Iman According To

Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah

And Groups

Date: Safar 07, 1434, December 22, 2012

Edition: 2012

Author: Abu Ammaar Saeed Ahmed

Copyright: Free to republish with authorization

Islamic Research Foundation New York

www.irfny.com

info@irfny.com

2

About Author

Abu Ammaar Saeed Ahmed Founder of IRFNY

Islamic Research Foundation New York

A businessman by profession and student of

international Dawah program and training who

choose to spread the word of Allah, who‟s

journey into the world of comparative religion

and Dawah started at the age of 30 started in

2007 as a participant of the Dawah Training

Programme conducted by several international

orators.

The desire within him in clarifying

misconceptions about Islam was kindled by

Sheikh Ahmed Deedat & Dr. Zakir Naik and

this exposure to these world renowned scholars

resulted in him choosing Dawah over business.

Being a passionate fulltime Daee since 2007,

specializing in inter-faith dialogues, Saeed has

participated in numerous one-on-one sessions &

group discussions with non-Muslims as well as

Muslims and, has clarified a number of

misconceptions about Islam with non-Muslims

as well as Muslims amongst television viewers

3

as well as live audiences in various parts of the

USA.

He has been delivering talks on Islam and

Comparative Religion for the last couple of

years and some of his topics which are popular

amongst Muslims are Islamic Theology,

Tawheed, Imaan, Innovation and with non-

Muslims are Is Jesus God, Is the Bible Word of

God.

He is also an accomplished trainer with

experience in imparting Dawah training to

students of comparative religion and is a

founder of IRFNY Dawah training programme.

Over and above the numerous lecture tours,

talks, dialogues and discussions to his credit in

states in USA he has also delivered lectures

across over the internet in several Islamic

websites.

Saeed Ahmed became a founder of IRFNY

Islamic Research Foundation New York in

2010, to help other Muslims to join Dawah

training programme and learn doing Dawah

with non-Muslims as well as Muslims to

4

remove misconceptions about Islam. Currently

Saeed is attending Islamic education

conferences and discussions from international

orators, to gain more knowledge and heading

towards higher education in Islam and

comparative religions.

Saeed has successfully completed studying

Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim,

Sunan Tirmidhi, Sunan Abu Dawood, Ibn

Majah and Fiqh.

Currently Saeed is a student of Christianity on

the topics “Is Jesus God or Son Of God”, “Is

The Bible Word Of God”, “Was Jesus

Crucified”, “Trinity”.

Remember Saeed in your prayers, May Allah

increase our knowledge of Islam. Ameen

Abu Ammaar Saeed Ahmed

5

حيم ه ٱش ـ حم بسم ٱهلل ٱش

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the

Merciful

Indeed, all praise is due to Allah. We praise

Him and seek His Help and forgiveness. We

seek refuge in Allah from our souls' evils and

our wrong doings. He whom Allah guides, no

one can misguide; and he whom He misguides,

no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no

god except Allah and I bear witness that

Muhammad (PBUH) is His Messenger.

Quran 20:25-28

أمشي )٥٢سب ٱششح صذسي ) ش ( ٥٢( ويس

ه ساو ) عقذة م (٥٢ )( يفقهىا قى ٥٢وٱح

"O my Lord! Expand me my breast;" (25) "Ease

my task for me; (26) "And remove the

impediment from my speech. (27) "So they may

understand what I say: (28)

6

The word Iman was best defined at the time of

Muhammad (pbuh) and then Sahaba (ra) that

had best understanding of the Iman because it

was the time of direct revelation from Allah.

As the time moved on till next generations,

there were many groups appeared in parts of

Arabia and parts of the world where many

groups started having different opinions of Iman

and many differed among them in understand of

Iman.

Many groups differed in defining the term Iman

except Ahl us Sunnah, had misinterpreted the

word Iman that it should be defined through

linguistic perspective. Even we have clear

understanding of the term Iman from Quran and

Hadith.

According to Oxford Dictionary, they translated

the word “Iman” to English word “faith or

Belief” which is considered as general meaning

according to English Dictionary. If we realize

every religion do believes that God exist and

7

messengers came with revelations. But

according to Islamic meanings of the term Iman

means agree to a commitment of action, a life-

changing commitment after believing whatever

The Prophet (pbuh) had told us through Hadith.

Having Iman resulted in Arabic word Aman

English meaning Safety and leads the individual

towards Peace which is complete Islam. Iman

can be stated as acknowledging God with full

sincerity of heart whilst accepting all His

attributes.

There are three basic levels of Iman.

1. Tongue

2. Heart

3. Practical

Testifying through the tongue is not enough if

there are no actions according to what an

individual testifies through the tongue. It goes in

order, First a person has to testifies through the

tongue and acceptance in the heart and do

8

actions according to statements. Practicing more

good deeds increases Iman and doing less goods

and committing any sins decreases Iman,

depending on the levels of the sins from major

to minor. In Surah Baqarah Chapter two, Allah

is giving statements about His Messenger.

Quran 2:285

مؤمىىن بهۦ وٱ إيه مه س بما أوض سى ءامه ٱش

ه ق بيه أحذ م خبهۦ وسسهۦ ل وفش خهۦ و ٮ ـ وم ءامه بٲهلل

سهۦ ى س ىا وأ يش ا وقاىا سم م ٱ سبىا وإي فشاو

(٥٢٢)

The Messenger believeth in what hath been

revealed to him from his Lord, as do the men of

faith. Each one (of them) believeth in Allah, His

angels, His books, and His Messengers "We

make no distinction (they say) between one and

another of His Messengers." And they say: "We

hear and we obey; (We seek) Thy forgiveness,

Our Lord, and to Thee is the end of all

journeys." (285)

9

There were some groups came up with their

philosophy depending on just the linguistic

meaning of the word Iman.

There was group called Jahmite, the founder of

the group was “Jahm ibn Safwan”. He was the

first person to talk about creedness of Quran.

They believed the speech of God is created.

According to them Pharoah and his people were

believers because they knew Moses and Aaron

(as) were true prophets even though they denied

them. They also deny about Ibrahim friendship

with Allah and Moses (as) spoke to Allah. The

only attributes the groups accepted was creating

and power, they knew the sole creating power is

from Allah alone and all power witnessed

among the creatures is metaphorically theirs, not

literally. They come up with another philosophy

regarding Iman that Iman is just a basic

knowledge only.

Many orthodox Muslim scholars of Hadith

wrote refutations of Jahm ibn Safwan's

doctrines, particularly Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-

10

Bukhari, and al-Darimi and declared this group

as disbeliever.

Ibn Taymiyyah identified the jurists who

excommunicated Jahmites as follows: “As for

Ahmad ibn Hambal, Wakee„, and others, they

declared all who supported Jahm‟s and al-

Ash„aree‟s views of belief to be unbelievers. To

Ahmad ibn Hambal and his followers, Jahm‟s

view on belief was even more abhorrent than

that of the Murji‟ites.”(Kitab Al-Iman, p. 133)

Ibn Taymiyyah (ra) said in his book "Sarim ul

Maslool" that linguistically Iman means

Tasdeeq wal Iqrar. And in the Istalah (the

terminology of Islam) it is utterance by the

tongue; believe in the hearth and actions with

the limbs. Except if someone is Murjiyyah or

Jahmiyyah because the Jahmiyyah says indeed

the Iman is only Ma'rifah (knowledge or

awareness), so this is the definition of Iman to

Jahmiyyah as for Muslims there must be

conditions for Iman to be fulfilled.

11

Quran 2:208

ىا ول حخبم ڪافت أيها ٱزيه ءامىىا ٱدخىا ف ٱس ـ ي

ه ـ يط بيه ) خطىٳث ٱش (٥٠٢ إوه م عذو م

O ye who believe! Come, all of you, into

submission (unto Him); and follow not the

footsteps of the devil. Lo! he is an open enemy

for you. (208)

From the above verse we can understand in

order to be complete Muslims one has to submit

his will to Allah completely not partially and

don‟t leave any gap for shaitan to whisper in

heart with new philosophy about Islam

Quran 5:92

وٱحزسوا سى ىا ٱش ي وأ ىا ٱهلل ي فئن حىيخم وأ

مبيه ) غ ٱ ـ ب سسىىا ٱ (٢٥فٲعمىا أوما ع

Obey Allah and obey the messenger, and

beware! But if ye turn away, then know that the

12

duty of Our messenger is only plain conveyance

(of the message). (92)

That we have to believe whatever the

Messenger commands us or preach His message

from Allah. A Muslim is not considered a

Muslim until he believes whatever the Prophet

(pbuh) talks about regardless of any confusion.

According to Hadith the Prophet (pbuh) had

been to “Isra” and “Miraj”. So if the Prophet

(pbuh) explained the whole story on Night

journey and Ascension it duty of every Muslim

to believe it 100% without any new philosophy

or searching for logical answers, like how,

when, what.

There are about 85 verses in The Quran where

Allah called upon believers.

أيها ٱزيه ءامىىا ـ ي

O ye who believe!

13

These verses are especially for the believers

who truly believe and have practices according

to commandments of Allah and Prophet (pbuh).

There are six pillars of Iman to believe in.

Belief in Allah

Belief in the angels

Belief in the revealed books

Belief in the Messengers (pbu them)

Belief in the resurrection and the events of

Qiyamah

Belief in the predestination by Allah of all

things, both the good and the bad

Leaving anything outside of the list does not

make a individual complete Muslim and it

effects Aqeedah of a person and that individual

could be a unfortunate person could belong to

groups of 72 as it said in Hadith, 72 groups

14

among the 73 groups in Islam will be entered

into hell only one will be accepted.

Hadith

Narrated Anas:

The Prophet said, "Whoever said "None has the

right to be worshipped but Allah and has in his

heart good (faith) equal to the weight of a barley

grain will be taken out of Hell. And whoever

said: "None has the right to be worshipped but

Allah and has in his heart good (faith) equal to

the weight of a wheat grain will be taken out of

Hell. And whoever said, "None has the right to

be worshipped but Allah and has in his heart

good (faith) equal to the weight of an atom will

be taken out of Hell." (Bukhari Vol 2, No 42)

There was another group called Karraamites

founded by “Abdullah Muhammad ibn Karram”

was from Banu Nazar. They belief was through

the tongue only but affirming in the heart. His

15

teachings was based on “Ahmad ibn Abdillah

Jawbaaree” and “Muhammad ibn Tameem

Faryaanaanee” who were the fabricators of the

Hadith. He spread his doctrines in Khurasan and

Naysabur. Theyhave many false doctrines

clearly contradics Quran and Hadith, among

them was that is constituted by a single

utterance of the two declarations of faith, and

involves neither conviction nor works.

Their philosophy was like a hypocrite and

according them the hypocrite is the perfect

believer which still doesn‟t satisfy the

requirements of the Iman. They also believe that

the hypocrite will be punished on judgment day,

their statements regarding Iman contradicts

themselves.

Quran 4:60

إي أم حش إ ٱزيه يضعمىن أوهم ءامىىا بما أوض

غىث ـ مىا إ ٱط يشيذون أن يخحا مه قب وما أوض

16

ه أن يضهم وقذ أمشوا أن ـ يط فشوا بهۦ ويشيذ ٱش ي

ا ) يذ ل ب ـ (٢٠ض

Have you seen those (hyprocrites) who claim

that they believe in that which has been sent

down to you, and that which was sent down

before you, and they wish to go for judgement

(in their disputes) to the Tâghût (false judges)

while they have been ordered to reject them. But

Shaitân (Satan) wishes to lead them far astray.

(60)

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Allah chastises those who claim to believe in

what Allah has sent down to His Messenger and

to the earlier Prophets, yet they refer to other

than the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His

Messenger for judgment in various disputes.

Hadith

It was reported that the reason behind revealing

this Ayah was that; a man from the Ansar and a

Jew had a dispute, and the Jew said, "Let us

17

refer to Muhammad to judge between

us.''However, the Muslim man said, "Let us

refer to Ka`b bin Al-Ashraf (a Jew) to judge

between us.

''It was also reported that; the Ayah was

revealed about some hypocrites who pretended

to be Muslims, yet they sought to refer to the

judgment of Jahiliyyah. Other reasons were also

reported behind the revelation of the Ayah.

However, the Ayah has a general meaning, as it

chastises all those who refrain from referring to

the Qur'an and Sunnah for judgment and prefer

the judgment of whatever they chose of

falsehood, which befits the description of

Taghut here. This is why Allah said, (and they

wish to go for judgment to the Taghut) until the

end of the Ayah.

There was another group called Murjia and

followers and the movement was called

Murjites. They testify on tongue, and accepted

in their hearts but have removed good deeds

from the requirement of Iman to be completed.

Their philosophy concerning Islamic Creed and

Iman that only God has the authority to judge

18

who is a true Muslim. Murjites doctines stress

on more on belief and submitting to God rather

than stressing on acts of piety and good deeds.

They believed Muslims committing grave sins

would remain Muslim and be eligible for

paradise if they remained faithful. The Murjite

opinion on the issue of whether one committing

a grave sin remains a believer was adapted with

modifications by later theological schools.

According to their philosophy Ibless, Pharoah

and other disbelievers even though they believe

in their hearts,they have been obliged to

adoptthe view of Jahm.

Quran 98:5

يه حى يه ه ٱذ مخ بذوا ٱهلل فاء وما أمشوا إل ي

ىة ىة ويؤحىا ٱض قيمت ) ويقيمىا ٱ ديه ٱ (٢ ورٳ

And they were commanded not, but that they

should worship Allâh, and worship none but

Him Alone (abstaining from ascribing partners

to Him), and perform As-Salât (Iqâmat-as-Salât)

and give Zakât: and that is the right religion. (5)

19

In the above verse word perform is used to

prove that it is obligated to every Muslim, other

than testifying through the tongue, and

affirming in heart there should be practical done

to complete one‟s Iman.

Hadith

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira

that the Messenger of Allah (may peace and

blessings be upon him) said: faith has over

seventy branches or over sixty branches, the

most excellent of which is the declaration that

there is no god but Allah, and the humblest of

which is the, removal of what is injurious from

the path: and modesty is the branch of faith.

(Muslim, Vol 1, No. 56)

Increasing and Decreasing in Iman is a

fundamental positions of Ahl us Sunnah because

we all experience every day and every moment

of our life.

Quran 8:2

20

وجج قىبہم وإرا ش ٱهلل مؤمىىن ٱزيه إرا ر إوما ٱ

ىن سبهم يخى ا وع ى ـ خه صادحہم إيم ـ حيج عيہم ءاي

(٥) For, believers are those who, when Allah is

mentioned, feel a tremor in their hearts, and

when they hear His signs rehearsed, find their

faith strengthened, and put (all) their trust in

their Lord. (2)

Hadith

It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira: A

fornicator who fornicates is not a believer as

long as he commits fornication, and no one who

steals is a believer as long as he commits theft,

and no one who drinks wine is a believer as long

as he drinks it, and repentance may be accepted

after that. (Muslim, Vol 1, No. 109)

Quran 48:4

مؤمىيه يضدادوا يىت ف قىب ٱ ٱس هى ٱزي أوض

ىہم ـ ع إيم ا م ى ـ إيم س ىٳث وٱ ـ م جىىد ٱس ان وهلل و

ا ) يم ا ح عيم (٤ٱهلل

21

He it is Who sent down As-Sakinah (calmness

and tranquillity) into the hearts of the believers,

that they may grow more in Faith along with

their (present) Faith. And to Allâh belong the

hosts of the heavens and the earth, and Allâh is

Ever All-Knower, All-Wise. (4)

Hadith

He who amongst you sees something

abominable should modify it with the help of his

hand( activism, organization, movement ); and

if he has not strength enough to do it, then he

should do it with his tongue( by seeking out

against it ), and if he has not strength enough to

do it, (even) then he should (abhor it) from his

heart( by always disliking what is evil or

harmful ), and that is the least of faith(Muslim,

Book 1, No 79).

Ibn Taymiyyah clarified how Iman increases

and decreases in Book of Iman.

1. The details of what believers have been

commanded varied from time to place. The

details varies with knowledge.

22

2. The level of commitment and action that

believers undertake, those who do bare min is

not same as those who do more Nawafil Ibaadah

3. Actual affirmation of truth is in fact of

various levels. There are decimal points

between 0 and 1. Abu Bakr given title of Sideeq

in the incident of Isra and Miraj, one who

witnesses and sees is not the same as one who

hears, he gives an interesting story, after Moses

(as) spending 40 days and Allah says his people

worshipped calf – but his anger exploded when

he saw the golden calf.

4. Detailed knowledge of a matter adds levels of

perception and certainty that summarized

knowledge does not.

5. A belief that causes one to act upon it is

necessarily stronger than a belief that does not

cause any action. How many believes in Jannah

and Hell but how many struggles to achieve it or

stay away.

23

6. The actions of the heart (humility, love,

modesty etc), which are an integral part of Iman,

very widely between people.

7. The outward actions vary widely between

people. This is similar to point 2.

8. States of Ghafila ( heedlessness, lapse of

Iman) are more frequent for some than others.

Ihsan is absence of Ghafila. A Tabeyeen said to

be conscious of Allah increases Iman and

neglecting Dhikr decreases Iman.

9. It is possible that a matter or belief is denied

because of ignorance, and when someone learns

of its truth, he accepts it. This shows something

has changed in him internally.

Quran 1:6

مسخقيم )... شٳ ٱ (٢ٱ

…straight path (6)

24

Straight path is the path to Jannah by holding

Quran and Sunnah without making any exit

towards any new innovation in Islam.

And Allah Knows Best

May Allah give us understanding of Quran and

increase our knowledge of Allah‟s Deen Islam.

May Allah remove our problems and worries

and send His blessings.

May Allah accept my work and increase our

knowledge, Ameen

Quran 2:127

مىا يم ) سبىا حقب ميع ٱ أوج ٱس (٧٥٢إو ..…

"Our Lord!accept (this service) from us, for

thou art the All-Hearing the All-Knowing.”

Ameen