The third foundation: Belief in the Scriptures
The third foundation: Belief in the Scriptures
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The third foundation: Belief in the Scriptures

Belief in the divine scriptures is one of the fundamentals and pillars of faith. To believe in them is to affirm, with unshakable certainty, that they are true, that they are the speech of Allah containing guidance, light, and sufficiency for those to whom they were revealed. We believe in those He has named—the Quran, the Torah, the Gospel, and the Psalms—and in those He has not named, for Allah possesses scriptures known only to Him, exalted be He.

The revelation of these books is an expression of Allah’s mercy toward His servants, for humanity is in dire need of them. The human intellect is limited: it cannot discern the detailed facets of benefit and harm, even though it can generally distinguish between what is harmful and what is beneficial. Moreover, the human mind is often dominated by passions and swayed by motives and whims; were humankind left to its short-sighted reason alone, it would go astray and wander in confusion.

Therefore, Allah’s wisdom and mercy required that He send down these books to His chosen messengers so that they might clarify to the people what the scriptures signify and what they contain of His just rulings, beneficial counsels, commandments, and prohibitions—matters guaranteed to reform humanity.

Allah, the Exalted, said when He sent Adam, the father of mankind, down from Paradise: “Whenever guidance comes to you from Me, whoever follows My guidance shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve.” ⦗1⦘

And He says: “O children of Adam, should messengers from among you come to you reciting My verses, then those who are mindful of Me and mend their ways shall have nothing to fear, nor shall they grieve.” ⦗2⦘