Ask most Australians what Muslims do and you'll get reasonable answers: they pray, they fast in Ramadan, they don't eat pork. Ask what Muslims believe, and the answers get vaguer.
That's worth fixing, because the beliefs are the foundation — the practices only make sense on top of them. Islam itself draws this distinction. In a famous account known as the Hadith of Jibreel, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was asked to define islam (practice) and answered with the Five Pillars; asked to define iman (faith), he answered with six beliefs.
Those six are known as the articles of faith, and they are shared by Muslims everywhere — from Jakarta to Istanbul to the congregation that gathers every Friday at Warragul Mosque. Here is each one, explained plainly.
1. Belief in One God (Allah)
Everything in Islam starts here. Muslims believe in one God — absolutely one, without partners, parents, children, or equals. The Arabic term for this radical oneness is tawhid, and it is the single most emphasised idea in the Quran.
A few things non-Muslims often misunderstand:
"Allah" is not a different god. Allah is simply the Arabic word for God — literally "the God." Arabic-speaking Christians and Jews use the same word; Arabic translations of the Bible say Allah throughout. When Muslims speak of Allah, they mean the God of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus — the creator of the universe.
God is close, not distant. The Quran describes God as "closer to him than his jugular vein" (50:16). Muslims pray directly to God with no intermediary — no priesthood, no confession through another person, no saints as go-betweens. The relationship is direct.
God is known through His names. Islamic tradition speaks of 99 names of God describing His attributes: Ar-Rahman (the Most Merciful), Al-Adl (the Just), Al-Ghaffar (the Ever-Forgiving), Al-Wadud (the Loving). The two most repeated, opening almost every chapter of the Quran, are about mercy.
Because of tawhid, the one unforgivable act in Islamic theology — if maintained until death — is shirk: worshipping anything alongside God, whether an idol, a person, or anything created. This is also why mosques contain no statues or images of God, prophets, or people: nothing that could become an object of worship.
2. Belief in Angels
Muslims believe God created angels (mala'ika) — beings of light who carry out His commands and never disobey. Angels are not cherubs or metaphors in Islam; belief in them is a required article of faith.
The best-known include:
- Jibreel (Gabriel) — the angel of revelation, who brought God's words to the prophets, including the Quran to Muhammad.
- Mika'il (Michael) — associated with provision and rain.
- Israfil — who will sound the trumpet on the Day of Judgement.
- The recording angels — Islam teaches every person is accompanied by angels who record their deeds, good and bad. This record is presented on the Day of Judgement.
Angels have no free will and are not worshipped — that would violate tawhid. They are part of the unseen order of creation, alongside humans and jinn (free-willed beings created from smokeless fire, from whom the English word "genie" derives).
3. Belief in the Revealed Books
Muslims believe God did not leave humanity guessing. Throughout history He sent down revelation — and the Quran names earlier scriptures explicitly:
- The Tawrat (Torah) given to Moses
- The Zabur (Psalms) given to David
- The Injil (Gospel) given to Jesus
- The Quran given to Muhammad
This surprises many people: belief in the Torah, Psalms, and Gospel as originally revealed is mandatory for Muslims. A Muslim who denied that God gave Moses the Torah would be rejecting an article of faith.
The Islamic position, however, is that the earlier scriptures were not perfectly preserved — over centuries, texts were altered, lost, or mixed with human writing — and that the Quran was sent as God's final revelation, with its preservation guaranteed. That's why Muslims read the Quran as the criterion: where previous scriptures agree with it, the original message survives; where they conflict, the Quran is followed.
4. Belief in the Prophets
Muslims believe God sent prophets and messengers to every people in history, all carrying the same core message: worship the one God and live justly. The Quran names 25, and most are familiar names: Adam, Noah (Nuh), Abraham (Ibrahim), Ishmael (Isma'il), Isaac (Ishaq), Jacob (Ya'qub), Joseph (Yusuf), Moses (Musa), Aaron (Harun), David (Dawud), Solomon (Sulayman), Job (Ayyub), Jonah (Yunus), John the Baptist (Yahya), and Jesus (Isa) — peace be upon them all.
Muslims must believe in and honour all of them. Mocking or rejecting any prophet — Moses, Jesus, anyone — is incompatible with Islam.
Jesus in Islam deserves its own paragraph, because it surprises almost everyone. Muslims believe Jesus was born miraculously of the Virgin Mary (Maryam) — who has an entire chapter of the Quran named after her, and is mentioned by name more times in the Quran than in the New Testament. Muslims believe Jesus performed miracles by God's permission, that he was the Messiah sent to the Children of Israel, and that he will return before the end of time. What Islam denies is that Jesus was divine or the son of God — the Quran presents him as a human messenger, and states that he was not crucified but raised up by God (Quran 4:157–158).
Muhammad (peace be upon him) is believed to be the final prophet — "the seal of the prophets" — sent not to one people but to all humanity, with the Quran as the final revelation. Muslims do not worship Muhammad; he is loved, followed, and honoured as God's messenger, never prayed to.
5. Belief in the Day of Judgement
Islam teaches that this life is not the whole story — it is a test, and it ends in accountability.
Muslims believe that on the Day of Judgement (Yawm al-Qiyamah), God will resurrect every human being who ever lived. Each person's deeds — recorded in full by the angels — will be weighed. No one is judged for another's actions; no one carries another's sins. The outcome is either Jannah (Paradise — described in the Quran as gardens beneath which rivers flow) or Jahannam (Hell).
Two things balance this picture:
Justice. The Quran insists judgement will be perfectly fair: "Whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it" (99:7–8). The wronged are restored; the arrogant answer for it.
Mercy. Islamic teaching holds that God's mercy outweighs His wrath, that sincere repentance wipes sins away no matter how large, and that God forgives everything except unrepented shirk. Muslims are taught to live between hope and healthy fear — never despairing of forgiveness, never presuming on it.
This belief does practical work in a Muslim's daily life. Honesty when no one is watching, restraint when wrong would be easy, generosity that nobody sees — all of it makes sense when you believe everything is recorded and this life is not the end.
6. Belief in Divine Decree (Qadar)
The final article is the belief that God knows and has decreed all things — nothing happens outside His knowledge, will, and wisdom. Nothing takes God by surprise.
Doesn't that erase free will? Islamic theology says no: God's knowledge of what we will choose doesn't force the choice, and humans are genuinely responsible for their decisions — otherwise judgement would be meaningless. The classical formulation is that we are accountable for what is within our control, and trusting God with what is not.
In lived experience, qadar is less a philosophy puzzle and more a source of resilience. A Muslim who loses a job, a harvest, or a loved one is taught to say inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un — "we belong to God and to Him we return" — and to respond with sabr (patient perseverance) rather than despair. Success, meanwhile, is met with alhamdulillah (all praise belongs to God) rather than arrogance. The Prophet described the believer's situation as remarkable: "If something good happens, he is grateful, and that is good for him; if something harmful happens, he is patient, and that is good for him."
Belief and Practice: How the Six Articles Meet the Five Pillars
The six articles of faith are the inside of Islam; the Five Pillars are the outside. They map onto each other directly:
| Belief (iman) | Practice (islam) |
|---|---|
| One God who alone deserves worship | The Shahada — declaring faith — and Salah, the five daily prayers |
| Revealed books | Reciting the Quran in every prayer |
| Accountability on the Day of Judgement | Zakat — obligatory charity — and honest dealing |
| Prophets as models | Following the example of Muhammad, from fasting in Ramadan to pilgrimage on Hajj |
Islam regards belief without practice as incomplete, and practice without belief as empty. The Quran's constant pairing is "those who believe and do good."
What This Looks Like in Warragul
None of the above is theoretical for the Muslim families of Baw Baw Shire. The six articles of faith are why a few hundred locals — doctors, farmers, tradies, students, young families — gather at 72 Victoria Street every Friday at 1:30 PM for Jummah prayer, why children come to Quran classes on Sundays, and why the community fasts together through Ramadan each year.
If you're curious, you don't have to settle for reading about it:
- Visit. Non-Muslims are welcome to observe Friday prayer or arrange a tour — here's what to expect on a first mosque visit.
- Ask. Email hello@binai.org.au or call 0457 643 672 with any question — none are off limits. Local schools including St Paul's Anglican Grammar and St Joseph's Primary have brought students for exactly these conversations.
- Explore further. If you're wondering about Islam for yourself, our guide on how to become Muslim walks through it, and local reverts share their stories.
Warragul Mosque is operated by BINAI (BawBaw Islamic Network Australia Inc.), a registered charity currently raising funds to build Gippsland's first permanent mosque — a home for prayer, education, and open doors like these for generations.
Support the Warragul Mosque project →
Further reading: Five Pillars of Islam · What is the Quran? · What is Salah? · How to Become Muslim · Visiting a Mosque
Warragul Mosque 72 Victoria Street, Warragul VIC 3820 Jummah: Every Friday at 1:30 PM Email: hello@binai.org.au · Phone: 0457 643 672
Operated by BawBaw Islamic Network Australia Inc. (BINAI), a registered charity in Victoria. ABN: 16 723 284 175.