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PART II: THE PRINCIPLES OF ISLAM

4. Faith

Faith and action

The religion of Islam may be broadly divided into two parts — the theoretical, or what may be called its articles of faith or its doctrines, and the practical, which includes all that a Muslim is required to do, that is to say, the practical course to which he must conform his life. In the Holy Quran the two broad divi­sions are repeatedly referred to as īmān (faith or belief) and ‘amal (deed or action) and the two words are often used together to describe a believer; “those who believe and do good” is the oft-recurring des­cription of true believers. The relation of faith with deeds must be constantly borne in mind in order to understand the true meaning of Islam.

In the terminology of later Muslim theologians, the articles of faith are called uṣūl or the ‘roots’, and the regulations or ordinan­ces are called furū‘ or the ‘branches’, because the branches grow from the roots just as action springs from faith.

Use of the word īmān in the Quran

The word īmān (faith or belief), as used in the Holy Quran, signifies either simply a confession of the truth with the tongue, or simply an assent of the heart and a firm convic­tion of the truth brought by the Holy Prophet, or the doing of good deeds and carrying into practice of the principle accepted, or it may signify a com­bination of the three.

In the following two verses, for example, the words “who believe” refer to those who do nothing more than confess with the tongue that they believe in Muhammad:

“Surely those who believe and those who are Jews, and the Christians, and the Sabians,1 whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good, they have their reward with their Lord…” 2 — 2:62

“O you who believe! Believe in Allah and His Messenger and the Book which He has revealed to His Messenger…” — 4:136

In the following verse, belief stands for assent of the heart:

“The dwellers of the desert say: ‘We believe.’ Say [to them]: You do not believe, but [rather] say, ‘We submit’; and faith has not yet entered into your hearts.” — 49:14

In the following verse, “believe in Allah” means make sacrifices in the cause of truth:

“What reason have you that you do not believe in Allah, and the Messenger invites you that you may believe in your Lord and He has indeed made a covenant with you if you are believers.” — 57:8

It is also used to imply the condition in which a confession with the tongue is accompanied by both an assent of the heart and the carrying into practice of what is believed, as in this verse:

“And those who believe in Allah and His Messengers, they are the truthful and the faithful ones3 with their Lord.” — 57:19

Generally, however, it is employed to indicate an assent of the heart, combined, of course, with a confession with the tongue, to what the prophets bring from God, as distinguished from the doing of good deeds, and hence it is that the righteous, as already remarked, are spoken of as those who believe and do good.

The word īmān in Hadith

In Hadith, the word īmān is frequently used in its wider sense, that is to say, as including good deeds, and sometimes simply as standing for good deeds. Thus the Holy Prophet is reported to have said:

“Faith (īmān) has over sixty branches, and modesty is a branch of faith.” 4

“Faith (īmān) has over seventy branches, the highest of which is [the belief] that nothing deserves to be worship­ped except Allah (Lā ilāha ill-Allāh), and the lowest of which is the removal from the way of that which might cause injury to anyone.” 5

“One of you has no faith un­less he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.” 6

“One of you has no faith unless he has greater love for me than he has for his father and his son and all the people.” 7

Unbelief (kufr)

Just as faith (īmān) is the acceptance of the truth brought by the Prophet, so unbelief (kufr) is its rejection, and as the practical acceptance of the truth or the doing of a good deed is called īmān or part of īmān, so the practical rejection of the truth or the doing of an evil deed is called kufr or part of kufr. There is a report that when someone related that he had abused a man, address­ing him as the son of a black woman, the Holy Prophet told him:

“You find fault with him because of his mother. Surely you are a man in whom is jāhiliyyah.” 8

Now jāhiliyyah (lit. ignorance), in the terminology of Islam, means the “time of ignorance” before the advent of the Holy Prophet, and is thus synonymous with kufr or unbelief. Thus the mere act of finding fault with a man on account of his racial origin is called jāhiliyyah or kufr. According to another hadith, the Holy Prophet is reported to have warned his Companions in the following words:

“Be­ware, do not become unbelievers (kuffār, pl. of kāfir) after me, so that some of you should strike off the necks of others.” 9

Here the slaying of Muslims by Muslims is condemned as an act of unbelief. In another hadith, it is said:

“Abusing a Muslim is transgression and fighting with him is unbelief (kufr).” 10

Yet in spite of the fact that in these reports the fighting of Muslims with one another is called kufr — and those who fight among themselves are even termed unbelievers (singular, kāfir) — the Holy Quran speaks of two parties of Muslims at war with one another as believers (mu’minīn).11 It is, therefore, clear that such conduct is called an act of unbelief (kufr) simply as being an act of disobedience. This point has been explained by Ibn Athir in his well-known dictionary of Hadith, the Nihāyah. Writing under the word kufr, he says:

“Kufr (unbelief) is of two kinds: one is denial of the faith itself, and that is the opposite of faith; and the other is denial of a branch of the branches (furū‘) of Islam, and on account of it a man does not get out of the faith itself.”

As already shown, the furū‘ of Islam are its or­dinances, and thus the practical rejection of an ordinance of Islam, while it is called kufr, is not kufr in the technical sense, i.e., a denial of Islam itself. Thus it is clear that a Muslim remains a Muslim though he may be guilty of an act of unbelief (kufr).

A Muslim cannot be called a kāfir (unbeliever)

As stated above, a Muslim cannot properly be called a kāfir (unbeliever). Every evil deed or act of disobedience being part of kufr, even a Muslim may commit an act of unbelief. And the opposite is equally true, namely, that since every good deed is a part of faith, even an unbeliever may perform an act of faith. There is nothing paradoxical in these statements. The divid­ing line between a Muslim and an un­believer is confession of the Unity of God and the prophethood of Muhammad — Lā ilāha ill-Allāh, Muḥammad-ur Rasūl-ullāh. One be­comes a Muslim or a believer by making this confession and as long as he does not renounce his faith in it, he remains a Muslim or a believer technically, in spite of any opinion he may hold on any religious ques­tion, or any evil which he may commit; and someone who does not make this confession is a non-Muslim or unbeliever technically. It does not mean that the evil deeds of the Muslim are not punished, or that the good deeds of the non-Muslim are not re­warded. As the Holy Quran puts it in very clear words:

“So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.” — 99:7–8

A believer is capable of doing evil and an unbeliever is capable of doing good, and each shall be requited for what he does. But no one has the right to expel anyone from the brotherhood of Islam so long as he con­fesses the Unity of God and the prophet­hood of Muhammad. The Quran and the Hadith are quite clear on this point. Thus in the Holy Quran we have:

“And do not say to anyone who offers you salutation: You are not a believer.” — 4:94

The Muslim form of salutation — as-salāmu ‘alaikum, or “peace be to you” — is thus considered a sufficient indication that the one who offers it is a Muslim, and no one has the right to say to him that he is not a believer, even though he may be insincere.

The Holy Quran speaks of two parties of Muslims fighting with each other, and yet of both as believers (singular mu’min):

“And if two groups of the believers fight with each other, make peace between them.… The believers are brethren so make peace between your brethren…” — 49:9–10

Even those who were known to be hypocrites were treated as Muslims by the Holy Prophet and his Companions, though they refused to join the Mus­lims in the struggle in which the latter had to engage in self-defence, and when the reputed chief of these hypo­crites, the notorious Abdullah ibn Ubayy, died, the Holy Prophet offered funeral prayers on his grave and treat­ed him as a Muslim.

Hadith is equally clear on this point. The Holy Prophet is reported to have said:

“Whoever offers prayers as we do and turns his face to our Qiblah and eats the animal slaughtered by us, he is a Muslim for whom is the covenant of Allah and His Messenger, so do not violate Allah’s covenant.” 12

“Three things are the basis of faith: [the first is] to with­hold from one who confesses faith in Lā ilāha ill-Allāh (‘There is no god but Allah’), you should not call him kāfir for any sin, nor expel him from Islam for any deed.” 13

“Whoever calls the people of Lā ilāha ill-Allāh as kāfir is him­self nearer to unbelief (kufr).” 14

By the people of Lā ilāha ill-Allāh, or the upholders of the Unity of God, are clearly meant Muslims, and it is made quite evident that anyone who makes a confession of the Kalimah, that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His Messenger, becomes a Muslim, and to call him a kāfir is the greatest of sins.

Thus it will be seen that membership of the brotherhood of Islam is a thing not to be tested by some great theologian, well-versed in logical quibbling, but rather by the man in the street, by the man of commonsense, or even by the illiterate man who can judge of another by his very appearance, who is satisfied with even a greeting in the Muslim style, who requires no further argument when he sees a man turn his face to Qiblah, and to whom Islam means the confession of the Unity of God and the pro­phethood of Muhammad.

Despite the schisms and differences that arose afterwards among Muslims, the principle stated above is upheld by all authorities on Islam:

“The generality of the theologians and the jurists are agreed that none of the Ahl Qiblah (the people who recognize the Ka‘bah as qiblah) can be called a kāfir.” 15

“Trustworthy Imams from among the Hanafis and the Shafi‘is and the Malikis and the Hanbalis and the Ash‘aris hold that none of the Ahl Qiblah can be called a kāfir.” 16

And the famous Abu-l-Hasan Ash‘ari writes:

“After the death of their Prophet, the Mus­lims became divided on many points, some of them called others ḍāll (straying from the right path), and some shunned others, so that they became sects entirely separated from each other, and scattered parties, but Islam gathers them all and includes them all in its sphere.” 17

The words īmān and islām

Origi­nally the word īmān signifies conviction of the heart, while the word islām signifies submission and hence relates primarily to action. This difference in the original meaning finds expression both in the Quran and the Hadith, though in ordinary use they both convey the same sig­nificance, and mu’min (‘believer’) and Muslim are generally used interchangeably. An example of the distinction in their use in the Quran is afforded in 49:14:

“The dwellers of the desert say: ‘We believe’ (āmannā, from īmān). Say: You do not believe, but say, ‘We submit’ (aslam-nā, from islām); and faith has not yet entered into your hearts. And if you obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not diminish anything of your deeds; for Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.”

This does not mean, of course, that they did not believe in the pro­phethood of Muhammad. The significance of faith entering into the heart is made clear in the very next verse:

“The believers are those only who believe in Allah and His Messenger, then they do not doubt, and struggle hard with their wealth and their lives in the way of Allah. Such are the truthful ones.” — 49:15

In fact, both the words īmān and islām are used to signify two different stages in the spiritual growth of man. A person is said to have believed (āmana) when he simply declares his faith in the Unity of God and the prophethood of Muham­mad, which in fact is the first stage of belief; and he is also said to have believed (āmana) when he carries into practice to their utmost extent the principles in which he has declared his faith, the faith having entered into the depths of the heart and brought about the change required. Examples of the first use are 2:62 and 4:136 (see pages here–here); an example of the latter use is 49:15 quoted above. The same is the case with the use of the word islām; in its first stage it is simply a willingness to submit, as in the verse 49:14 quoted above; in its last it is entire submission, as in 2:112:

“No, whoever submits himself (aslama) entirely to Allah, and he is the doer of good [to others], he has his reward from his Lord, and there is no fear for such nor shall they grieve.”

Thus both īmān and islām are the same in their first and last stage — from a simple declaration they have developed into perfection — and cover all the intermediate stages. They have both a starting point and a goal; and the one who is at the starting point and the one who has attained the goal, in spite of all the differences between them, are both called mu’min or Muslim, as are also those who are on their way at different stages of the journey.

Principles of faith

The whole of the religion of Islam is briefly summed up in the two short sentences, Lā ilāha ill Allāh, i.e., there is no god but Allah, or, nothing deserves to be made an object of love and worship except Allah, and Muḥammad-ur Rasūl-ullāh, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. It is simply by bearing witness to the truth of these two simple propositions that anyone enters the fold of Islam. The first part of the creed is the cons­tant theme of the Quran, as for example in the verse “Know that there is no god but Allah” (47:19), and a faith in the Unity of God, that there is no god except Allah, is repeatedly mentioned as the basic principle, not only of Islam but of every religion revealed by God. The second part of the creed, concerning the messengership of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, is also a constant theme of the Quran and the very words Muḥammad-ur Rasūl-ullāh occur in 48:29. From Hadith too, it appears that the es­sential condition of the acceptance of Is­lam was the acceptance of these two component parts of the creed.

The above, in the terminology of the later theologians, is called “a brief expression of faith” (īmān mujmal), while the detailed expression of faith, which the later theologians call mu­faṣṣal, is set forth in the very beginning of the Quran as follows: a belief in the Unseen (i.e. God), a belief in that which was revealed to the Holy Prophet Muhammad and in that which was revealed to the prophets before him, and a belief in the Here­after.18 Further on in the same chapter, five principles of faith are clearly mentioned:

“…that one should believe in Allah and the Last Day and the angels and the Book and the prophets…” — 2:177

Again and again, the Quran makes it clear that it is only in relation to these five that belief is required. In the Hadith there is a slight variation. Bukhari has it as follows:

“That you believe in Allah and His angels and in the meeting with Him and His messengers and that you believe in the life after death.” 19

It will be seen that a belief in the meeting with God is mentioned distinctly here, and while this is included in the belief in God in the Quran in the verse quoted above, it is also mentioned distinctly on many occasions, as in verse 13:2 etc. Again, in the Hadith, the books are not mentioned distinctly and are included in the word “messengers”. Thus the basis of belief rests on five princi­ples, according to the Holy Quran and Hadith: God, His angels, His prophets, His books, and a life after death.20

Significance of faith

The above discussion on the words īmān and islām leads us also to the conclusion that there are no dogmas in Islam, no mere beliefs forced upon a person for his alleged sal­vation. Belief, according to Islam, is not only a conviction of the truth of a given proposition, but it is essentially the acceptance of a proposi­tion as a basis for action. While the proposition of the existence of devils is as true as that of the existence of angels according to the Holy Quran, yet a belief in angels is again and again mentioned as part of a Muslim’s faith, whereas a disbelief in devils is equally clearly mentioned as necessary:

“So whoever disbelieves in the devil and believes in Allah, he indeed has laid hold on the firmest handle…” — 2:256

The words used here for believing in God and disbelieving in devils are, respectively, īmān and kufr. If īmān meant simply a belief in the existence of a thing, and kufr the denial of its exis­tence, a disbelief in devils could not have been spoken of as necessary along with a belief in God. But while we must believe in God and His angels, we must disbelieve in the devil. This is because the angel, according to the Quran, is the being that prompts the doing of good, and the devil is the being that prompts the doing of evil, so that a belief in angels means really acting upon the promptings to do good, and a disbelief in the devil means refusing to en­tertain evil promptings.

Thus īmān (belief) really signifies the acceptance of a principle as a basis for action, and every doctrine of Islam answers to this description. There are no dogmas, no mysteries, no faith which does not require action; for every article of faith means a principle to be carried into practice for the higher development of man.

Allah is the Being Who possesses all the perfect attributes, and when a person is required to believe in Allah, he is really required to make himself possessor of the highest moral qualities, his goal being the attainment of the Divine Attributes. He must set before himself the highest and purest ideal which the heart of a human being can conceive, and make his conduct con­form to that ideal. Belief in the angels means that the believer should fol­low the good impulses which are inherent in him, for the angel is the being who prompts the doing of good. Belief in the books of God signifies that we should follow the directions contained in them for the development of our inner faculties. Belief in messengers means that we are to model our­selves on their noble example and sacrifice our lives for humanity even as they did. Belief in the Here­after or the Last Day tells us that physical or material ad­­vance­ment is not the end or goal of life; but that its real purpose is an infinitely higher one, of which the Resurrection, or the Last Day, is but the beginning.

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Notes to Chapter 4

1. Editor’s Note: The Sabians followed a religion akin to Judaism and Chris­tianity.

2. Editor’s Note: The whole verse means that salvation cannot be attained by applying a label to oneself, whether it is Muslim, Jew, Christian, or any other, but only by true belief in God and doing good deeds. That is the principle. It is a different matter that true belief and doing of good deeds to the highest degree is only attainable through the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad.

3. Editor’s Note: “Truthful” refers to those in whose hearts belief is confirmed, and “faithful” refers to those who put belief into practice.

4. Bukhari, book 2: ‘Belief’, ch. 3, h. 9.

5. Muslim, book 1: ‘Faith’, ch. 12, h. 35b (DS: ch. 12, h. 153).

6. Bukhari, book 2: ‘Belief’, ch. 7, h. 13.

7. Ibid.,ch. 8, h. 15.

8. Ibid.,ch. 22, h. 30.

9. Bukhari, book 25: ‘Pilgrimage’, ch. 132, h. 1739 and h. 1741.

10. Bukhari, book 2: ‘Belief’, ch. 36, h. 48.

11. The Quran, 49:9.

12. Bukhari, book 8: ‘Prayer’, ch. 28, h. 391.

13. Abu Dawud, book 15: ‘Jihad’, ch. 35, h. 2532 (DS: ch. 33).

14. Ṭabarānī, reported from Ibn Umar.

The Holy Prophet is also reported as saying: “Do not call those who follow your Qiblah (ahl Qiblah) disbelievers” (Al-Nihāyah under Kufr).

15. Al-Mawāqif by Qazi Abdur Rahman ibn Ahmad, Cairo, p. 600.

16. Miftāḥ al-Sa‘ādah by Ahmad ibn Mustafa, Hyderabad Deccan, v. 1, p. 46.

17. Maqālāt al-Islāmiyyīn wa Ikhtilāfāt al-Muṣallīn, p. 1, 2.

18. The Quran, 2:2–4.

19. Bukhari, book 2: ‘Belief’, ch. 37, h. 50.

20. In some Hadith reports the words are added: “That you believe in qadar”, meaning ‘the measure’, but commonly thought of as predestination. Qadar is, no doubt, spoken of in the Quran as a law of God, but never as an arti­cle of faith, and all the Divine laws are accepted as true by every Muslim. See chapter 10, page here, on ‘Taqdīr or Predestination’.