Core Beliefs: Six Articles and the Five Roots
What Do Muslims Believe?
Islam is a complete way of life built on a set of core convictions about God, revelation, prophethood and the future. These convictions are not simply ideas to hold in the mind — they shape prayer, behaviour, community and identity. Two major traditions within Islam, Sunni Islam and Shi’a Islam, express these convictions through different but overlapping frameworks of belief.
The Six Articles of Faith in Sunni Islam
Sunni Muslims organise their essential beliefs into six articles of faith. Together they form the backbone of Sunni identity. The Qur’an states: “Whoever disbelieves in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day has gone far astray” (Surah 4:136). Each article carries its own weight:
- Belief in Allah — the one God, without partner or equal. Islam teaches that Allah transcends all human perception: “No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision” (Surah 6:103), emphasising that Allah is beyond the reach of human senses.
- Belief in angels (mala’ikah) — created from light, carrying out Allah’s commands.
- Belief in the holy books (kutub) — the scriptures revealed to the prophets, of which the Qur’an is the final, undistorted form.
- Belief in the prophets (nabi/rasul) — messengers chosen by Allah to guide humanity.
- Belief in the Day of Judgement (Yawm al-Din) — when every soul will be called to account for its deeds.
- Belief in predestination (al-Qadr) — that Allah’s knowledge encompasses all things, past, present and future. The Hadith of Sahih Muslim (Book 33, Hadith 6400) affirms that belief in divine decree — both its good and its seemingly difficult aspects — is a pillar of faith.
The six articles of faith for Sunni Muslims are: Allah, angels, holy books, prophets, the Day of Judgement, and predestination. Surah 4:136 references five of the six, making it a key verse for this topic.
Usul ad-Din: The Five Roots of Shi’a Islam
Shi’a Muslims express their foundational beliefs through the concept of Usul ad-Din, the principles of faith. These five roots are:
- Al-Tawhid — the absolute oneness of Allah. Everything else flows from this.
- Al-Adl — divine justice. Allah is perfectly fair in all His actions and judgements.
- Al-Nubuwwah — prophethood. Allah communicates with humanity through chosen prophets.
- Al-Imamah — the Imamate, or divinely appointed leadership. After the Prophet Muhammad, spiritual and political authority passed to the Imams from his family.
- Al-Ma’ad — resurrection and the Day of Judgement. The Qur’an warns: “Every soul is held responsible for what it has earned” (Surah 74:38), pointing to an individual reckoning after death.
The Five Roots of Usul ad-Din in Shi’a Islam are: Al-Tawhid (oneness), Al-Adl (justice), Al-Nubuwwah (prophethood), Al-Imamah (leadership), Al-Ma’ad (resurrection). These are distinct from the Sunni six articles; confusing the two is a common exam error.
Justice and Imamate: The Key Differences
Two of the Five Roots have no direct equivalent in the Sunni six articles: Al-Adl and Al-Imamah. These are specifically Shi’a emphases and lie at the heart of the historical division between the two communities.
For Shi’a Muslims, justice is not just one of Allah’s attributes but a defining principle of how the universe operates. Allah is incapable of injustice, which means that suffering and hardship can be understood as purposeful tests rather than random events. This belief gives the Shi’a community a distinctive theological lens through which to interpret human history and the will of God.
The Imamate is the Shi’a belief that after the Prophet Muhammad’s death, leadership of the Muslim community passed to a succession of twelve Imams, beginning with Ali ibn Abi Talib. These Imams are considered to be free from sin and error (infallible) and are the authoritative interpreters of the Qur’an and Islamic law.
Sunni Muslims do not accept this doctrine. They hold that the community should be guided by the consensus of scholars and the Sunnah (the Prophet’s example), rather than by a hereditary line of Imams. The Qur’an instructs believers to “obey Allah and obey the Messenger, and those in authority among you” (Surah 4:59), but Sunni and Shi’a interpret “those in authority” differently. The Hadith al-Thaqalayn, widely cited by Shi’a Muslims, records the Prophet urging his followers to hold fast to both the Qur’an and his household — a text used to support the special authority of the Imams.
Common Ground and Divergent Emphases
Despite these differences, Sunni and Shi’a Muslims share a great deal. Both affirm Tawhid (the oneness of God), the prophethood of Muhammad, the Qur’an as the final revealed scripture, the five daily prayers, and the expectation of a Day of Judgement. The differences lie mainly in how authority, leadership and justice are understood and structured — not in the fundamental beliefs about God Himself.
Sunni six articles: Allah • Angels • Holy Books • Prophets • Day of Judgement • Predestination (al-Qadr). Framework: beliefs held individually and collectively by all Muslims.
Shi’a Five Roots (Usul ad-Din): Al-Tawhid • Al-Adl • Al-Nubuwwah • Al-Imamah • Al-Ma’ad. The emphasis on justice (Al-Adl) and the Imamate (Al-Imamah) are unique to this framework. Both traditions share the first and last of these concepts in different forms.
A common misconception is that Shi’a Muslims do not believe in predestination. In fact, they do accept divine knowledge, but the Mu’tazilite school of thought (historically influential in Shi’a theology) emphasised human free will more strongly, believing that predestination which removes human responsibility would be unjust — and therefore impossible for a just God.