For example, you can go up to a christian and be like "so, I hear you disapprove of homosexuals. Its in your bible" and they might say "nah. I dont actually believe that part. Im still christian though" and others are like "Yeah. God hates fags. Im christian, so of course."
I know the Catholic church actually has a list of its beliefs. If you are not in line with these, you are not Catholic. I read it. They say that homosexuals should never marry or have children. If you dont agree with this, you arent actually Catholic.
But, if a religion like Islam doesnt have this, how do you know what a muslim actually believes?
A muslim could believe almost anything extra while still be considered a muslim. Is it cut and dry like the Catholic church?
A muslim could believe their wife is their property. Others might think she is equal. Which is muslim?
Im sure there are scriptural references for both sides.
Other than a book open to speculation, is there an accepted list of required beliefs and views?
Oh okay, I think I understand your question.
(Bismillahirahmaniraheem)
There is a 'cut and dry list' if thats what you want to call it, that a person must have faith in to be a Muslim. I already mentioned them in the opening post. They are known as the six articles of faith that make up the first pillar of Islam, which is Imaan (Faith). This list is mentioned in the Qur'an in chapter 4: Verse 136 and many times in the Hadiith. Again, the first post elaborated this in greater detail. No Muslim is a Muslim, in the true definition of the word, if he doesn't believe in them. If a person has a defect in this belief then their Islam will be defective. It is crucial to understand them and have faith in them. They are very clear to understand from Qur'an and Sunnah.
I will re-ieterate the articles since you didn't read the opening post, they are Tawheed, the three aspects are, to believe in One God and his Unity, thatat He Alone is worthy of worship and has no partners, all worship is to Him Alone, and to believe in His Names and Attributes given by Him in the Qur'an to better understand who He is.
The second is to believe in His Angels, the third is to believe in His Messengers, the fourth is to believe in His Divine Revelations, the fifth is to believe in the Last Day, and the sixth is to believe in the Divine Decree. Read the first post for a breif explanation to them, and for a deatiled explanation there are books out there about them.
But of course there are more beliefs other than the articles a Muslim is taught from the Qur’an and Sunnah, and is logically explained and understood from the culmination of both Qur'an and Sunnah. Islam is not an illogical religion. The two sources of great importance and any differing opinion between Muslims is easily resolved by just reading the sources. Those sources are Qur'an and Sahih Hadiith that act as a supplement to the Qur'an. They elaborate further on certain issues, topics or verse from the Qur'an that The Prophet (pbuh) spoke about to the companions. They were recorded and memorised by those companions and taught all over. In this time we have 6 authentic collections of Hadiith (Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abu Dawud, Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Sunan an-Nisai, and Sunan ibn Majah)
Those who have differing opinions on matters, such as what you gave examples for, it doesn’t mean they are not Muslim, it just means that one person has not fully understood the stance on a certain matter or have been misinformed or just not aware of it. In other religions its so easy to say that person is not a christian when they are found to have done something evil when previously they were respected highly and awe inspiring. But in islam, to label a person who may have a differing opinion to the teaching of Ilsma, straight away as a disbeliever isnt the right approach. Because the faith is clear cut on matters and its just people are different in understanding or have not dwelled into the topic more than others. What they need is guidance and understanding of the topic.
However, if the difference of opinion was regarding the six articles of faith, that I mentioned in the first post, then there is a question of whether they would be classed as a Muslim in the full definition of the word or not. As to be a Muslim, one has firm faith in the articles. But if someone doesn't have th full understanding of something, all they need to do is look into it further. We are human and of course we don’t always understand everything, but just sitting there and not looking for the answer is foolish. But even after all that, if they have an issue with accepting those six articles, then they can be classed as a non-believer, as not a Muslim.
As I already explained before, a Muslim means one who submits themselves to the Will of Almighty God. Their heart and mind have accepted that there is none worthy of worship except the One who Created them and try their utmost to be obedient to His commands. The way they do this is following his last and final testament, the Qur’an, and following the way of life prescribed to them as they know the Creator knows better than them what is the best way of life, the best path to follow, what is Truth and what is Falsehood, and it is that which they try to follow. That is a Muslim.
If there are differences of opinion on the articles of faith, as in one person believes them and another doesn't and yet they both claim to be Muslim, then it is a big must to find the answer as the difference of that particular topic might mean the difference between a believer and non believer. For example the oneness of God, the qualities of God, the role and qualities of the Messenger, the facts about the Qur’an, the belief about the messengers and angels, the understanding of Pre-destination. A diffrence here is when one can say one is a believer and the is a disbeliever, as both cannot be. But you really will not ever find this a situation. If it is then as I said the best source are the Qur’an and Sunnah for the two look into and they will get a clear resolution to it.
I do admit there are differences of opinions amongst many Muslims on certain topics, even Muslim scholars. But this is why we have been given intelligence to deduce the truths from the authentic sources and not from other unauthentic sources. But as I made clear, those six articles of faith, the belief and view of them are very clear cut.
All I can advise you is if you yourself read the Qur’an, you will see there is no confusion as what there is to what a Muslim is to believe or do and not to believe and not to do. The laws and practices are very clear with no room for confusion. A Muslim might have their own opinions on certain matters, like you mentioned, but if they themselves read the Qur’an or Hadiith, then they would get the answer. The Qur’an is the book of guidance, distinguishing truth from falsehood from the very one who created man, so it will provide the answers.
Forgive me for any mistakes, and if I wasn't clear enough or able to answer your question. It was a bit difficult to understand at first.
Gotta thank the other guys here too for their dedication (esp The Batman, nice vid bruv)
