The Six Beliefs of Sunni Islam and the Five Roots of Usul ad-Din in Shi'a Islam, their nature, purpose and importance.

What this dot point is asking

Edexcel wants you to explain the Six Beliefs of Sunni Islam and the Five Roots of Usul ad-Din in Shi'a Islam, their nature, history and purpose, how they are understood in Sunni and Shi'a communities, and why they matter to Muslims. These foundations open the Islam Beliefs and teachings section on Paper 1.

The Six Beliefs of Sunni Islam

The Six Beliefs (sometimes called the six articles of faith) summarise the core convictions that a Sunni Muslim accepts.

These beliefs come from the Qur'an and the teaching of the Prophet Muhammad, and a classic statement of them is found in Kitab al-iman. Their purpose is to set out clearly what a Muslim believes, so that accepting them marks a person as a Muslim and gives a shared foundation for the whole community. They shape daily life: belief in Akhirah encourages good conduct because everyone will be judged, and belief in Tawhid means worship is directed to Allah alone. The Six Beliefs are interconnected, but Tawhid comes first because all the others depend on the one God.

The Five Roots of Shi'a Islam

The Five Roots overlap with the Six Beliefs but are arranged differently and include two ideas that are especially important to Shi'a Muslims. Adl (justice) is listed as a root because Shi'a Islam stresses that Allah is perfectly just and never acts unfairly, which affects how they understand free will and judgement. Imamah is the belief that, after Muhammad, leadership of the Muslim community rightly passed to a line of divinely guided imams, beginning with Ali. Different Shi'a communities, such as the Twelvers and the Seveners (Ismailis), differ over how many imams there were. The Qur'anic basis for the oneness of Allah is Surah 112 ("Say, He is Allah, the One"), which both Sunni and Shi'a Muslims hold dear.

Why these foundations matter, and Sunni and Shi'a differences

The Six Beliefs and the Five Roots matter because they define what it means to be a Muslim and give the faith its shape. They are not just a list to memorise: each belief affects practice and attitude. Belief in Tawhid rules out worshipping anything besides Allah and underlies the whole of Islam; belief in the prophets and the holy books means Muslims accept Allah's guidance through revelation; belief in Akhirah and the Day of Judgement motivates a moral life; belief in al-Qadr teaches trust in Allah's plan.

The main difference between Sunni and Shi'a here is the place of Imamah and Adl: the Five Roots make the imams and divine justice central roots of religion, while the Sunni Six Beliefs include al-Qadr (predestination) and do not list Imamah as a separate article. Both branches, however, share belief in the oneness of Allah, the prophets, the books, the angels and the Day of Judgement. For the exam, be able to list both sets accurately, explain the purpose of having such foundations, and note the Sunni and Shi'a differences. A strong Evaluate answer can weigh whether Tawhid is the single most important belief or whether the beliefs are so interdependent that none can stand alone.