Statement of Faith
The agreed faith context at Salamah College is defined by the following statements:
1. Islam: We believe that Islam is the religion of all the Prophets from Adam to Muhammad, peace be upon them. Literally the word ‘Islam’ means submission and religiously the word Islam means a full submission in worship on the part of the slave to Allah (which translates to the word God in English) that He is the only Creator and that all else is the creation.
2. The Creator is Allah: He exists without a place and is not bound by time and He is without a beginning or end. Muslims believe in His oneness and that He doesn’t resemble any of the creations, that He knows all things, that He has control and power over everything, and that He preordained everything.
3. Muhammad, peace be upon him: He is the last of all the prophets and messengers that God sent to the people to call them to His worship. Muhammad was born in Makkah and buried in al-Madinah. He, as all his brothers, the other Messengers is truthful about everything he told including what he told about the Angels, the Jinn, the coming of the Day of Judgment, Resurrection, Assembly, Paradise and Hellfire.
4. The Islamic Belief: It entails believing in Allah, His Angels, His Messengers and Prophets, the Holy Books, the Day of Judgment, and that all things good or bad are by Allah’s Will and His creation. It also entails believing that although Allah created the good and the bad, He ordered his slaves with the good and forbade upon them all the bad. The good and the bad are created by Allah as a trial to the slaves who have been given the tool of “choosing” so that they may face the consequences of their choices on the Day of Judgment.
5. The Two Testifications of Faith:
I. I bear witness that no one deserves to be worshiped except Allah and
II. I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah
The non-Muslim embraces Islam by believing in the Two Testifications of Faith and uttering them with the intention of leaving out blasphemy. The first Testification means tha t no one or thing deserves to be worshipped except God Who is the Creator of everything. The second Testification states that Muhammad is a messenger of God. He was sent to convey what God revealed to him and that he is truthful in all what he conveyed. The Two Testifications reject the Godhood of anyone or anything other than God. They confirm the Godhood of God only with the acknowledgment of the message of Prophet Muhammad.
6. The Qur’an: The holy Book of the Qur’an is the Word of God which was revealed to Prophet Muhammad via Angel Gabriel. On the 24th night of the holy month of Ramadan, the Qur’an was copied from the Guarded Tablet and brought down to Baytul^Izzah, the first sky. On the following day, Angel Gabriel came with the first five verses to Prophet Muhammad. This marked the beginning of the prophet hood of Muhammad, peace be upon him. Muslims believe that the Qur’an, the true Bible, the true Torah and the true Zabur are all the Word of God, revealed to different messengers across time to call the people to Islam.
7. Paradise and Hellfire: They are created by Allah and they do exist now. All believers who die as believers from the time of Prophet Adam till the time of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon them, will dwell everlastingly in Paradise. Some of those believers whom Allah did not forgive their non- blasphemous sins shall go to Hellfire first before being admitted to Paradise. Hellfire is the place of torture for the non-believers.
8. The Prayers: It is an obligation upon Muslims to pray five times each day. The prayer consists of a set of actions that must meet certain conditions for validity. The five daily prayers start with the opening Takbir and finish with the Salam.
9. Fasting: During the month of Ramadan it is an obligation to fast on all Muslims who have reached puberty and who are physically able to fast. Through the fast the Muslim is given the opportunity to feel what the poor feel, and in this way one remembers to care for those less fortunate than oneself. Fasting also disciplines the Muslims and brings them together by a common and shared experience.
10. Pilgrimage: It is as defined by Islam, the journey to the Ka^bah to perform, at a specific period of the year, certain actions in Makkah and its vicinity. It is required at least once during the lifetime of each Muslim who qualifies as “accountable” in Islam and is capable of performing this obligation. During Pilgrimage, Hajj, all Muslims leave their worldly possessions and perform the religious obligations due upon them as pilgrims.
11. Zakah: It is paying a certain portion of one’s money (money in this context includes property, possessions, and wealth) to eight types of Muslims with certain conditions as mentioned in the Qur’an. This provides for the poor Muslims and those whose needs are not being met within the Muslim community. It is due on every Muslim who has lived part of Ramadan and part of Shawwal (the month after Ramadan.). It is not valid to pay Zakah to any charitable project, hospital, or the like.
12. Mosques: They are places of worship and recitation of the Qur’an, religious teaching and learning. Mosques are commonly used as the meeting place for Muslims to perform their daily prayers in congregation.