wikishia:Featured Article/2020/03

Usul al-Din (Arabic: أصول الدین) or principles of religion or roots of faith are a set of essential beliefs in Islam that every Muslim needs to believe in; otherwise, he would not be considered a Muslim. Tawhid (oneness of God), nubuwwat (prophethood of the Prophet Muhammad (s)), and resurrection are the three main principles of Islam. All Islamic sects believe in these three principles; but each one has special principles which separate it from other sects. For the Shi'a, 'adl (justice of God) and imamate are the additional principles.

Believing in the principles of religion is obligatory; but there is disagreement as to whether certainty of the principles is required or supposition is enough. Also there is a discussion over the sufficiency of believing in the principles of religion out of emulation.

Most religious scholars believe that emulation is not permissible in usul al-din and everyone needs to think about these principles for himself and accept them with certainty. Read more...