Lesson video

Hello, my own scholars of religion.

My name is Ms. Marx and I'm going to be your religious education teacher today.

Today we're going to be doing all about the six beliefs within Sunni Islam.

Sometimes these are called the Six Articles of Faith, and they're very important for shaping many Muslim beliefs and informing lots of practises.

So when you're ready, let's go.

So by the end of this lesson today, you'll be able to explain what the six beliefs of Sunni Islam are, their importance, and the influence they may have on a Muslim.

So let's start with our key terms. Angels, beings of light delivering God's messages and watching over humans.

Akhirah, beliefs about life after death in Islam.

Risalah, belief in prophets as Allah's messengers.

Sunni Islam, a branch of Islam.

Tawhid, a belief in Allah's oneness and unity.

So look out for those in today's lesson.

So today's lesson, we will have three sections.

The six key beliefs, the importance of the six key beliefs and which belief could be the most important.

So let's start with our first section then.

The six key beliefs.

Meryem and Iqbal are Muslims and here they explain what being a Muslim means to them.

And Meryem says, "Being a Muslim means that I believe in Allah as the one God.

I know about Allah through the Holy Qur'an, which is my guide for life." And Iqbal says, "Being a Muslim means that I follow the example of the Prophet Muhammad who is chosen by Allah to show us how to live.

I hope to spend eternity in paradise in the afterlife through doing this." Meryem and Iqbal are Sunni Muslims and the term Sunni Islam comes from Arabic, Sunni Islam.

And Sunni comes from a word "sunnah," meaning "tradition," of the Prophet Muhammad.

And Islam comes from "aslama", meaning "submitting to God." And you might have heard it in a word of "salam," which means peace.

Sunni Islam is one branch of Islam.

Sunni Muslims follow their interpretation of the traditions and teachings of Islam as passed down from the Prophet Muhammad and his successors.

So within Sunni Islam there are six key beliefs, known as the Six Articles of Faith.

And Muslims in other branches of Islam, such as Shi'a Muslims, will also believe these things, but may not call them the Six Articles of Faith.

And these six things are the unity of God, (tawhid), prophethood, (risalah) life after death, (akhirah), angels, (malaikah), holy books, (kutub), and predestination (al-Qadr).

So here we've got the English explanation of what these different terms are that are within the six articles of faith.

So let's try and understand a bit more what they are then, the six articles of faith.

So we've got the unity of God (tawhid), and this means that God is one and there is only one God.

And that one God is united and complete and absolute.

We've got a belief in angels, or malaikah, who are beings made of light, who are around us all the time as humans, according to Muslim teachings, and have very important roles to do with holy books being revealed and also in the afterlife.

Then we've got a belief in holy books, (kutub), which are revealed to prophets.

Not every prophet has a holy book revealed to them, but there are some key prophets who did and some important holy books to understand and respect as a Muslim.

Prophethood, (risalah).

So the idea that God sends messages to humans to share that message and tell humans about God so God can understand and know.

And life after death, (akhirah).

So beliefs about resurrection, judgement and the hereafter.

And finally, predestination, also known as al-Qadr, which means power.

So God's will is supreme.

Nothing happens without it being God's will if God is omnipotent.

So let's do a quick check.

Which three of the following are part of the six articles of faith, the six key beliefs? Which three of these are part of that? Pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done, it's holy books, prophethood and tawhid.

The imamate is an important Shi'a belief, as part of their key beliefs.

So where did these six articles of faith come from and get agreed upon then? Well, they're agreed on using different sources of authority in Islam, and two of these sources are the Holy Qur'an, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad as the ultimate authority for Muslims, and collections of Hadith, which are narration relating to the life of the Prophet Muhammad.

So let's look at the Qur'an then, as a source of authority for the six key beliefs then.

In Surah 4, we have this passage, "O you who believe! Believe in God and His messenger, and in the book He sent down to His messenger, and the Book He sent down before.

Whoever rejects God, His angels, His books, his messengers, and the Last Day, has strayed far in error." So which of the six beliefs are mentioned in this passage then? Pause the video and have a think, reread it, and we'll see what you come up with in a moment.

Well done, well, we've got here God, Messenger, book, angels, and Last Day.

God, (tawhid), the messengers, (risalah), the holy books, (kutub), angels, (malaikah) and the Last Day, which is related to resurrection and Akhirah.

So we can see how this passage in the Qur'an can support many of those key beliefs that are held within Islam.

And then here we have, from the Hadith, an important source of authority, called the Kitab Al-iman, which is about faith.

And this is when the Prophet Muhammad is talking to Angel Jibril.

And Angel Jibril asks him what faith is.

And the Prophet Muhammad replies with this.

"To believe in Allah, His angels, His books, the Last Day, and the divine decree, both good and bad." So which of the six articles of faith are mentioned in this Hadith then? Pause the video and have a read through and we'll see what you come up with in a moment.

Well done, well, some of these have used slightly different words, haven't they? We've got, "Believe in Allah," so that would be tawhid and the oneness of God, His angels, His books, messengers, the Last Day, and the divine decree.

Decree is a word for when someone's instructed or commanded to do something.

So, the divine command to do an action.

And so we've got Allah, (tawhid), angels, (malaikah), the holy books, (kutub), the messengers, (risalah), the Last Day (resurrection) And then we've got the divine decree, this term to do with it being a divine command.

It's already decided by God and it's through the power of God that things are happening (al-Qadr).

So Lucas and Laura are discussing now how these sources of authority can support a belief in some of the six articles of faith.

Lucas says, "A Muslim might believe in the six articles of faith because in the Qur'an it says, "believe in God and His messenger and the Book He sent down," and this shows three of the six articles of faith." And Laura says, "A Muslim might believe in the six articles of faith because in the Hadith of Kitab al-imam the Prophet Muhammad said, "Affirm your faith in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers," and a belief in the resurrection.

And what I really like about Lucas and Laura's answers is they've said the source where it came from, either the Qur'an or the Hadith.

Well done Lucas and Laura.

So let's do another check then.

In which of those sources did the Prophet Muhammad say to Angel Jibril that faith was believing in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and the divine decree." Which of those sources was that in? Pause the video and have a think and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done, that was in the Hadith Kitab al-iman.

So time for a practise task to see what we've learned so far then.

You're going to explain two of the key beliefs in the six articles of faith for a Muslim.

You're gonna refer to sacred writings or another source of Muslim belief and teaching in your answer.

And some suggested guidance is that you give a point and develop it twice.

But for one of those you're going to include the name of a source and what it teaches, link to the point that you've made and it could be a quotation, a general belief or teaching.

So pause the video and have a go.

We'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done, some great work there.

I asked you to explain two of the key beliefs of the six articles of faith for a Muslim, with reference to a source of authority.

And your answer may look something like this.

"One of the key beliefs in the six articles of faith is a belief in tawhid.

This means that Muslims believe there's only one God.

Muslims believe this because it says in the Qur'an, "Believe in God and His messenger.

Another key belief in the six articles of faith is a belief in akhirah.

This means Muslims believe there's life after death and so hope to spend eternity in paradise with Allah." And what I've done here is in the first part I've chosen to put my source of authority in and I've said words from the Qur'an.

And the quote that it's given linked to my point about a belief in God.

Well done.

So onto our second section then, the importance of the six key beliefs.

Well, one way to see the importance of beliefs is how they might influence people who believe them, what might change in their life, what might they do differently because of this belief that they have? And we can see the influence of the six articles of faith in the following ways.

A belief in one God or the unity of God may mean that somebody does not worship other gods.

So we can see how important it is with that influence that they're not worshipping many gods and only one.

We could see the influence of a belief of the six articles of faith and see how important they are by a Muslim feeling protected and comforted by their being angels around them or knowing that there's going to be angels involved with the Last Day and the resurrection.

The influence of a belief in holy books could be seen by a Muslim reading them and that obviously shows us how important they are for Muslims spending time reading the Qur'an and wanting to follow its instructions.

A belief in prophethood or risalah is very important to a Muslim, and we can see this through the influence of them wanting to follow the example or follow in the footsteps of those prophets that have come before them.

A belief in life after death or akhirah is very important for a Muslim and we can see that influencing their lives by them perhaps feeling hopeful about life after death or comforted if a loved one has passed on.

And finally, a belief in al-Qadr or predestination could be seen in a Muslim's life if they're trusting in God in hard times, even when things get difficult, to trust this is the will of God and that then shows its importance for a Muslim.

So Laura's gonna ask Iqbal now, "How does a belief in the six articles of faith influence you, Iqbal?" And Iqbal says, "The six articles of faith influence me to believe in Allah and Allah's messengers and follow their example.

A belief in risalah influences me to pray in the way that Prophet Muhammad did.

A belief in Akhirah makes me feel hopeful about the afterlife because I believe I can do the right actions in order to spend eternity in paradise." So we can see here that those articles of faith are very important to Iqbal because of the influence they have over his life.

And Lucas asked Meryem, "How does a belief in the six articles of faith influence you Meryem? She says, "A belief in the oneness of God, tawhid, influences me to want to worship only Allah.

To me this means not putting anything else above Allah in my life.

By giving my Zakat, which is a charity tax, each year, I know I'm not putting money and wealth above God in my heart.

Everything I have is thanks to Allah's provision." And so we can see here, with her life influenced by these beliefs, how important it is for her to hold these six key beliefs of Islam.

So Meryem and Iqbal have shown us there's often more than one way that communities and individuals can show those six key beliefs then.

So let's together give one way that a belief in prophethood (risalah) might be shown in a Muslim community.

Hmm, I think reading the holy books that were revealed to prophets is a way of showing how important that idea of prophethood or risalah is.

So over to you then.

Give another way that a belief in prophethood, (risalah), might be shown in a Muslim community.

Pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done, I've got here, "Praying each day the way that Muhammad prayed." So there is other ways that a belief in the six articles of faith can be shown in Muslim communities.

And here's some pictures to help us understand this.

So we could have risalah being shown by communities and individuals following the actions of the prophets.

For example, we've got people here who've gone on pilgrimage to Makkah, called Hajj, and they're circling the kaaba, just as the Prophet Muhammad did.

We could have the belief in holy books being shown through Muslims reading the Qur'an together and understanding the Qur'an together.

We could have a belief in tawhid linking to people understanding and knowing that all provisions are from Allah and therefore being able to give the Zakat, the charity tax.

And finally, a belief in predestination could be shown through people praying to ask Allah for help to accept his will, whatever happens.

Let's do another check.

A belief in prophethood, (risalah), could be shown in Muslim communities through taking a pilgrimage to Makkah.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and have a think and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done, that's true.

That is a way, because taking a pilgrimage to Makkah is following the examples of prophets in Islam, such as Muhammad, and risalah is a belief that God has sent prophets in the past to show us as an example of how to live.

Well done.

So let's do another task now to see what we've learned.

Explain two ways that Muslims could show the six beliefs in their communities and our guidance is to give a point and develop it twice.

And in that, we're going to give one way Muslim communities could show the six beliefs and then develop by explaining how and why this could impact Muslim communities.

And then give another way that Muslim communities could show the six beliefs and explain how and why this could impact Muslim communities.

So pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done.

So I asked you to explain two ways that Muslims could show the six beliefs in their communities.

And your response might be similar to this.

"Muslim communities could show the six beliefs through reading and following the Qur'an.

This is because the Qur'an is a Holy Book which is one of the six articles of faith.

It's an important authority in Islam to read and follow.

And secondly, Muslim communities can also show the six beliefs through performing the Hajj pilgrimage and going to Makkah.

This is because it's following in the footsteps of different prophets and prophecy is one of the key beliefs." Well done.

So onto our third section then.

Which belief could be the most important? So all of the six articles of faith are important to Muslims, but which one could we argue is the most important? We've got the unity of God, (tawhid), prophethood, (risalah), life after death, (akhirah), angels, (malaikah), holy books, (kutub) and predestination, (al-Qadr), or the supremacy of God's will.

Which of those would you argue is the most important to a Muslim? Pause the video and have a think and you can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well, let's hear from Lucas, Laura and Sam when they're discussing here what they think the most important article of faith could be to a Muslim.

So Lucas says, "A belief in tawhid must be the most important because that is the one God that Muslims worship." Remember tawhid is a belief that there's only one God and that one God is united and complete.

And if that's the God that Muslims are worshipping, that must be the most important belief.

Laura says, "Yes, but how would Muslims know about tawhid without kutub, which is the holy books, like the Qur'an? That is more important 'cause that's how Muslims know about there being one God." Sam says, "Okay, but Muslims have these holy books because God has sent prophets those messages.

So risalah is more important.

How would a Muslim have the book to read about God if the prophet hadn't been given that revelation?" So Sam thinks risalah is.

Has that changed your mind at all? Have you still got the same idea of which could be the most important? Pause the video and have another think, and again, talk to the person next to you or you can talk to me.

Who do you think has the most convincing answer here and why? So let's do another check.

Outline three reasons why the six beliefs are important to Muslims. What words could go in the spaces? We've got, 1, Helps Muslims follow the examples of the- 2, Helps Muslims understand more about Allah by reading.

And 3, Muslims are aware that their deeds are being recorded by- So what could go in those gaps? Pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you come up with in a moment.

Well done, so the answers are, number 1, helps Muslims follow the example of the prophets.

2, helps Muslims understand more about Allah by reading Holy Books.

And 3, Muslims are aware that their deeds are being recorded by angels.

Well done.

So we're gonna hear from Meryem and Iqbal again now and they're gonna explain which one they think is the most important belief and why.

And Meryem says, "I think a belief in tawhid is the most important.

My belief in one God means I trust the words of the Holy Books and follow the example of God's prophets." So for Meryem, it really is tawhid that's the most important belief because that is why she believes the words of the prophets and reads those books.

And Iqbal says, "I think a belief in akhirah is the most important.

My hope for life after death with Allah helps me follow the other teachings in Islam." So for Iqbal, it's the overall destination of what happens after we die that is the most important belief for him and why he wants to follow the teachings of Islam.

So out of these two, who do you think has the most convincing argument and why? Pause the video and have a think.

You can talk to the person next to you or talk to me.

Well, let's do another check.

All Muslims agree on what the most important article of faith is.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and have a think and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

That is false, but why? Well, there's a variety of views on the most important article of faith.

Each article is important for Muslims and one may be more important than another for some Muslims or, all equally important.

Well done.

So time for another practise task then.

Here is a full evaluation question using a statement about the six key beliefs that we've been talking about through all of this lesson.

And you're going to write the first paragraph to support the statement and refer to a source of authority, eg, the Qur'an.

And so our statement is, "The most important key belief is prophethood, (risalah.

)" And you're going to evaluate this statement, considering the arguments for.

And the full question would be to evaluate this, considering for and against, but we're just going to do one paragraph in support, using Muslim teachings.

So a paragraph about why prophethood might be the most important article of faith for a Muslim.

Pause the video, off you go and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done, some great work there.

So I asked you to give a paragraph in support of this statement, "The most important key belief in prophethood is risalah." And the full question would be to evaluate this.

But we're just doing one paragraph here.

I asked you to write the first paragraph to support the statement and refer to a source of authority, for example, a Qur'an.

Your response might look something like this.

"Some Muslims may agree with this statement because of their belief in prophethood, (risalah).

Risalah is the belief that Allah sends prophets with messages for humans.

Muslims believe this because it says in the Qur'an, "Oh you who believe, believe in the book and His messenger." The Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad as a message to humans.

This is therefore the most important article because this is how humans can learn about Allah and about what to do to get to paradise in the afterlife." And so here I've used that quote from the Qur'an, "O you who believe, believe in the Book and His messenger," in order to support a belief in risalah.

But I could also use that quote if the question was about holy books, kutub, as well, couldn't I? Well done.

So let's summarise what we've done today then.

The six key beliefs of Sunni Islam.

The six articles of faith are six key beliefs in Islam.

The six key beliefs are associated with Sunni Islam, Tawhid, risalah, angels, the Holy Books, akhirah, predestination are the six articles of faith.

The Qur'an and Hadith are sources of authority that support these.

The six key beliefs are important to Sunni and Shi'a Muslims and influence the life of Muslims in many different ways.

And there are arguments as to why different beliefs may be more important than the others.

So well done for your hard work today and I hope to see you again soon.

Bye-bye.