Q. What is IMAAN?
A. IMAAN is to have faith in something and to proclaim it. To a Muslim IMAAN means firm belief in Allah and the teachings of our NABI Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa ()
IMAAN MUJMAL
آمَنْتُ بِاللهِ كَمَا هُوَ بِأَسْمَآئِه وَصِفَاتِه
وَقَبِلْتُ جَمِيْعَ أَحْكَامِه

A MUSLIM HAS TO PROCLAIM FAITH IN SEVEN THINGS. THESE ARE:

IMAAN MUFASSAL
آمَنْتُ بِاللهِ وَمَلاَئِكَتِه وَكُتُبِه وَرُسُلِه وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ وَالْقَدْرِ خَيْرِه وَشَرِّه مِنَ اللهِ تَعَالى وَالْبَعْثِ بَعْدَ الْمَوْتِط

ALLAH
1. Allah is one.
2. He alone is worthy of worship. And none besides him is worthy of worship.
3. He has no partner.
4. Nothing is hidden from him, he even knows the thoughts that go on in a person’s mind.
5. He is most powerful
6. He created the earth, the skies, the sun, the moon, the stars, the angels, human beings and the whole universe.
7. He gives life and death.
8. He gives sustenance to all creation.
9. He does not eat or drink or sleep.
10. He is for ever and will live on forever.
11. He was not created by anyone.
12. He does not have any parents, wife, or children.
13. He does not depend on any body. All depend on him.
14. Nobody resembles Allah, and he resembles none.
15. He is pure from all faults.
16. He does not have eyes, nose or a body like that of human beings.
17. We should therefore PRAY to HIM for all our requirements.
ANGELS
1. Allah has created angles out of light and gave them various duties to perform
2. They are not visible to us.
3. They do not commit any sins or disobey Allah.
4. They do what Allah has ordered.
5. We do not know their exact number.
6. We know of four famous angles.
7. They are Hazrat JIBRAEEL, Hazrat MICHAEEL, Hazrat ISRAFEEL, Hazrat IZRAEEL (عليهم السلام).
8. Hazrat JIBRAEEL (عليه السلام) brought Allah's books, orders and messages to all the prophets. He was also sent to help the prophets at times and fight against their enemies.
9. Hazrat MICHAEEL (عليه السلام) is in charge of food, and rain. Other angels work under him who are in charge of clouds, the seas, the rivers, and winds. He gets the order from Allah. Then he orders the others under his command.
10. Hazrat IZRAEEL (عليه السلام) takes away life with the order of Allah. He is in charge of death. Numerous angels work under him, some take away the lives of good persons whilst others looking very fearful take away the lives of sinners and disbelievers.
11. Hazrat ISRAFEEL (عليه السلام) will blow the SOOR (trumpet) on the day of judgment. The sound will destroy and kill everything that is on earth and in the skies. When he will blow for the second time all will come to life with the order of Allah.
12. Then there are two angels that are always with every person. One writes all his good deeds whilst the other enters all his bad deeds. They are known as the KIRAMAAN-KAATIBEEN.
13. The MUNKAR and NAKEER question a person when he dies.
14. Some angels are in charge of heaven, some of hell, some of looking after children, the old, the weak, and others whom Allah wishes to protect.
15. From the QUR'AN and HADITH we come to know that various other angels are in charge of various other duties.
BOOKS OF ALLAH
1. Allah revealed his books to various prophets for the guidance of their nations.
2. The big books are called KITAAB whilst the small ones are called SAHIFAH.
3. The four main books that were revealed are the:
a. TAURAAT
b. ZABOOR
c. INJEEL
d. THE HOLY QUR’AN.
4. The TAURAAT (OLD TESTAMENT) was given to Hazrat MOOSA (عليه السلام)
5. The ZABOOR (PSALMS) were given to Hazrat DAWOOD (عليه السلام).
6. The INJEEL (NEW TESTAMENT) was given to Hazrat ESA (عليه السلام).
7. The HOLY QUR’AN, the final book of Allah was revealed to Hazrat MUHAMMAD MUSTAFA (صلى الله عليه وسلم).
8. Beside these there were many more smaller KITAABS revealed e.g.
• 10 Sahifahs were revealed to Hazrat ADAM (عليه السلام).
• 50 Sahifahs were revealed to Hazrat SHEES (عليه السلام).
• 30 Sahifahs were revealed to Hazrat IDREES (عليه السلام).
• Between 10 and 30 Sahifahs were revealed to Hazrat IBRAHEEM (عليه السلام) (peace and blessings of Allah be upon all of them).
9. All the other books besides the HOLY QUR’AN were revealed at once.
10. The HOLY QUR’AN was revealed over a period of 23 years.
11. All the other books are no more in their original form. Changes, alterations and additions have been made in them.
12. The HOLY QUR’AN has been memorized by thousands from the beginning of Islam right to the present day.
13. Allah has promised to safeguard the text of the HOLY QUR’AN, which is miraculous.
14. The HOLY QUR’AN is the final book of Allah. It is still pure, clear and free from any change or alteration.
MESSENGERS OF ALLAH
1. Allah sent many messengers to this world from time to time to guide mankind.
2. These messengers are known as RASOOL and NABI.
3. The first of these messengers was Hazrat ADAM (عليه السلام) whilst the last was Hazrat MUHAMMAD MUSTAFA () .
4. We do not know the names of all the NABEES that came into the world.
5. There were about 124,000 NABEES.
6. All the NABEES and RASOOLS were human beings whom Allah chose to convey his message to the people.
7. They always spoke the truth, committed no sins and conveyed the message without adding or leaving out anything.
8. They performed miracles with the help of Allah.
9. All the RASOOLS were NABEES but not all NABEES were RASOOLS.
10. A RASOOL is a prophet who received a new SHARI'AH (Divine Law) and book from Allah. A NABI follows the SHARI’AH of a RASOOL or a prophet before him.
11. No person can become a NABI or a RASOOL by his own effort.
12. No more prophets will come after our NABI Hazrat MOHAMMED MUSTAFA () He was the final prophet of Allah.
13. In the Holy Qur'an Allah Ta'ala mentioned our NABI Hazrat MUHAMMAD () as KHATAMUN-NABIYYEEN which means that he is the last of all the NABEES.
14. The name of some other NABEES and RASOOLS mentioned in the QUR'AN are Hazrat IBRAHEEM, ISMAIL, YAHYA, ZAKARIA, YUNUS, IDREES, YA'COOB and SULAIMAN (عليهم السلام)
15. Our NABI Hazrat MUHAMMAD MUSTAFA () is of the highest position amongst all the prophets.
16. All the prophets of Allah preached the oneness of Allah.
THE SAHAABAH (COMPANIONS) OF RASOOLULLAH (صلي الله عليه وسلم)
People who either saw Nabi () or stayed in his company, embraced Islam and died as Muslims are known as SAHAABAH.
Singular: Sahaabi - Plural: Sahaabah
Any person who was in the companionship or saw Nabi () for even a very little while, is a Sahaabi provided he or she died as a Muslim.
1. Rasoolullah () mentioned: "All the Sahaabah are just and pious and whomsoever amongst them you shall follow, you shall be guided".
2. Ÿ The highest rank amongst the Sahaabah is that of Hazrat ABU BAKR (رضي الله عنه). His position is superior to the entire Ummah (followers of Rasoolullah ) till the day of QIYAAMAH.
• Next in rank is Hazrat UMAR bin KHATTAB (رضي الله عنه).
• Thereafter is the position of Hazrat USMAN (رضي الله عنه).
• And then Hazrat ALI (رضي الله عنه).
• Thereafter the position of the other Sahaabah is best known by ALLAH TA'ALA alone.
3. Amongst the Sahaabah is a group of TEN Companions regarding whom NABI () gave the glad tiding of JANNAH (Paradise). These are known as the ASHRAH-MUBASHSHARAH (the ten who have been given the glad tidings of JANNAH. They are:
1) Hazrat Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه).
2) Hazrat Umar (رضي الله عنه).
3) Hazrat Usman (رضي الله عنه).
4) Hazrat Ali (رضي الله عنه).
5) Hazrat Talhah (رضي الله عنه).
6) Hazrat Zubair (رضي الله عنه).
7) Hazrat Abdur-Rahman bin 'Auf (رضي الله عنه).
8) Hazrat Sa'd bin abi Waqqas (رضي الله عنه).
9) Hazrat Sa'eed bin Zaid (رضي الله عنه).
10) Hazrat Abu Ubaidah bin Jarrah (رضي الله عنه).
4. It is from the Sahaabah (رضي الله عنهم) the world learnt the DEEN of ISLAM. It is from them that we established the SHARI'AH and obtained the SUNNAH of our NABI ().
5. A non-Sahaabi is not equal in rank to the LOWEST Sahaabi, even though the non-Sahaabi may be the greatest WALI (pious friend of Allah).
6. It is COMPULSORY to show respect to all the Sahaabah (رضي الله عنهم) and ABSTAIN from speaking ill and criticizing the noble (Sahaabah) of Rasoolullah ().
FATE (TAQDEER)
1. Allah has the knowledge of everything before its creation.
2. Allah has given human beings the will power and the ability to do good or bad.
3. Allah's knowledge of what good or bad one would do even before one is created is called TAQDEER or fate.
4. All favours are by Allah's will alone and no misfortune can happen except by the will of Allah.
5. Therefore we should not despair over any misfortune or boast over any favour. This teaches us that we should be thankful to Allah for his favours and patient over any misfortune.
THE LAST DAY (QIYAAMAH)
1. This world will one day come to an end.
2. Besides Allah Ta'ala no one knows the exact day of QIYAAMAH. Only this much is known that on one Friday the 10th of MUHARRAM Hazrat ISRAFEEL (عليه السلام) will be ordered to blow the SOOR (bugle).
3. The sound will cause every living person or creature to die.
4. The earth will be shaken-up. The mountains will become like flakes of cotton wool the sun and the moon will crash. The stars will lose their shine and the whole universe will be destroyed.
5. The approach of QIYAAMAH will be known by its signs shown to us by our NABI MUHAMMAD MUSTAFA ().
6. Some of these signs are as follows,
a) People will disobey their parents and disrespect them.
b) Breach of trust.
c) Singing, music, and dancing will become common.
d) Illiterate people will become leaders.
e) People will speak ill of their ancestors and the previous pious people.
f) People of low means will begin to boast of high buildings.
g) Unworthy people will be given high posts.
THE LIFE AFTER DEATH
1. After the day of QIYAAMAH when every thing will be destroyed, Hazrat ISRAFEEL (عليه السلام) will be ordered to blow the bugle (SOOR) for the second time.
2. Once again every person that lived on this earth from the time of Hazrat ADAM (عليه السلام) up to the final Day would be given new life.
3. They will all gather before Allah Ta’ala for judgment in the MAIDAAN-UL-HASHR (Field of Resurrection).
4. They would have to give an account of their deeds.
5. The day on which this will be done is called
• YAUM-UL-HASHR Day of Resurrection
• YAUM-UL-JAZAA and
• YAUM-UD-DEEN Day of Judgment
• YAUM-UL-HISAAB (Account) Day of Reckoning
6. The good would be blessed and rewarded with JANNAH or paradise.
7. The evil ones would be punished in JAHANNAM.
8. Besides the KUFFAAR and the MUSHRIKEEN Allah Ta’ala will forgive whomsoever he wishes.
9. KUFFAAR-plural of KAAFIR meaning one who disbelieves in Allah.
10. MUSHRIKEEN - plural of MUSHRIK, meaning one who associates with Allah Ta’ala any partner in his being or attributes.
QUESTIONS
1. What does Islam teaches?
2. What is the meaning of Kalimah Shahaadat?
3. Give another name for Kalimah Tayyibah?
4. What does Imaan means to a Muslim?
5. A Muslim has to proclaim faith in 7 things. These are mentioned in Iman-E-Mufassal. What are these 7 things.
6. What is the meaning of Kalimah Tauheed?
7. What are the Five Pillars of Islam?
8. Read the following and explain their meanings.
(a) Kalimah Tamjeed (a) The 5th. Kalimah
(b) Imaan Mujmal (d) Imaan Mufassal
9. Who are the Keraaman Kaatibeen and what do they do?
10. What are Sahifahs and to which NABEES they were given? How many to each Nabi?
11. What is the meaning of KHATAMUN NABIYYEEN?
12. Name some of the famous NABEES?
13. What did the PROPHETS of Allah preach about Allah?
14. What is TAQDEER or FATE called?
15. What are some of the SIGNS of QIYAAMAH?
16. What is the meaning of YAMUN-UL-HASHR and YAUM-UL-HISAAB?
17. Name the four famous ANGLES?
18. State the Responsibility of the four famous ANGLES?
19. Name the four main BOOKS and to whom they were Revealed?
20. Over a period of how many years was the HOLY QUR’AN revealed?
21. Approximately how many NABEES were sent to the World?
22. When will QIYAAMAH take place?
23. Who are the SAHAABAH and mention what NABI (عليه السلام) has mentioned regarding them?
24. Mention the ranks of the Sahaabahs and name the ASHRAH-MUBASHSHARAH?
25. Explain the rank of a WALI and the rank of a LOWEST SAHAABI?
26. It is ___________ to show respect to all the SAHAABAH.