Key Beliefs 2 - Risalah

Hadith A man came up to Muhammad and said “Prophet of Allah, tell me what is Iman (faith)?’ Upon this the Holy Prophet replied ‘You must believe in Allah, His angels, His holy books, His Messengers, in the Last Day and life after death’ This is where the idea of the 6 key beliefs came from.

Risalah There has been disagreement over the final part of this Hadith – did Muhammad mean life after death or was he referring to destiny/predestination? The six beliefs are now often broken down into 3 categories: Tawhid (belief in Allah) Risalah (belief in Allah’s angels, holy books and His messengers) Akirah – belief in the last day and life after death

Risalah Due to the wonder and greatness of Allah, he cannot communicate directly with humans. However, He did not leave us alone. Allah left us in charge of the world and gave us free will, but punishing us for not doing the right thing without guiding us is not omnibenevolent.

Risalah So Allah utilises numerous different paths to communicate with humans and help them know what He expects. We are going to make notes on the A3 sheet.

Angels Prophets Muhammad (Seal of the Prophets) Holy book

Angels Angels were Allah’s first creation. Immortal and cannot go against the will of God (therefore they are unlike humans). Do not have free will and so they cannot sin; because of this they can enter the presence of Allah. However, they are not as holy as Allah and so can also enter the presence of man.

Angels Hadith: God created the angels from intellect without sensuality, the beasts from sensuality without intellect, and mankind from both intellect and sensuality. So when a person’s intellect overcomes his sensuality, he is better than the angels; but when his sensuality overcomes his intellect, he is worse than the beasts.

Angels’ roles Jibrail – chief angel. Responsible for giving messages from Allah to the prophets. Mikail – guardian of Heaven (keeps the devil out of Heaven). Israfil – responsible for the Day of Judgement (will sound the Last Trumpet). Izrail – takes the final breath from humans when they die.

Angels’ roles Recording angels – note down human actions into a book, which every person will have to read out on the Day of Judgement. Guardian angels – protect faithful Muslims from the Devil. Iblis/Shaytan (Devil) – was an angel, but was thrown out of Heaven. Tempts people to stray from Allah, but will also be punished for his actions on the Day of Judgement.

Tasks Explain the differences between angels and humans Outline the importance of angels as messengers between Allah and humans Explain, including examples, the different types of angels

Homework Create a model-map detailing all the information you’ve learned during this lesson. You will obviously need to use the notes you’ve made today, but remember that you should be doing extra reading/research for all lessons – so add in further detail while doing this.

Where does this information come from? How do you know this? What do you know? Work in pairs/threes to mind-map/model-map what you know about the prophets. You have four minutes to write down anything and everything you know about prophets (any). Prophets Challenge: Where does this information come from? How do you know this?

Tawhid The Oneness of God Write down the quote you’ll see on the next slide. Make sure you leave space, because we’re going to analyse the different parts and annotate (make notes around it) to understand the full meaning of it for Muslims.

Shirk According to Islamic teachings, there is only one unforgivable sin – shirk. Shirk is associating other beings (including oneself) with Allah. Anyone who commits shirk can no longer consider themselves a Muslim. Why do you think shirk is unforgivable for a Muslim?

In pairs/threes Using Watton pages 12-17 (and your own knowledge/homework information): Read through information on your given topic and make notes of key information. Be prepared to feedback and peer-teach what you have learned back to the rest of the class.

In pairs/threes Implications of God’s Oneness in Muslim Life The Creativity of God The Power of God The Mercy and Compassion of God The Ninety-nine Names of God General Beliefs about God’s Nature

In pairs/threes 2) The Creativity of God: Allah created the world and everything in it alone (omnipotent) Everything is organised and designed in a particular way and for a particular reason – even if we don’t understand it. (Intelligent design) Link between Allah and scientific ideas about the universe Are the Qur’an and evolution contradictory?

In pairs/threes 6) General Beliefs about God’s Nature Allah created everything, but is Himself created out of nothing (“nor is He begotten”) Beyond human comprehension and understanding (transcendent) 99 names and descriptions relate to non-material characteristics e.g. Allah sees everything – this does not mean he has physical eyes Faithful Muslims will come face to face with Allah on the Last Day Descriptions and characteristics are supposed to help Muslims understand the nature of Allah further; they are not included to cause disagreement about logicistics

Allah’s Immanence Although Tawhid teaches Muslims that Allah is transcendent (greater than us, beyond our understanding, far from us); Islam also teaches Muslims that Allah is close to us and cares for us. Note down the three quotes from the top of page 15 and give a brief explanation of each.

The three aspects of Tawhid As you’re watching the video clip, make notes of key information. The video goes into more detail and uses more key terminology than you will need, but feel free to write it down if it helps you.

Progress Check Plenary What have you learnt this lesson? Facts – e.g Ideas/viewpoints Similarities/differences - diversity Key words/concepts Examples of how religion affects the world around us – e.g. culture What contribution to your learning did you make? Contributed to class discussion Worked in a pair/group Organised my time well Found out information for myself Answered thoroughly and thoughtfully Completed extension task Monitored my progress Peer/ self assessed work How did you learn it? Research work Discussion Questioning Pairs/ group work - collaborative Independent learning Using technology e.g video/ internet What do you need to do in order to make further progress? Do further research Background reading Develop my writing technique Contribute more in class Proof read my work Give examples to back up my ideas Make connections between different beliefs and faiths