👶 The first words
In many Muslim families the adhan is whispered into a newborn baby's right ear. The first words the child hears are about Allah.
Muslim Beliefs about the Universe and Human Beings » Muslim Nurture, the Qur'an and the Sunnah
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 1, 1.6 (Islam)
- How Muslim family life nurtures belief in Allah
- Why the Qur'an and the sunnah of the Prophet are trusted as religious authority
- How Muslims use creation and design as signs of Allah
- How Muslims respond to the reasons people give for agnosticism and atheism
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Unlock This CourseNurture: growing up in a Muslim family
Reasons to Believe: First Cause, Design and Experience showed that upbringing and religious authority can both lead to belief in God. Here is how each works in Islam.
Muslims believe that parents have a duty to pass on the faith. The Qur'an tells believers to protect themselves and their families from the Fire, meaning hell (Qur'an 66:6). It also records the advice of a wise man called Luqman to his son: do not set up partners with Allah, and keep up the prayer (Qur'an 31:13 and 31:17).
Key terms:
- Adhan: the call to prayer. It begins 'Allah is the Greatest' and includes the Shahadah.
- Ramadan: the month in which Muslims fast from dawn to sunset.
- Madrasah: a school for learning about Islam, often classes held at the mosque.
- Hafiz: a person who has learned the whole Qur'an by heart.
- Sunnah: the example of the Prophet Muhammad: what he said, did and approved of.
- Dawah: inviting people to Islam.
Nurture runs through the whole of family life:
🙌 Learning to pray
Children copy their parents at prayer from a young age. A hadith tells parents to teach their children to pray by the age of seven.
🌙 Ramadan together
Fasting is only required from puberty, but younger children often try part of a day. The family wakes before dawn to eat and breaks the fast together at sunset.
📖 Reading the Qur'an
Many children go to a madrasah after their day's lessons to learn to read the Qur'an in Arabic. Some go on to become a hafiz.
Is nurture enough? Muslims do not think so. The Qur'an criticises people who say they will simply follow what their forefathers did, even if their forefathers understood nothing (Qur'an 2:170). It also says, 'There is no compulsion in religion' (Qur'an 2:256). So many Muslims say that an upbringing can only open the door. Each person must come to believe for themselves.
Religious authority: the Qur'an and the sunnah
For Muslims the strongest reason to believe is that Allah has spoken. Muslims believe the Qur'an is the word of Allah, given to the Prophet Muhammad through the angel Jibril (Gabriel) over about 23 years. It calls itself the Book in which there is no doubt, a guide for those who are mindful of Allah (Qur'an 2:2).
Muslims give four reasons for trusting it:
- No human author. Muslims traditionally believe the Prophet could not read or write, so he could not have composed it.
- A challenge to doubters. The Qur'an challenges anyone who doubts it to produce a single sura like it (Qur'an 2:23).
- No contradictions. It says that if it had come from anyone other than Allah, people would have found many contradictions in it (Qur'an 4:82).
- An unchanged text. Muslims believe the Arabic text is the same today as when it was revealed.
The second authority is the sunnah. The Qur'an says, 'In the Messenger of Allah you have an excellent example' (Qur'an 33:21). The sunnah is known through the hadith. For example, the Qur'an tells Muslims to pray, and the sunnah shows them how.
Sunni and Shi'a Muslims use different collections of hadith, and Shi'a Muslims also follow the teachings of the Imams from the Prophet's family. A small number of Muslims say the Qur'an alone is enough.
Creation and design: the signs of Allah
Remember from Allah's Creation and Humans as Khalifah that the Qur'an calls the natural world signs of Allah. Muslims use them like the first cause and design arguments.
- Causation: the Qur'an asks, 'Were they created by nothing, or were they themselves the creators?' (Qur'an 52:35). For Muslims the only sensible answer is a Creator.
- Design: the Qur'an tells people to look at the sky and look again, and says they will find no flaw in it (Qur'an 67:3).
Some Muslim scholars built careful arguments from reason like these. Other Muslims say such proofs are not needed, because the Qur'an and the fitrah (the natural pull towards Allah that every person is born with) are enough.
Muslim responses to agnosticism and atheism
Agnosticism and Atheism: Reasons for Doubt and Unbelief gave the main reasons for doubt. Muslims answer each one.
🔬 Science and medicine
Muslims see science as the study of Allah's signs, not a rival to faith. The Qur'an teaches the prayer, 'My Lord, increase me in knowledge' (Qur'an 20:114). A hadith says Allah has sent no disease without also sending its cure, so medical advances are seen as discovering what Allah provided.
❓ Lack of clear evidence
The Qur'an describes believers as those who believe in the unseen (Qur'an 2:3). Muslims believe Allah cannot be seen, but his signs can. On unanswered prayer, the Qur'an says, 'Call on me and I will answer you' (Qur'an 40:60). Muslims believe the answer may be 'not yet', or something better.
🌍 Conflicting religions
The Qur'an says a messenger was sent to every community (Qur'an 16:36), so Muslims expect to find truth in other faiths. They believe earlier messages were changed over time and the Qur'an is the final one.
🏠 A non-religious upbringing
Because of the fitrah, Muslims believe anyone can come to faith, whatever their upbringing. Some people who become Muslim call themselves 'reverts', because they feel they are returning to it. The singer Cat Stevens read the Qur'an, became a Muslim in 1977 and took the name Yusuf Islam.
Suffering is another common reason for doubt. Muslims answer that life is a test. See Life as a Test: Evil and Suffering in Islam.
The Qur'an tells Muslims to invite others to Allah's way with wisdom and good teaching, and to argue in the best way (Qur'an 16:125). This is dawah. Muslims believe that belief cannot be forced and that judgement belongs to Allah. Muslims differ on what happens to non-Muslims. Some point to the verse that says no religion other than Islam will be accepted (Qur'an 3:85). Others point to the verse that promises a reward to Jews, Christians and others who believe in Allah and the Last Day (the Day of Judgement) and do good (Qur'an 2:62).
Common mistakes
Do not write that Muslim children are forced to believe: the Qur'an says there is no compulsion in religion. Do not mix up the sunnah and the hadith. The sunnah is the Prophet's example, and the hadith are the reports that record it.
Exam-style question
Paper 1 style. Parts (a) and (b) test AO1. Parts (c) and (d) test AO1 and AO2.
(a) Identify three reasons why some people do not believe in God. [3 marks]
(b) Choose one religion. Outline two ways in which family life supports belief in God in this religion. [4 marks]
(c) Choose one religion. Explain why religious authority is important for belief in God in this religion. [6 marks]
(d) 'What a person believes about God is decided by their upbringing.' Evaluate this statement, showing you have considered different points of view. In your answer you should refer to at least one religion. [12 marks]
Model answer
(a) 1. Lack of clear evidence that God exists (1). 2. Scientific explanations of how the universe began (1). 3. A non-religious upbringing (1).
(b) In Islam, the adhan is whispered into a newborn baby's ear (1), which means the first words the child hears are about Allah (1). Muslim parents also teach their children to pray (1), so that prayer to Allah becomes a habit from an early age (1).
(c) Muslims believe the Qur'an is the word of Allah, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad through the angel Jibril. Because it comes from Allah himself, it is the strongest reason to believe in him.
They trust it because it calls itself the Book in which there is no doubt, and it challenges anyone to produce a sura like it. For Muslims this shows no human being wrote it.
The sunnah of the Prophet is also an authority. The Qur'an calls the Prophet an excellent example, so Muslims follow what he said and did, which is recorded in the hadith.
(d) Plan. For: most people follow the religion, or the non-religious view, of their parents; a Muslim child hears the adhan at birth, learns to pray, fasts with the family and goes to the madrasah, so belief feels natural; a non-religious upbringing often leads to atheism in the same way.
Against: the Qur'an says there is no compulsion in religion and criticises people who just follow their forefathers; Muslims believe everyone is born with the fitrah, so belief is deeper than upbringing; people change, such as reverts like Yusuf Islam, and some people leave the religion they were raised in.
Possible conclusion: judge each point as you go, then pick a side. For example: I partly agree. Upbringing is a strong influence, but 'decided' goes too far, because people raised in the same way reach different beliefs.
Exam tip
In part (d), focus on the word 'decided'. An upbringing can influence belief without deciding it. Use one Muslim example of nurture and one Qur'an teaching about free choice to show the difference.