To become a Muslim, one needs only to repeat with sincerity this simple creed:

La ilaha
il’ Allah,
Muhammadan
Rasoulu Allah

 Allah (God)
 The first and  most important doctrine in the creed of Islam is the doctrine of Allah.  Muhammad knew from childhood the native pre-Islamic belief in Alilah, meaning "the god," a vague high God who created the world and became Allah or God.  He also knew of the Najran tribe, which was almost totally Christian and had considerable influence in northern Arabia.  We should never forget that Muhammad’s father’s name, Abd-Allah, means "the slave of God."  In other words, Muhammad was definitely aware of a belief in the one God among his people.
 The essence or being of Allah includes his existence, eternity, unsubstantiality, unembodiedness, essentiality, omnipresence, formlessness, and uniqueness.  His attributes include life, power, knowledge, will, sensibility, and speech.  Creation, preservations, revelation, and predestination constitute the works of Allah.
 By Islamic tradition, there are ninety-nine most beautiful names of Allah.  The titles and the frequency of usage include:  The Omniscient (158), The One (21), The Mighty (44), The Unique (89), The Forgiving (96), and The Wise (95).  Infrequently used titles include The Slayer, The Provider, and The Avenger.  Every devout Muslim begins his conversation with "In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate."
 The Quran focuses on the absolute unity and uniqueness of God.  Islam maintains and uncompromising monotheism.  The only unpardonable sin is Shirk, or the associating or joining of other gods to the one God.  While the Bible and Christianity are also both uncompromisingly monotheistic, Islamic monotheism denies the biblical doctrine of the trinity, misassociating it with tritheism.

 Angels
 A belief in angels is essential to the acceptance of the manner in which Allah revealed himself both to Muhammad and to various other prophets before him.  This belief includes all kinds of creatures inhabiting the invisible world.
 Muslims believe in four archangels:  Gabriel (the angel of revelation), Michael (the angel of providence), Israfil (the angel of doom), and Izra’il (the angel of death).  Ministering angels include recording angels, throne-bearers, and questioners of the dead.  A third category is the fallen angels, the chief of which is Iblis, or Shaytan.  A fourth group includes Jinn, a group of spirits midway between men and angels, some good and some bad.

 The Holy Books
 Islam recognizes that four sets of scriptures contain revelations of Allah’s will.  These are the Torah of Moses, the Psalms of David, the Injil (Gospel) of Jesus, and the Quran, which represents the final and complete revelation, superceding all previous revelations and conflicting claims to truth.  (Although Muslims talk about the Torah, Psalms, and Gospel, they do not mean by those terms the same Old and New Testaments that Christians have in their Bibles.  They believe that the original Torah, Psalms, and Gospel have been corrupted and lost.  What Christians have in the Old and New Testaments are not God’s Word or revelation.)

 Prophets
 Islam claims to be open to revelation from Allah whenever and wherever it occurs.  This is true at least in theory.  Muslims believe their religion is simply "the religion of God."  God speaks and acts in history to reveal Himself through prophets.
 Twenty-eight prophets are particularly recognized in the Quran.  These include Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Isaac, Jacob, Ishmael, Joseph, David, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, and Jonah from Old Testament times.  There are others from New Testament times:  Zachariah, John the Baptist, and Jesus.  The five prophetic predecessors to Muhammad specially mentioned are Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.  The Quran affirms the Virgin Birth of Jesus (although not His eternal pre-existence), but teaches that the Crucifixion and Resurrection did not happen as the Bible says.  The Quran includes some of the miracles and moral teachings of Jesus but does not mention His lordship or His divinity.
 Muhammad is considered the last and the greatest of the prophets.  He is the Seal of the Prophets, after whom no more will come.  Muslims believe that he was "prepared for and attested to by all the preceding prophets."  The Muslims consider Islam as, not the youngest, but the oldest monotheistic religion in the world.

 Resurrection and the Hour of Judgment
 Readers of the Quran soon find that Allah is portrayed as stern and harsh rather than compassionate.  Allah’s harshness is intensified in the Quranic description of Judgment Day and its consequences.  Muhammad’s original message warned people of the terrible divine judgment that was to come.  About 852 verses of the Quran emphasize this fearful theme.
 Judgment Day will be preceded by signs, then announced by a trumpet blast (see 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).  The dead will arise bodily from their graves and join the living, then all will be examined one by one and assigned to Paradise or hell.  No one can escape this judgment.  vivid pictures are given of the balance scales which will be used to weigh the good and evil deeds of each soul, even to the weight of a mustard seed.  Pious believers in Allah can expect abundant sensual pleasures in Paradise.  There will be perpetual luxury, physical comfort, food, clear water, mansions, servants, lovely maidens, and virgins.  The wicked will suffer and swelter in the hot blasts, foul smoke, and molten metal of hell.

 Predestination
 The sixth belief, predestination, is not mandatory, but it is still accepted by many Muslims.  "If Allah wills it" is the comment of the devout Muslim.  Predestination is the belief that all events are determined by Allah.  The function of humans is to submit to that divine determination with obedient thankfulness.  However, the predestined must still face Allah’s justice.