The Korān is largely composed of fanciful stories, which have been woven around the characters and incidents of Biblical narration. There are however some cardinal points of doctrine which are freely taught, and the great central creed of Mohammedanism is that “There is no god but God, and Mohammed is his prophet.”
The confession of this Kelimah, or creed, is the first duty of every convert, and after this he is required to pray, fast, give alms, and make pilgrimages. The name of God in Arabic is Allah, being composed of the article al, “the,” and ilāh, “a god.” It is a very old Semitic word and is evidently connected with, or derived from the El and Elohīm of the Hebrews. According to Muslim theology, Allāh is eternal, and everlasting—comprehending all things, but comprehended of nothing. His attributes are expressed by ninety-nine epithets which are used in the Korān, and which in Arabic are single words, and generally participial forms, but in the translation they are sometimes rendered by verbs as “He creates” for “He is the creator.”
Besides a belief in God, the Korān requires a belief in angels; it is claimed that they are pure, without distinction of sex; are created of fire, and neither eat nor drink. Two angels are appointed for each human being, and one stands at his right hand, and the other at his left; the one recording his good deeds, and the other his transgressions of the law. Munkīr and Nakīr are the two angels who preside at the “examination of the tomb.” They visit a man in his grave immediately after his burial, and examine him concerning the soundness of his faith. If he acknowledge that there is but one God, and that Mohammed is his prophet, they allow him to rest in peace, otherwise they beat him with iron maces until he roars so loud that he is heard by all the beings in the universe, except men and ginns. They then press the earth down upon him, and leave him to be torn by dragons and serpents until the resurrection.
The ginns (collectively gāhn) represent a class of beings who are inferior to the angels, but they are also created out of fire, and are both good and evil. Their abode is Mount Qāf, the mountain of emerald which, in Persian mythology, surrounds the world.