The Six Beliefs and the Five Roots
The two frameworks of Muslim belief, and what this paper actually wants from them: beliefs used as evidence for how a Muslim should act when there is conflict.
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Beliefs, and then what? 🕌
In this specification a school studies two Areas of Study, with a different religion in each. Where Islam is studied in **Religion, Peace and Conflict**, these beliefs are the foundation of a paper that goes on to ask about war, justice, forgiveness and reconciliation. That changes what you need from them. Naming the beliefs is the start. **The marks come from using one as evidence for how a Muslim should act.** This module does both, in that order.
Two frameworks, side by side 📚
Sunni Muslims commonly learn the Six Beliefs of Islam, set out in the collection the spec references as Kitab al-iman 1:4. Shi'a Muslims learn the Five Roots of Usul ad-Din, the roots or foundations of religion, with Tawhid expressed in Surah 112.
Match each belief to what it means
- Tawhid
- 'Adl
- Imamah
- Al-Qadr
- The oneness of Allah
- Divine justice: Allah is perfectly just
- The leadership of the imams, the successors of the Prophet
- Predestination: Allah's decree and his knowledge of all things
Roots are not pillars ⚠️
One mix-up costs marks in every Islam question, so fix it now. The **Five Pillars** (Shahadah, Salah, Zakat, Sawm, Hajj) are a Sunni framework of **practice**: things Muslims do. The **Five Roots of Usul ad-Din** are a Shi'a framework of **belief**. The Shi'a framework of practice is the Ten Obligatory Acts. So Salah is a pillar, never a root, and Imamah is a root, never a pillar. Name the tradition and the framework every time you use one in an answer.
Which are correct? ✅
Select the TWO correct statements about the two frameworks.
- Tawhid appears in both frameworks
- The Five Roots are foundations of religion, not a complete list of Shi'a belief
- The Five Roots and the Five Pillars are two names for the same list
- Shi'a Muslims do not believe in angels, since angels are not one of the Five Roots
What the belief leads to 🤝
This is the move the Peace and Conflict paper rewards. Each belief supports an attitude a Muslim might take when there is conflict:
Match each belief to the attitude it supports
- Tawhid: one God created all people
- 'Adl: Allah is perfectly just
- Akhirah: everyone faces judgement
- Al-Qadr: Allah's decree, alongside human choice
- An enemy is still a fellow creation, so cruelty is harder to justify
- Justice must be done even when it is inconvenient or costly
- Restraint now, because every action will be answered for later
- Nobody can excuse a wrong act by saying it was already decided
Which sentence scores? 🎯
A question asks whether a Muslim should ever forgive an enemy. Which sentence uses a belief as evidence, the way this paper rewards?
- Because Muslims believe in Akhirah, that they will answer for their actions at judgement, many argue that revenge is not theirs to take
- Muslims believe in Akhirah, which is one of the Six Beliefs of Islam
- I think forgiving your enemy is the right thing to do
- Religious people usually believe in being kind to others
The summary 📝
The Sunni framework is the Six Beliefs; the Shi'a framework of belief is the Five Roots of Usul ad-Din. Both begin with _____. The root meaning divine justice is _____, and the root about the leadership of the imams is _____. The Five Pillars are a framework of _____, not of belief. In this paper, a belief earns marks when it is used as _____ for how a Muslim should act.
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Belief into action ✍️
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