For Muslims the Qur'an is the most important source of religious and social guidance for Muslims. Ibadah or service to Allah involves not just observation of the five pillars but also a genuine presence of mind when carrying out duties. These pillars and the six beliefs which are the exegesis of the Shahada are all dealt with in Sura 2 of the Qur'an. A Hadith describes Sura 2: 'of everything there is a pinnacle and the pinnacle of the Qur'an is sura al-Baqarah.

The six beliefs are explained in detail throughout the Qur'an but Sura 2, The Cow makes reference to all of them. The first of these beliefs is Tawhid, the unity and wholeness of Allah. On line 163 of Sura 2, in the Penguin version of the Qur'an translated by N. J. Dawood, we can find the passage 'Your God is one God. There is no god but Him. He is the Compassionate, the Merciful.' Those who do not acknowledge this monotheism are guilty of shirk, or association which is the highest sin in Islam.

The Qur'an teaches Muslims of the existence of angels, or spiritual beings. 'And when We said to the angels: "Prostrate yourselves before Adam," they all prostrated themselves except Satan, who in his pride refused and beca

Judgement and afterlife are linked in that they both occur after the death of the material body and that Judgement of actions in this life determines the state of existence of the soul in the afterlife. Belief in the Day of Judgement (Yawmuddin) and the Last Day is essential to Islam. It suggests the notion of individual accountability for your actions. Actions are important but intentions are considered to be of essential importance. 'Not an atoms weight in earth or heaven escapes your Lord' (Sura 10:64). In contrast to pre-Islamic Arabia, there is a big difference here. The Pagan Arabs took a fatalistic approach to life believing that actions in this world make no difference to the state of affairs after death. Islam thus introduces a notion of responsibility for others. In this respect we can make a criticism of codes of morality which are independent of religion such as the existentialism of Nietzsche and Sartre in that they do not give reasons to why we should feel responsible for others. Scholars such as Al-Farabi (d. 950 CE), however, have pointed out that Gods omniscience raises problems when we talk about human free will and the choice to do good or evil. Al-Ashari suggested that God created in Man the faculty of choice and that Man 'acquires' his actions and thus responsibility for them throughout this faculty. Heaven and Hell are vividly described within Sura 2. It states that believers shall go to Heaven and the sinners shall reside in Hell; 'guard yourselves against the Fire whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the unbelievers.'

The Qur'an refers to Christians, Jews and Muslims as 'people of the Book'. This is because they all believe in the One god Allah. The message of God had previously been communicated to these people by the Old Testament prophet

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