate, the Merciful

Pain, Pleasure and Prejudice2:1 Alif, Lam, Mim (no consensus on meaning)

2:2 This is the Book which cannot be doubted and is a guidance to the God-fearing,

2:3 Those who believe in the Unseen, perform the prayer and give freely from what We provided for them,

2:4 And who believe in what was revealed to you (Muhammad) and was revealed before you and firmly believe in the life to come.

2:5 Those are guided by their Lord, and those are the prosperous.

----

It is a fundamental belief of Muslims that the Holy Koran is truly from God. A person is not a Muslim if he or she does not hold this belief…

Muslims believe the Holy Koran is the perfect, eternal and unchangeable word of God. It is a fact the word of God has been preserved in the Holy Koran, and no change whatever has occurred in it since its revelation. It is also a promise of God, and a firmly held belief of all Muslims, that no change will ever occur in the last book of God.

Abdul Rashid

To be a Muslim is also to admit to the following beliefs which are often referred to as the Pillars of Faith (not to be confused with the Five Pillars of Islam which are not beliefs but mandatory activities):

1) Belief in God;

2) Belief in the Angels;

3) Belief in the revealed Books of the Prophet;

4) Belief in God’s many prophets;

5) Belief in a Last Day;

6) Belief in the divine measurement of human affairs;

7) Belief in a life after death.

Five Pillars of Islam

1. Shahadah, declaring allegiance to God. 2. Salat, daily prayers. 3. Zakat, annual charity. 4. Saum, month-long fasting. 5. Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca.

One of the first Koranic verses committed to memory, and one of the most repeated during daily prayers is the Verse of the Throne. This elegant verse neatly summarizes a Muslim’s belief in one omnipotent deity.

2:255 Allah! There is no God but He, the Living, the Everlasting. Neither slumber nor sleep overtakes him. His is what is in the heavens and on the earth. Who shall intercede with Him except with His leave? He knows what is before them (in this world) and what is behind them (in the Hereafter). And they do not comprehend of His Knowledge except what He wills. His Throne encompasses the heavens and the earth, and their preservation does not burden Him. He is the Exalted, the Great.

A believer can declare his or her belief in the Angels, the revealed Books of the Prophets and the Prophets themselves by including in his or her daily prayers the following verse:

2:285 The Messenger (Muhammad) believes in what has been revealed to him by his Lord, and so do the believers too. All believe in Allah, His Angels, His Books and His Messengers. We make no distinction between any of His Messengers. And they (the believers) say: “We hear and obey. Grant us Your Forgiveness, our Lord. And to you is our return.”

He or she can do it again and include belief in Judgement Day by repeating revelation 4:136.

4:136 O believers, believe in Allah and His Messenger and in the Book which He revealed to His Messenger, and the Book which He revealed before. Whoever disbelieves in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Prophets and the Last Day has gone far astray.

The following verse about belief in a Last Day is often quoted as proof that not only Muslims but all who believe in one God and a Judgement Day (Indians, Buddhists, Atheists, Agnostics, Animist etc. are by definition excluded) and do good will be allowed into Paradise when they cross over into Allah’s domain.

5:69 Surely, the believers, the Jews, the Sabians and the Christians whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good deeds shall all have nothing to fear and they shall not grieve.

To believe in the divine measurement of human affairs you have to believe in angels, for it is the writing of two angels known as the Kiraman Katibeen i.e. the Noble Writers which will be pivotal in determining where you will spend eternity. One of the Noble Writers is perched on the left shoulder busily recording a believer’s bad deed, the other on the right shoulder keeping track of the good things a believer has done during his or her time on earth.

50:16 We have indeed created man, and We know what his soul insinuates to him. We are to him closer than the jugular vein.

50:17 When the two angels receive, one sitting on the right, the other on the left;

50:18 He does not utter a word but is observed by a vigilant observer by his side.

On Judgement Day the Noble Writers’ recordings of a believer's good and bad deeds will be reviewed by Allah who will decide if the good deeds outweigh the bad and the believer allowed into Paradise. For believers the odds are in their favour that they will enter Paradise, for one good deed is worth ten bad ones.

6:160 He who comes up with a good deed shall have ten times its like; and he who comes up with an evil deed will only be requited for it once; and they shall not be wronged.