Principal beliefs and sacred texts of Islam: HSC Studies of Religion

What this dot point is asking

NESA wants you to outline the principal beliefs of Islam and show how its sacred texts and writings record and communicate those beliefs. Treat Islam accurately and respectfully, name the central articles of faith, and connect each to where it is recorded. This is Preliminary (Year 11) content from the Islam Religious Tradition Study, not one of the three HSC depth study parts (a significant person or school of thought, ethics, and a significant practice). It is not set as a separate HSC question, but HSC questions reward you for linking a practice or an ethical teaching to the beliefs and texts on this page, so it is the foundation for every Islam depth study answer.

The answer

Tawhid: the oneness of God

The foundation of Islam is tawhid, the absolute oneness and unity of God (Allah). God is one, without partner or equal, the creator and sustainer of all that exists. Tawhid shapes every other belief and is the heart of the Islamic understanding of reality.

The articles of faith

Islamic belief is commonly summarised in the articles of faith:

• Belief in God (Allah). One, transcendent, merciful and just.
• Belief in the angels. Created beings who serve God, including the angel Jibril (Gabriel) who conveyed revelation.
• Belief in the sacred books. The scriptures revealed by God, culminating in the Qur'an.
• Belief in the prophets (rusul). A line of prophets from Adam through Ibrahim, Musa and Isa to Muhammad, the final prophet (the seal of the prophets).
• Belief in the Day of Judgement (Akhirah). The resurrection and judgement of all, leading to paradise or punishment.
• Belief in divine decree (al-Qadr). God's knowledge and will over all that occurs.

Submission to God

The word Islam means submission to God, and a Muslim is one who submits. Belief is expressed in practice through the Five Pillars (the declaration of faith, prayer, almsgiving, fasting and pilgrimage), which enact submission to the one God.

The implications of tawhid

• Worship of Allah alone. "Allah does not forgive association with Him" (4:48): shirk (associating partners with Allah) is the gravest sin.
• Allah as Creator, Lord and the one with perfect names and attributes. Muslim scholars often describe tawhid in three aspects: oneness of lordship, of worship, and of names and attributes.
• Prophets are human. Even Muhammad is "the Messenger of Allah", not divine; Isa (Jesus) is a great prophet, not God.
• Human equality and responsibility. All people are servants of one God; humans are Allah's successive authority (khalifah) on earth (2:30), responsible for creation.
• Unity of life. There is no separation between sacred and secular: prayer, work, family and ethics are all worship.

The Books of Allah and prophecy

Muslims believe earlier scriptures were revealed by Allah but not preserved in their original form, while the Qur'an confirms them and is preserved exactly.

Angels, life after death and fate

• Angels (mala'ikah). "The Angels were born out of light" (Sahih Muslim 2996); they "do not disobey Allah in what He commands them" (66:6). Jibril brought revelation; recording angels note every deed ("they know whatever you do", 82:12); Munkar and Nakir question the dead in the grave.
• Life after death (akhirah). At death the soul enters barzakh, "a barrier until the Day they are resurrected" (23:100); on the Day of Judgement all are raised and deeds weighed: "We place the scales of justice for the Day of Resurrection, so no soul will be treated unjustly at all" (21:47); the righteous enter Jannah, the wicked Jahannam.
• Fate and predestination (qadar). All events are known and recorded by Allah (57:22), yet humans have genuine choice: "whoever wills, let him believe; and whoever wills, let him disbelieve" (18:29), and "Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves" (13:11). Muslims respond with effort and trust (tawakkul) and say "insha'Allah" (if Allah wills).

Key extracts from the Qur'an and Hadith

The syllabus asks you to "examine extracts from the Qur'an and Hadith which demonstrate the principal beliefs of Islam". These are short and reliable to quote (Qur'an in the Saheeh International translation):

How sacred texts record these beliefs

• The Qur'an. Muslims believe the Qur'an is the literal word of God, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad through the angel Jibril over some twenty-three years. It is the supreme source of belief, law and guidance, and its affirmation of tawhid, the prophets and the Day of Judgement records the central beliefs of Islam.
• The Sunnah and hadith. The example of the Prophet (the Sunnah), recorded in the hadith, the reports of his words and actions, is the second source. It shows how the beliefs and commands of the Qur'an are to be understood and lived.

Together the Qur'an and the Sunnah preserve and transmit Islamic belief and provide the authoritative basis for practice and law.

How the texts record and transmit belief

The relationship between the two sources is the key to a strong answer. The Qur'an is regarded as immutable and complete, the direct speech of God, so it is the supreme record of belief: its opening chapter, the Fatihah, and verses such as the declaration of God's oneness in Surah al-Ikhlas state tawhid in concentrated form. The Sunnah does not add to the Qur'an but shows how it is to be understood and lived: where the Qur'an commands prayer, the Sunnah records how the Prophet prayed, turning belief into practice. The hadith were carefully collected and graded for reliability (sahih, hasan, da'if) by scholars such as al-Bukhari and Muslim, which is why Muslims treat the Sunnah as an authoritative second source rather than mere tradition. The Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet over about 23 years (610 to 632 CE) and compiled into a single written text under the early caliphs; Muslims memorise and recite it in Arabic, and a person who memorises it all is a hafiz. For the exam, the discriminator is showing this division of labour: the Qur'an records the articles of faith directly, while the Sunnah anchors and applies them, so the two together form a complete record that has shaped Islamic belief, law (sharia) and daily life for fourteen centuries.

In one sentence

Muslims believe in the absolute oneness of Allah (tawhid), in His angels, His books and His prophets ending with Muhammad, in life after death and judgement, and in the divine decree alongside human responsibility, beliefs recorded in the Qur'an as Allah's final word and explained and lived through the Sunnah preserved in the Hadith.

Try this

Q1. Outline the implications of tawhid for Muslim belief. (3 marks)

• What the marker wants. Definition, shirk (4:48), and two further implications (prophets as human, equality, all of life as worship).

Q2. Outline the principal beliefs about life after death. (4 marks)

• What the marker wants. Death, barzakh, resurrection, judgement with the scales, Jannah and Jahannam, with sources.

Q3. Identify the importance of the Qur'an and the Hadith. (4 marks)

• What the marker wants. The Qur'an as Allah's literal and final word; the Hadith as the record of the Sunnah that explains and applies it; their role in law and practice.