In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Principles of the Teachings of the Holy Qur’an — A Brief Outline

1. The Fundamental Categories of Qur’anic Teachings

The teachings of the Holy Qur’an can fundamentally be divided into four categories:

1. Beliefs (ʿAqāʾid)

2. Acts of Worship (ʿIbādāt)

3. Social and Financial Dealings (Muʿāmalāt)

4. Good Social Conduct (Ḥusn al-Muʿāsharah)

In this slide, we will first examine beliefs, while the remaining topics will be discussed in the subsequent slide, God willing.

Every human being holds certain firm and unshakable convictions in the mind upon which the structure of his general thoughts is built. These firm and foundational convictions are referred to as beliefs (ʿaqāʾid).

Beliefs form the central axis of all human actions and conduct. Through correct beliefs a person’s actions are rectified, and through corrupted beliefs they become distorted.

Our Prophet, Muḥammad Muṣṭafā ﷺ, declared knowledge and action, as well as thought and practice, to be inseparable from one another. A few simple and straightforward principles that represent the essence and summary of all intellectual truths and real realities are called “belief (ʿaqīdah)”, and affirming them with conviction is called “faith (īmān).”

The first foundation stone of belief is tawḥīd (the Oneness of Allah). Concerning this, the Holy Qur’an states:

2. Allah Is Incomparable

Arabic:
لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ

Transliteration:
Laysa ka-mithlihi shayʾ

Translation:
"There is nothing like unto Him." (Al-Shūrā 11)

3. Allah Is One and Self-Sufficient

Arabic:
قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ
اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ
لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ
وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ

Transliteration:
Qul huwa Allāhu aḥad
Allāhu al-ṣamad
Lam yalid wa-lam yūlad
Wa-lam yakun lahu kufuwan aḥad

Translation:
"Say: He is Allah, the One.
Allah, the Self-Sufficient.
He neither begets nor is born,
and there is none comparable to Him." (Al-Ikhlāṣ 1–4)

4. If There Were Two Gods

Arabic:
لَوْ كَانَ فِيهِمَا آلِهَةٌ إِلَّا اللَّهُ لَفَسَدَتَا

Transliteration:
Law kāna fīhimā ālihatun illā Allāhu la-fasadatā

Translation:
"If there had been within them gods besides Allah, they both would have been ruined." (Al-Anbiyāʾ 22)

5. Honor and Humiliation Are in Allah’s Hand

Arabic:
قُلِ اللَّهُمَّ مَالِكَ الْمُلْكِ تُؤْتِي الْمُلْكَ مَن تَشَاءُ وَتَنزِعُ الْمُلْكَ مِمَّن تَشَاءُ وَتُعِزُّ مَن تَشَاءُ وَتُذِلُّ مَن تَشَاءُ ۖ بِيَدِكَ الْخَيْرُ ۖ إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

Transliteration:
Quli Allāhumma mālika al-mulki tuʾtī al-mulka man tashāʾ wa-tanziʿu al-mulka mimman tashāʾ wa-tuʿizzu man tashāʾ wa-tudhillu man tashāʾ, bi-yadika al-khayr, innaka ʿalā kulli shayʾin qadīr

Translation:
"Say: O Allah, Owner of Sovereignty! You give sovereignty to whom You will and take sovereignty away from whom You will; You honor whom You will and You humble whom You will. In Your hand is all good. Indeed, You have power over all things." (Āl ʿImrān 26)

6. Prophethood and Messengership

Arabic:
اللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ حَيْثُ يَجْعَلُ رِسَالَتَهُ

Transliteration:
Allāhu aʿlamu ḥaythu yajʿalu risālah

Translation:
"Allah knows best where He places His message." (Al-Anʿām 124)

7. A Messenger Was Sent to Every Nation

Arabic:
وَلِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ رَّسُولٌ

Transliteration:
Wa-li-kulli ummatin rasūl

Translation:
"And for every nation there is a messenger." (Yūnus 47)

8. All Messengers Were Human Beings

Arabic:
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ إِلَّا رِجَالًا نُّوحِي إِلَيْهِمْ

Transliteration:
Wa-mā arsalnā min qablika illā rijālan nūḥī ilayhim

Translation:
"And We did not send before you except men to whom We revealed." (Al-Naḥl 43)

9. Belief in All Messengers Is Obligatory

Arabic:
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَكْفُرُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَيُرِيدُونَ أَن يُفَرِّقُوا بَيْنَ اللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَيَقُولُونَ نُؤْمِنُ بِبَعْضٍ وَنَكْفُرُ بِبَعْضٍ وَيُرِيدُونَ أَن يَتَّخِذُوا بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ سَبِيلًا
أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْكَافِرُونَ حَقًّا ۚ وَأَعْتَدْنَا لِلْكَافِرِينَ عَذَابًا مُّهِينًا

Transliteration:
Inna alladhīna yakfurūna bi-Allāhi wa-rusulih wa-yurīdūna an yufarriqū bayna Allāhi wa-rusulih wa-yaqūlūna nuʾminu bi-baʿḍin wa-nakfuru bi-baʿḍin wa-yurīdūna an yattakhidhū bayna dhālika sabīlā
Ulāʾika humu al-kāfirūna ḥaqqā, wa-aʿtadnā li-al-kāfirīna ʿadhāban muhīnā

Translation:
"Indeed, those who disbelieve in Allah and His messengers and seek to make a distinction between Allah and His messengers, saying, 'We believe in some and disbelieve in others,' and wish to adopt a path in between — those are truly the disbelievers. And We have prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment." (Al-Nisāʾ 150–151)