1. Belief in One God; belief in the prophets of Allah including Jesus, Moses, Abraham and Muhammad (May Allah's peace be with them); belief in the revealed Books, the original Old Testament, the original New Testament, the Psalms of David and the final complete, unchanged Qur'an which is with us today; belief in the existence of angels; and belief in the day of judgement.
2. The practice of salaat five times a day (prayer), zakaat (alms-giving), fasting during Ramadan, and performing the Hajj (visit to Mecca) at least once in one's lifetime.

Having accepted the tenets of Islam, TARIC encourages Muslims to read the Qur'an, and constantly practice zikkir (the remembrance of Allah). Most important, one should remember that Allah created man with the ability to choose and as such he will inevitably make mistakes. Muslims are encouraged to do those other things which are good that can offset his errors. Allah makes it easy for one to do that because although an evil deed is only counted as one sin, good deeds are at times counted 700 times in one's favour. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said that even smiling in the face of a friend is saddaqa (charity). Removing a stone from the road so a horse would not be injured is saddaqa. If these insignificant things can be counted in one's favour there is always hope of achieving paradise. We must remember that these acts must be done in Allah's name and for His pleasure, not for personal reward. Muslim's therefore begin any action by saying "Bismillah hir Rahmanir Raheem". In the name of God Most Gracious Most Merciful.Having accepted the fact that Allah may forgive any sin except that of shirk (the associating of partners with Allah), a Muslim may not worship any object except Allah and ask for forgiveness for his mistakes in his duas (supplication) only from Him.At the TARIC Islamic Centre we emphasize the simplicity of Islam and the hope it offers without any complicated rituals. We encourage Muslims to be guided by the Qur'an, which says that Islam is the religion of the middle road. We may not be hermits withdrawing from the society to pray and meditate continuously nor should we become enamoured by the attractions of the material world. The message to the Muslim therefore is, enjoy the pleasures of the world within the restrictions placed on us by Allah, and at the same time be grateful to Him for His bounties, praise Him in Salaat five times a day, seek the pleasure of Allah by doing anything that will help one's family, one's community and one's environment, and remember Him always in every action. This emphasis on Islam without cultural distractions has led to the success of TARIC which has grown from 30 people for Jumma in 1991 to 2,000 people in less than one year. The atmosphere is friendly, there are smiles everywhere, the community works together to serve the less fortunate, and efficiency, courtesy and perfection is our goal in our every undertaking.

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