Islam & Belief Systems Flashcards

Flashcards about Islam and Belief Systems to help students review their lecture notes and prepare for an upcoming exam.

Belief Systems

Organised sets of beliefs and ideas that help people understand what is right and wrong, true and false and give a way to understand life and the world. These systems come from religion, philosophy, or science.

Theism

Comes from the Greek word “theos” meaning God. It is the belief that God or gods exist and that God created the world and controls it.

Absolute Monotheism

Belief in one God only, with no partners or shared divinity. Example: Islam

Qualified Monotheism

Belief in one God, but God can appear in different forms. Example: Christianity (e.g. Trinity: Father, Son, Holy Spirit)

Shared Divinity Monotheism

Belief in one main God who may share divine qualities with others. Example: Some interpretations of Judaism

Pantheistic Monotheism (Pantheism)

Belief that God is present in all of creation; everything is part of God. ( Example: Sikhism )

Polytheism

Belief in multiple gods, each with their own powers or roles and in many gods, semi-divine beings, spirits, or ancestors. Polytheists believe in multiple gods, each with their own powers or roles.

Idolatry

Worship of physical idols representing gods or sacred objects. Example: Pre-Islamic Arabia, Hinduism

Animism

Belief that all living and non-living things (e.g. rivers, mountains, animals) have souls or spiritual forces and that nature is full of spiritual energy that can help or harm humans.

Atheism

Decline or disbelief in the existence of God or gods.

Humanism

Belief in human effort and intelligence over divine guidance and rejects holy books and supernatural powers.

Materialism

Belief that only physical matter exists. Rejects the soul, spiritual world, and God.

Tawhid

Islamic belief in Allah’s absolute oneness.

Original Monotheism in Judaism

The Jewish belief in one God is found in their main prayer called the Shema: "Hear O Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is One."

Distorted Beliefs (Judaism)

According to Surah al-Tawbah (9:30), some Jews believed ‘Uzayr (Ezra) was the son of Allah.

Syncretic Religion

A mix of beliefs from different sources.

Unitarian Christians

Believe in: God the Father is the only God. Jesus is a messenger (not God), but greater than other humans. He has some special status — a bit below God. Rejected the Trinity.

Trinitarian Christians

Believe in one God, but made up of three co-equal persons: *God the Father – Creator *God the Son (Jesus) – Saviour *God the Holy Spirit – Makes things holy and active on Earth

Magians (Majusi)

Also called Zoroastrians, they follow the teachings of Prophet Zoroaster (Zarathustra).

Supreme God (Zoroastrianism)

Ahura Mazda is the good god, creator of the world, and Angra Mainyu is the evil spirit.

Religious Coexistence

Religious coexistence means that Muslims live peacefully with non-Muslims.

Ideology

A set of ideas and beliefs held by a group or political party. In Islam, a deviant ideology is any belief that goes against the true Islamic Aqidah (creed).

Religious Liberalism (RL)

Supports freedom of thought, even in religion. It uses reason and science to understand religion, rather than divine revelation.

Religious Pluralism (RP)

Means believing that all religions are equally true and lead to the same goal. In Islam, this idea is dangerous because it goes against Tawhid — the belief in only one true religion, Islam

Generic meaning (Religious Pluralism)

Just the fact that there are many religions in the world. This is called religious plurality, and it is accepted in Islam.

Philosophical meaning (Religious Pluralism)

The idea that all religions are equally true and valid. This is not accepted in Islam and is called religious pluralism.