Faith and Belief

7 chapters, in reading order, walking through the essentials of Islamic belief. Start from Chapter 1 if you're new here. Subscribe to this series (RSS).

Chapter 1
The Tree Inside Your Heart
Why does Allah love people who learn? What is this science called theology, and why should we care about it? And why does the Qur'an say that faith is like a big, beautiful tree?
Chapter 2
Four Words That Change Everything
La ilaha illa Allah. Four small words, and yet they are the reason the whole world was made. What do they really mean, what does it mean to worship Allah, and why do we call out only to Him?
Chapter 3
How Do We Know There Is a God?
The watch and the watchmaker, the secret compass hidden inside every person, and the question that trips up so many people: if there is a loving God, why is there pain in the world?
Chapter 4
Faith That Grows and Shrinks
Faith is not just knowing. It lives in the heart, on the tongue, and in the hands, and it goes up and down like a tide. What makes it grow, what makes it shrink, and what is the one sin Allah warns will not be forgiven?
Chapter 5
The Ones Made of Light, and the Ones Made of Fire
There is a whole world right next to ours that our eyes cannot see. It is full of angels made of light who never grow tired, and jinn made of smokeless fire who can be good or bad, just like us.
Chapter 6
Allah's Messengers and Allah's Books
Allah did not leave us to guess our way through life. He sent messengers with the same message again and again, and books to guide us, and one final book, the Qur'an, that has never changed and never will.
Chapter 7
Who Holds the Pen?
The last and trickiest pillar of faith: Allah's plan. If Allah already knows everything, what is the point of trying? And why is there pain in a world run by a loving God? The answers will set your heart at rest.