GK WEEKS 1 - 9 A SUMMARY

3 – The greatness of allah سبحانه و تعالي He begins the first Surah of the Qur’an with His praise to emphasise his supremacy over the entire creation He created the heavens and the Earth in six days (for our understanding). All he needs to say is كُن (“Be”) and it is (He doesn’t even need to say “Be”, his intention is sufficient) He created and nourished us in the darkness of our mothers’ wombs The majestic verse – ‘Ayatul-Kursi’ (do you know it?) Know at least 2-3 verses about Allah’s greatness

4 – basic overview of aqidah Belief – testifying with the tongue and accepting with the heart Belief consists of the 6 articles of faith (what are they?) Tawhid – believing in the oneness of Allah Allah is One without partners, He is alone, there is no God other than Him, nothing is like Him, He is different from any creation Creation, Books and Prophets (go over the points in your books)

5 – TAWHID & SHIRK Tawhid – belief in the ONENESS of Allah Things that indicate to Allah’s oneness: Similarities in creation Harmony Conflict in intentions (Can you explain the above???) Shirk – ASSOCIATING PARTNERS, EQUALS or other GODS with Allah Types of Shirk: Major (consequences?) Minor Examples of minor shirk: Riya, going to fortune tellers, believing in good or bad luck, black magic, tamimah/ta’widh and so on

6 – virtues of the qur’an Ten for one (what does it mean?) Regular recitation leads to a higher rank in Paradise The best people are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it Etiquettes of reading the Qur’an (what are they?) Rewards of the following surahs: (do you know them?) al-Fatihah, al-Baqarah, al-Kahf, Ya Seen, al-Rahman, al- Waqi’ah, al- Mulk, al-Ikhlas and al-Falaq & al-Nas Is reading just these surahs sufficient for entry into Paradise???

7 – the character of the prophet Muhammad and obedience to him We’re all imitating/following someone in our day to day lives whether we know/accept it or not Some characteristics of the Prophet (peace be upon Him): Truthful, kind, forgiving, generous, merciful, gentle, patient and loving to the young and old (can you think of an example for each?) We were created to worship Allah (the Exalted) and the Qur’an is our guide The Prophet Muhammad was an embodiment/practical demonstration of the Qur’an hence we follow his example Adopting his lifestyle/ways/traits/characteristics will enable us to become better Muslims (make sure you know Quranic verses regarding the Prophet’s character)

8 – heaven & hell (Jannah & jahannum) Hadith of the man who’ll forget his luxurious worldly life when he gets a glimpse of Hell and the man who’ll forget all of his suffering in the world when he gets a glimpse of Paradise al-Ru’yah – seeing Allah; the greatest blessing in Paradise (why would it not be possible to see Allah in this world? How will we see Him in the hereafter? Know the various ahadith!) The food of the people of Hell will be dari (a thorny plant) and their drink will be hamim (boiling hot water) Do you know the conversation that will take place between the people of Hell and Malik (angel appointed to Jahannum)?

BIG BANG THEORY THEORY OF EVOLUTION In a nutshell, this theory says that all things in the universe (space, time, energy) and the four fundamental forces (gravitational, electromagnetic, weak nuclear, strong nuclear) were compressed into a tiny, hot super dense state that began to expand and cool 13.6 billion years ago, and continues to do so till today. According to Islam – if the verses of the Qur’an are referring to the ‘Big Bang’ then we accept the theory. If not, we reject it. Developed by Charles Darwin, an English naturalist. He proposed that all living organisms today have evolved slowly over billions of years by the process of natural selection; the idea that individuals best adapted to their environment passed on their qualities to their children (also known as ‘survival of the fittest’). According to Islam – we do not accept this theory at all as Allah created human beings through His power, not the process of evolution! And he multiplied Adam’s offspring through the means of Hawwa.