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Remarks
In this discussion of the cardinal articles of Faith in Islam, we have deliberately
differed from the Traditional view on the subject. We did not confine them to five or
six articles. Instead, we tried to include as many Principles as was possible. But it
should be pointed out here that all the articles of Faith mentioned above are based
upon and derived from the teachings of the Qur’ an and the Traditions of Muhammad.
More verses from the Qur’ an and many parts of the Traditions could have been
quoted to show the foundation of these articles of Faith. This was not done because of
the limitations of space. However, the Qur’ an and the Tradition of Muhammad are
available references for any detailed study.
We have also kept to minimum the use of Western terminology and technical
language like predestination, fatalism, free will, and so on. This was done deliberately
because we wanted to avoid confusion and technicalities. Most of the technical terms
used in religion among non-Arabic speaking people lead to misunderstanding, when
applied to Islam, and give wrong impressions. It would be impossible to serve the
purpose of this work if foreign religious terms were adopted and applied to Islam. If
we were to use the alien religious terminology here, we would have had to add many
qualifications and comments to clarify the picture of Islam. This also would have
required much more space which we could not possibly afford under the
circumstances. So, we tried to explain things in ordinary simple language, and this
same course will be followed in the remainder of the book
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