Lesson video

Hello there, scholars of religion.

My name is Ms. Marx, and I'm going to be your religious education teacher today.

Today, we're going to be learning about the five roots of Usul ad-Din, which is the roots of faith, which are foundational beliefs, particularly within Shi'a Islam.

So when you're ready, let's go.

So by the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to explain the five roots of Usul ad-Din, their importance, and how they link to other key beliefs in Islam.

So firstly, let's start with our keywords.

Adalat, God's fairness; one of the five roots of Usul ad-Din.

Imamate, the authority of the Imams as chosen guides after the prophets, starting from Ali as a member of the prophet's household.

Resurrection, when someone is raised again after death.

Shi'a Islam, Muslims who believe in the successorship of Imam Ali and the other imams from the prophet Muhammad's bloodline.

Tawhid, a belief in Allah's oneness and unity.

So in today's lesson, we'll have three sections.

First one being the five roots of Usul ad-Din.

Secondly, the importance and influence of the five roots.

And thirdly, a comparison with other key beliefs in Islam.

So our first section then are the five roots of Usul ad-Din.

Fatemeh and Hassan are Muslims. Here, they explain what it means to them.

Fatemeh says, "Being a Muslim means that I can trust in Allah, no matter what is going on in the world around me.

Allah has sent guidance for us to know how to live, and I try to follow this in my life." And Hassan says, "Being a Muslim means that I believe Allah created everything, including me and my mind.

And I love to learn more about my religion and use reason and my intellect to understand it more fully." So I wonder if some of these are going to come up as part of the five roots of Usul ad-Din in the lesson.

Well, Fatemeh and Hassan are above Shi'a Muslims. The term Shi'a Islam comes from Arabic.

Shi'a Islam.

Shi'a means a supporter of, and Islam means submitting to God.

It comes from a term aslama, and you might have known the word salam being to do with peace as well.

So something to do with supporting and then also being obedient to and submitting to God.

Shi'a Islam is a branch of Islam.

So there are different branches within Islam, and Shi'a Islam is one of them.

And Shi'a Muslims are those who support the succession of Ali as the leader of the Muslims after the death of the Prophet Muhammad.

So after the prophet Muhammad passes away and there's a Muslim community, Ali, it's belied by Shi'a Muslims, was the successor or the one to follow in the footsteps, not as a prophet, but as the leader of the Muslim community, as a living guide.

So Shi'a Muslims follow the traditions and teachings of Islam as passed down from the Prophet Muhammad and members of his bloodline.

So they will trace their different traditions, their beliefs, and their practises back to the prophet Muhammad through that line.

Now, within Shi'a Islam, there are five key beliefs, known as the five roots of Usul ad-Din or the roots of the religion.

So Din is a word to do with religion and practising your faith.

So these five roots of that religion.

Now, Muslims in other branches of Islam, for example, Sunni Islam, may also have some of these as part of their key beliefs, but they won't call them necessarily Usul ad-Din.

That name and the way that it's been put together comes down through that sheer line of tradition.

But many of the beliefs are going to be very similar and we'll look at that later in the lesson how these might compare.

So firstly, we have a belief in the oneness of God or tawhid, that there is only one God and that one God is complete and unique.

We also have a key belief which is the justice of God or adalat.

Prophethood, which is known as nubuwwah, imamate, and day of resurrection, mi'ad, or the idea that there's life after death and that something will come later.

So these are the five roots of Usul ad-Din within Shi'a Islam.

Let's unpack them a little bit more.

So we have this idea of tawhid, the oneness of God, often used as a phrase that there is only one God, there's no other God to worship, is completely unique, completely separate from us as humans and different in many ways, but also completely united, total.

We have a belief in the justice of God, that God is just and fair, and that whatever's happening will be either rewarded or punished fairly by God and that's often known as adalat.

We have a belief in prophethood, which is often known as nubuwwah, which is that prophets are sent as God's messengers and they bring messages to humanity.

And that's how we can know about this God that we're worshipping.

The fourth root of Usul ad-Din is the day of resurrection, which is sometimes called mi'ad, which means when we return to God after even death, and we're resurrected to be returned to God for the afterlife.

So it relates to all sorts of beliefs about the afterlife.

And finally, the imamate, which is the authority of the imams who were those leaders and guides of the faith after the death of the prophet Muhammad who were all born from the bloodline of the prophet Muhammad.

But they're not prophets like the prophet Muhammad, but they are guides for the Muslim community.

Let's do a quick check.

Which three of the following are part of the five roots of Usul ad-Din? So we've got four things here.

Three of these are part of the five roots of Usul ad-Din.

Let's see, pause the video and have a think and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

That's right.

Imamate, prophethood, and the justice of God are all part of the five roots of Usul ad-Din.

Holy Books is not, although Holy Books will be important to Shi'a Muslims, obviously relating to the prophets and the messages and the words of God.

It's not one of the five roots of Usul ad-Din.

So there are different sources of authority for where the five roots of Usul ad-Din actually come from.

And three of these are: the Holy Qur'an as revealed to the prophet Muhammad; Collections of Hadith, which are narrations saying about the life of the prophet Muhammad and what he did and said; and then the 99 Names of Allah, which have been put together as ways of trying to understand the nature of Allah.

So first of all then, a source of authority, the Qur'an.

In the Qur'an, it says, "O you who believe! Believe in God and His messenger," in Surah 4.

It also says, "We make no distinction between any of his Messengers," in Surah 2.

So which of the five roots of Usul ad-Din can these two quotes support? So pause the video and have a think and what you could see here, which of the five roots of Usul ad-Din are there, and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

So these quotes can support the idea of there being one God or the oneness of God when it says believe in God.

And also prophethood, where we have this idea of God sending messengers.

A second source of authority then, the Hadith.

It is reported that the prophet Muhammad said this to the Muslim community towards the end of his life.

"I leave behind for you two weighty things: one being the Book of Allah and the second are the members of my household." So how could this Hadith, this saying from the prophet Muhammad, support any of the five roots of Usul ad-Din? So pause the video and have a think and we'll see what you've come up with in a moment.

So yeah, well done.

This can support the idea of the oneness of God, being known through the Qur'an, if we've got this idea of the one being the Book of Allah.

And then secondly, the idea of the imamate because they were all born from the prophet's bloodline or the prophet's household.

So this idea that the prophet Muhammad has left behind the Qur'an as the words of God, so that the supports of belief in tawhid and the oneness of God, but also the imamate, being the guides that were there to lead the community after the prophet Muhammad passes away.

So those two things could be supported by this source.

And thirdly, we said the 99 Names of Allah could also be used as a source of authority for some of these beliefs, so let's see how.

Muslims believe that Allah is so great and unique, Allah's nature cannot be summed up in one name, in just one word because it's so big and so amazing compared to what we can consider.

So Muslim traditions state there are 99 names or ways of understanding the nature of Allah then.

So each of these names can help us to understand a certain aspect or a part of the nature of God, which is all combined in the one God.

And one of these names is Al-Adl, the Just, which links to the idea that God is just and the justice of God, which is one of the roots of Usul ad-Din, and also known as adalat.

So Izzy and Alex are now gonna discuss how these sources of authority can actually support belief of the five roots of Usul ad-Din.

So we've got the five roots of Usul ad-Din, we know what they are, and now we've looked at some of the sources.

Well, how do those sources support that belief then? Izzy says, "The Qur'an supports a belief in the oneness of God, tawhid, and prophethood as it was revealed by God to the prophet Muhammad.

When it says believe in God and his messenger, it supports both beliefs." And what Izzy's done here, which is great, is said what her sources.

She said this is from the Qur'an.

And Alex says, "The Hadith can be used to support belief in the imamate as it is reported the prophet Muhammad said he was leaving behind the Qur'an and household members as a guidance for after he died.

Ali was in the prophet's household and was his cousin." So again, Alex here has given the source and how it links to this belief in the imamate, but also he said where that's come from and it's come from the Hadith.

So time for another check.

Which of the 99 Names of Allah could be used to support a belief in adalat, the justice of God? Pause the video and have a think and we'll see what you come up with in a moment.

Well done, it's Al-Adl, the Just.

So time for a practise task to see what we've learned then.

Explain two Muslim beliefs that are part of the five roots of Usul ad-Din.

Refer to sacred writings or another source of Muslim belief and teaching in your answer.

So for this, you're going to give two separate points.

As it's an explain answer, we need to develop the point that we make.

So we might say something like this means that or this is because.

And we also need to give a source that links to one of those points and explains what it says and it teaches and needs to be linked to the point that you're making.

You only need to do that once in one of those two sections.

It might be a quotation, a general belief, or a teaching, but what's important is we say the source, where it came from.

So pause the video and have a go and we'll see what we've done in a moment.

Well done.

Some really good thinking there.

So I asked you to explain two Muslim beliefs that are part of the five roots of Usul ad-Din and your answer might look something like this.

One of the key beliefs in the five roots of Usul ad-Din is a belief in God's justice or adalat.

This means that Allah is fair and just no matter what is happening in the world.

This is a key belief in Shi'a Islam as one of Allah's 99 names is Al-Adl, the Just.

So here I've given my point that there's a belief in justice of God as adalat.

I've then explained it what this means that God is fair and just no matter what's happening.

And then I've given the source and I've said where that source is from, from the 99 names Al-Adl, the Just.

Second point.

Another key belief in the five roots of Usul ad-Din is a belief in the imamate.

This means that Allah continue to choose people to guide Muslims after the revelations to the prophet Muhammad.

So for this one, I haven't given a source because I've done it in the first paragraph, but I have given a point and then I've explained it and I have that phrase there, this means that.

Well done.

So onto our second section then, importance and influence of the five roots.

So belief in the five roots of Usul ad-Din can influence a Shi'a Muslim's life in many different ways.

And here, we got some examples of the way that it could influence their life.

And when we're talking about influence, we mean the way that it could change someone's thoughts, beliefs, and actions.

What difference does it make to their life that they believe this thing? And I have got a picture here of somebody praying and that could link to the idea of tawhid and prophethood, praying to the one God and also praying in the way that the prophet prayed before.

So those two beliefs can influence someone to pray because they're praying to one God as Muhammad did.

Then we have got the idea of adalat, so the justice of God, and also resurrection, that there is some life after death and that we may want to gather good deeds so that we can get to paradise after death.

That could influence a Muslim to want to help those facing injustice and hard times.

If they believe that God is just and fair, then maybe they want to help when people are facing injustice or a difficult time, like in the image here where somebody is serving some refugees who are facing a difficult time.

Also, the idea of there being an afterlife and that we will be judged on our actions might encourage someone and influence them to want to care and help others who are in need.

And then also the belief in the imamate might influence a Shi'a Muslim to go on a special journey and take a pilgrimage to the shrine of the prophet Muhammad's grandson.

If you remember, all the imams were born from the bloodline of the prophet Muhammad.

And so the shrine of the prophet Muhammad's grandson is an important site for many Shi'a Muslims. So their belief in the imamate may cause them to act in a way that they go physically on this pilgrimage.

So time for a quick check.

A belief in the justice of God, adalat, could influence a Muslim to help those who are facing injustice in the world.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and have a think and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

That is true.

But why? Well, a belief in the justice of God, adalat, is a belief in God's justice, that God is fair and just, so a Muslim might want to help people facing injustice in order to be more pleasing to Allah.

Because if that's how God's nature is, then shouldn't a Shi'a Muslim want to be more like that? So Alex is asking Fatemeh now how the five roots of Usul ad-Din might influence her.

So remember that's like what difference might it make to her life that she has these beliefs? And Fatemeh says, "A belief in the five roots of Usul ad-Din influences me because my belief in adalat means when things are tough and don't seem fair in life, I trust that God will be just.

This links to my belief in the day of resurrection.

God will fairly judge everyone which encourages me to stay strong in my religion." So we've got different ways that that belief has influenced Fatemeh here, that she's trusting in God, she wants to stick to her religion.

Izzy is asking Hassan how the five roots of Usul ad-Din influence him.

"How do the five roots of Usul ad-Din influence you, Hassan?" And Hassan says, "My belief in the imamate influences me because I know there were chosen as guides to help me understand my religion more, so I will follow their guidance.

I've taken a pilgrimage to the shrine of Imam Hussein in remembrance of the role he played in shaping my religion.

He was one of the chosen imams." So here, we've got Hassan talking about literally going on a pilgrimage, so it's influenced his actions to go there, but also his thoughts and beliefs in wanting to follow the guidance of the imams as well.

So here, we've got the five roots of Usul ad-Din and we can think a little bit more about how they could influence a Muslim.

So what difference might they make to a Muslim's life? So the unity of God or that there's only one God, the idea of tawhid, is going to encourage a Muslim to only worship one God.

The justice of God or adalat is going to influence a Muslim to trust God when things seem unfair.

Nubuwwah or prophecy is going to encourage a Muslim to learn from the stories of the prophets to understand what they went through and the choices that they made and read the revelations that they were given.

The day of resurrection or mi'ad and beliefs about life after death is going to influence a Muslim to want to do the right actions in hope that they will be able to go and spend eternity in paradise.

And a belief in the imamate may influence Muslims to follow that guidance of the imams, to follow in the footsteps of the imams as well as the prophets who came before.

So Hassan and Fatemeh have shown us there's often more than one way that beliefs can influence believers, so the idea of it impacting the life of a believer and perhaps impacting their beliefs, thoughts, and actions.

So let's do together.

One way that a belief in the imamate might influence a Shi'a Muslim.

So this might influence a Shi'a Muslim to go on a pilgrimage to Imam Hussein's grave because he was one of the imams. So over to you then.

Give one way that a belief in the justice of God or adalat might influence a Muslim.

Pause the video and have a think and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

So I've put here helping other people who are facing injustice is a way that a belief in adalat might influence a Muslim.

So onto another practise task to see what we've learned then.

You're going to explain two ways the five roots of Usul ad-Din can influence Shi'a Muslims. And for this, because it's an explain question, you're going to give a point but also develop it.

You might use a phrase like this means that or this is because in order to develop the point that you've made and you're going to do two points.

Firstly, you can give one way the five roots can influence Shi'a Muslims, and then develop it by explaining how and why this could impact their life.

Secondly, give another way the five roots can influence Shi'a Muslims, and then explain how and why this can impact their life.

So what difference does this make to a Shi'a Muslim's life? And remember, we don't need to put a source in here.

What really want to see is the influence.

So pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done.

Some really good work there.

So I asked you to explain two ways the five roots of Usul ad-Din can influence Shi'a Muslims and your response might be similar to this.

The roots of Usul ad-Din may influence a Shi'a Muslim through the belief in prophethood, encouraging someone to copy the actions of the prophets of Islam.

This means by praying in the way the prophet Muhammad did, Shi'a Muslims are hoping to please God.

And in here, I've put the root that I'm talking about, the idea of prophethood, and then also the influence that it has here, copying the actions of the prophets of Islam.

And I've explained this by showing the difference that this makes, so like why were they gonna pray in a certain way? Because that's the way the prophet Muhammad did.

And secondly, the roots of Usul ad-Din may influence a Shi'a Muslim through the belief in the imamate, encouraging someone to take a pilgrimage to important places in the lives of the Imams, like the Shrine of Hussein.

This means by taking a special journey to these places, Shi'a Muslims are remembering the actions of these important guides of the religion.

So here I've said the belief, which is the imamate, and then how that's gonna influence either the beliefs, thoughts, or actions of a Muslim.

And the action I've said is to take a pilgrimage.

And then I've explained why because they're going to see the site which is important to do with Imam Hussein, which is part of the belief in the imamate.

Well done.

So onto our third section then, comparison with other key beliefs in Islam.

So another set of key beliefs that many Muslims have is known as the six articles of faith, and they form part of Sunni Muslim beliefs as a set, but they're still important in Shi'a Islam.

So they may not be called the six articles of faith for Shi'a Muslims, but we can see that some of them are still really important because of how related they are to the Usul ad-Din.

And the six articles of faith are the unity of God, tawhid, prophethood, life after death, angels, Holy Books, and predestination.

So these are the six articles of faith which are generally seen as part of Sunni Islam, but Shi'a Muslims would also accept them.

Let's see how they compare with the Shi'a understanding of the roots of faith, the five roots of Usul ad-Din.

As a comparison, in Sunni Islam, we have the six articles of faith.

Well, the three that are really similar between the two are the unity of God, tawhid, afterlife, and prophets.

So those three things are very similar between the two sets of beliefs here, aren't they? And you might argue that those are really super important beliefs for Muslims to have.

In Sunni Islam, we've got angels, predestination, and Holy Books also mentioned as part of the six articles of faith.

But as I said, they can still be very important to other Muslims even if they're not named as part of the roots of Usul ad-Din.

And within Shi'a Islam, we've also got the justice of God, adalat, and the imamate.

So here, we've got the idea that God is just as well as the idea that there have been guides who have been sort of sent after the death of the prophet Muhammad to guide the Muslim community.

So those are particularly named in the Shi'a five roots of Usul ad-Din.

So we can see that actually there is three that's in the common between the two groups.

And whilst in Sunni Islam with the six articles of faith, it doesn't say the justice of God, it doesn't mean that Sunni Muslims don't believe that God is just and fair, of course.

Just as in Shi'a Islam, we haven't got Holy Books written down, but that doesn't mean that Shi'a Muslims don't read the Qur'an, they do.

So here, we're gonna have Iqbal, a Sunni Muslim, and Fatemeh, a Shi'a Muslim, explain how they view these two sets of key beliefs in Islam.

Iqbal says, and remember he's a Sunni Muslim, "I believe there are more similarities than differences between our two sets of beliefs.

We're all Muslims as we have the same belief in God and God's prophets." So for Iqbal, he's sees there being very, very similar between these two sets of beliefs because of those kind of core beliefs about God, prophecy, and afterlife.

Fatemeh says, "I agree, there are many things we both believe, even if they're not both sets of key beliefs.

We both believe God is just and that God is in control." So for Fatemeh, there are many things in the Sunni six articles of faith that she also believes and agrees with.

It's just they're not named in the same way in the five roots of Usul ad-Din.

What other evidence could Iqbal and Fatemeh use to support the view there's more similarities than differences between the two sets of key beliefs? Is there anything else they could say as to why there are more similarities than differences? Have a think and pause the video and we're gonna see what you've come up with in a moment.

Yeah, well done, I think they could have raised something about the afterlife, in that you have got beliefs about the afterlife in both sets of beliefs as well.

And that could be seen as a really super important belief that all Muslims hold, that this life isn't it.

, there's something after death.

Now, Iqbal and Fatemeh have shown us that there are similarities between the two sets of beliefs.

So we're talking about here the five roots of Usul ad-Din and then the six articles of faith.

There are lots of similarities that they've mentioned there, but there are some differences.

So together, let's give one belief that's in the five roots of Usul ad-Din, but not in the six articles of faith.

And that one thing could be the imamate.

So that is not mentioned in the six articles of faith.

However, it is specifically mentioned in the five roots of Usul ad-Din.

Over to you.

Give another belief that's in the five roots of Usul ad-Din, but not in the six articles of faith.

So it might be something Sunni Muslims belief, but it's not stated in those six articles of faith.

Pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you come up with in a moment.

Well done.

Yeah, the justice of God, adalat.

Even though we know that Sunni Muslims will believe that God is just and fair, it's not a stated belief in the six articles of faith, whereas it is in the roots of Usul ad-Din.

Well done.

So let's do another check then.

A belief in Holy Books is not one of the five roots of Usul ad-Din.

So this means that Shi'a Muslims do not think that Holy Books are important.

Is that true or false? Pause the video and have a think and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

That is false, isn't it? But why? Well, a belief in prophecy is in the five roots of Usul ad-Din and the prophets were given Holy Books as revelations.

So those Holy Books are important.

And in Shi'a Islam, even though it's not one of those five roots of Usul ad-Din, but prophecy is, and the prophet Muhammad was given the Qur'an as a revelation.

So of course, I'm going to read that, believing that the prophet was given the message from God.

So time for another task now to see what we've learned.

For each belief in the table below, you're going to tick if it's in the fives of Usul ad-Din and/or if it's in the articles of faith.

So we know that some are going to be in both because we've just looked at that together and seen that some of them are in both.

So you're either gonna tick it for roots of Usul ad-Din or articles of faith or you're going to tick it twice.

So have a look at these different beliefs.

We've got the unity of God, tawhid, angels, prophethood, life after death, imamate, Holy Books, and justice of God, adalat.

Are they in the roots of Usul ad-Din, the six articles of faith, or are they in both? Pause the video and have a go and we'll see what you've done in a moment.

Well done, so that was a little bit tricky, wasn't it? But let's see what we've done.

So the unity of God, tawhid, is in both the five roots of Usul ad-Din and in the six articles of faith.

So they both should have a tick.

Angels, although Shi'a Muslims will believe in angels, it's not one of the five roots of Usul ad-Din, but it is in the six articles of faith.

Prophethood is in both the roots of Usul ad-Din and the articles of faith.

Life After Death is also in both the roots of Usul ad-Din and in the articles of faith.

The imamate is in the five roots of Usul ad-Din, but not in the articles of faith.

Holy Books, whilst Shi'a Muslims will believe in the authority of Holy Books, it's not one of the five roots of Usul ad-Din, although it is in the six articles of faith.

And the justice of God is in the five roots of Usul ad-Din, but not in the articles of faith, although Sunni Muslims will believe that God is just as well.

So well done for your work there.

And I wonder if you think there are more similarities or differences between the five roots of Usul ad-Din and the six articles of faith.

So let's summarise what we've learned today then.

The five roots of Usul ad-Din.

The term Shi'a Islam refers to a branch of Islam.

Shi'a Muslims have the five roots of Usul ad-Din as their foundational beliefs.

These beliefs are tawhid, prophethood, adalat, imamate, and mi'ad, the day of resurrection.

Sources of authority which support these beliefs include the Qur'an, collections of Hadith, and the 99 Names of Allah.

These beliefs are important too and will influence the life of a Shi'a Muslim in a variety of ways.

And there are some similarities and differences between these and other sets of key beliefs in Islam.

So well done for your work today and I look forward to seeing you again soon.

Bye-bye.