Islam "Food for the Soul" Reading Notes

The Seven Core Beliefs of Islam:

1. Belief in God
2. Belief in the angels
3. Belief in the revealed Books of God
4. Belief in God's many prophets
5. Accepting that there will be a Last Day
6. Belief in the divine measurement of human affairs
7. Belief in a life after death

We All Have the Same God:

• Allah means the one and only God - same God as Christian and Jew God
• God is the one true reality, nothing is permanent except God
• Proof for God's existence in 4 areas -
  

1. complexity and beauty of natural world - must be designed by intelligent mind
2. human abilities/capacities for thought, belief, invention, creativity, & moral choice
3. Prophets, Holy Books, flashes of insight - all revelations of God's guidance and existence of religion
4. inner feelings - seek meaning in things, harmony with nature/universe/higher power, desire to answer "why?"

The Universe is Muslim!:

• There is God and everything else besides him
• Two categories of non-God: whatever is surrendered to God's will and whatever is resisting his will
• Qur'an states that the entire universe is Muslim

Aladdin Rubbed the Wrong Lamp:

• Jinns - genies that exist for their own sake that cause supernatural phenomena & paranormal events - can be good or evil
• haunt houses, possess people spook animals, give predictions to physics, and cause inexplicable phenomena

Touched by an Angel:

• Angels - made of light energy and can materialize into any form they need to in the physical world, have no free will and exist only to serce Allah
• 4 top angels -

1. Jibra'il (Gabriel) - brings revelations to prophets
2. Azra'il - angel of death (Malikul Mawt)
3. Mika'il (Michael) - controls the weather
4. Israfil - blow the horn signaling the end of the universe

Accepting the Burden:

• God offered the gift of self-awareness/free will to every living and non-living thing in the universe - all deny except humans - with this power comes great responsibility (SPIDERMAN)

Was God Right to Make Us?:

• God created humans and jinns for the sole purpose of serving HIm and surrendering to his will
• Our most basic needs are fulfuilled on the ultimate level when we achieve union with God's goodwill

Soul Soup:

• ruh = spirit in Arabic
• Humans get - free will, self-awareness, intelligence, reason, and a moral compass (fitrah)/natural inclination to help guide through life

Our Compass Points Inward:

• All have inherent weakness - desire personal pleasure and fulfillment of our animal urges
• Reason alone cannot guide us to right actions because of animal urges
• Choice of surrendering ourselves to Allah or of rejecting Him

Can You Stand on One Leg?

• Our purpose - come to the realization that God is real and that we must surrender our will to His
• By surrendering to Allah, we live a stress-free life in harmony with all things around us