The Concept of Faith in Islam

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English Monograph Series Book No.

e

CONCEPTFAITH

nISLAM

Habib Ali al-Jifri


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OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES

. e Amman Message

. A Common Word Between Us and You

. Forty Hadith on Divine Mercy

. Jihad and the Islamic Law of War . Body Count

. e Holy Quran and the Environment

. Address to H. H. Pope Benedict

. Keys to Jerusalem

. Islam, Christianity and the Environment

.e First World Interfaith Harmony Week

. Islam and Peace

. Reason and Rationality in the Quran

. e Concept of Faith in Islam

. Warfare in the Quran


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MABDA

English Monograph Series

Habib Ali al-Jifri


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English Monograph Series No. e Concept of Faith in Islam: ----

Translation from Arabic into English by Khaled Williams.

e Royal Aal Al-Bayt Institute for Islamic ought Sa'ed Bino Road, Dabuq

Amman ,www.rissc.jo/

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilised in anyform or by any means, electronic or mechanic, including photocopying or re-cording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the priorwrien permission of the publisher.

Views expressed in the Essay Series do not necessarily reect those ofor its advisory board.

Designed by Besim Ali BruncajEnglish set in Arno Pro

Arabic set in NaskhPrinted in e Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

e Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan National Library

//


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Contents

Introduction |

e Concept of Faith in Islam |

. Faith (Iman) in its Lexical and Technical Meanings |

.e Meaning of Faith, and its Articles |

.e Levels of Surrender (Islam), Faith(Iman) and Excellence (Ihsan) |

.e Relationship Between Excellence (Ihsan)and Surrender (Islam) and Faith (Iman) |

.e Increase and Decrease of Faith |

. Aspects of the Eect of Faith onActions and Vice-versa |

. An Explanation of the Six Articles of Faith |

.e Branches of Faith |

Conclusion:e Building of the Faithful Soul is theBeginning of the Building of Faithbased Society |


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Introduction

From November -, , the Royal Aal Al-Bayt Insti-tute for Islamic ought hosted the second seminar of theCatholic-Muslim Forum at the Baptism Site, Jordan. eForum is one of the fruits of the A Common Word initia-tive, which was launched in and which seeks to pro-mote Muslim-Christian dialogue based on the two sharedreligious commandments of Love of God and Love of the

neighbour [see hp://ACommonWord.com]. e secondForum (building on the success of the rst Forum, whichwas held at the Vatican in ) brought together leadingscholars from each religion to discuss the following threethemes: . Reason, . Faith, .e Human Person.

On the rst day, Prof. Ibrahim Kalin presented Reason

and Rationality in the Quran, and Prof. Viorio Possenti pre-sented e Human Person in the Light of Reason: A ChristianPerspective.

On the second day, Father Francios Bousquet presented[in French], e Human Person in the Light of Faith; A Chris-tian Perspective, and Habib Ali Jifri presented [in Arabic]eConcept of Faith in Islam.

On the third day Prof. Timothy Winter presented e Hu-man Personin Islam, and Prof. Stefan Hammer presentedeHuman Person: Dignity and Rights: A Catholic Perspective.

On each day, the presentations were followed by friendlyand frank discussions which served to beer understand


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each others perspective.On the second day of the event, the participants were in-

vited to greet H.M. King Abdullah and share maers ofconcern to both Muslims and Catholics.

A public session on the nal day had a panel of threemembers of each delegation answering questions put forth

by the audience.e Final Joint Declaration was also issuedduring this session [see hp://ACommonWord.com/docs/FinalDeclarationen.pdf]

is book is the paper presented by Habib Ali al-Jifri, andincludes the English translation.


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hose who have faith, and have not confounded theirfaith with evildoing to them belongs the true secu-

rity; they are rightly guided (Al-An`am, :).

And he says:

ut whosoever turns away om My remembrance,his shall be a life of narrowness, and on the Resur-

rection Day We shall raise him blind. He shall say, O

my Lord, why have you raised me blind, and I was wontto see? God shall say, Even so it is. Our signs came unto

you, and you forgot them; and so today you are forgoen(Ta Ha,:),

and says:

y the soul, and Him who shaped it, inspiring it withits lewdness and its God consciousness. Prosper-

ous is he who puries it, and a failure is he who stunts it(Al-Shams, :).

We will consider the topic of the concept of faith bymeans of the following points:

. Faith (iman) in its lexical and technical meanings.

. e meaning of faith, and its articles.


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. e levels of surrender (islam), faith (iman) andexcellence (ihsan).

. e relationship between excellence and surrender andfaith.

. e increase and decrease of faith.

. Aspects of the eect of faith on actions and vice-versa.

. An explanation of the six articles of faith.

. e branches of faith.

. Faith (Iman) in its Lexical and Technical Meaningse author of Maqayis al-Lugha says:

e root leers 'mn have two closelyrelated rootmeanings: the rst is the faithfulness (amana) that isthe opposite of treachery, meaning the hearts assur-ance; and the other is belief. e two meanings areclose. AlKhalil says that al-amana (security) comesfrom amn (safety), and that aman means to give safety,

whilst amana means the opposite of treachery.

Lisan al-Arab says:

Ahmad ibn Faris al-Razi, Mu`jam Maqayis al-Lugha, ed. `Abd al-Salam Harun (Beirut, Dar al-Fikr ), entry for amn, /.


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Amina: al-aman and al-amana mean the same. everb is amina, the active participle amin. Amanameans to give amn and aman to someone else.Amn isthe opposite of fear; amana is the opposite of treach-ery; iman is the opposite of unbelief.Iman also meansto believe; its opposite is to belie. It is said, Somepeople believed (amana) in him, and others beliedhim. To have faith is something means to believein it, and to be sure (amina) that the one telling it

is not lying. Iman also means to show acquiescenceand acceptance to the Sacred Law, and to all thatthe Prophet (God bless him and grant him peace)brought, and to accept it and believe in with the heart.e one who does all this is a believer (mu'min) anda Muslim, having neither misgivings nor doubts; and

he is the one who sees that completing the obliga-tions [of the religion] is incumbent upon him, andhas no doubt about this. e Glorious Revelationsays: You are not a mu'min in us (Yusuf, :),meaning you do not believe us; iman means belief.

... As for iman, it is the gerund of the verb amana/yu'minu/iman, active participle mu'min. e scholars,linguists are otherwise, are agreed that iman meansbelief. AlAzhari said: e basis of iman is to enterinto a state of belief in the trust (amana) that God


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Almighty has given one.

e technical meaning of faith is rm belief in somethingreal, based on evidence. Experts in this subject have denedfaith as being to believe with the heart and proclaim withthe tongue; some have added to act with the body. Or, inthe words of Abu Ùbayd al-Qasim ibn Salam: Faith is tohave sincere devotion to God with the heart, to testify this

with the tongue, and to act on it with the body.

2. e Meaning of Faith, and its Articlese meaning of faith (iman) and its qualities and articles,and its position between surrender (islam) and spiritualexcellence (ihsan), were given in the very famous hadith ofour master Gabriel (peace be upon him) in the two Sahih

collections. Ùmar ibn al-Khaab said:

We were with the Messenger of God (God bless him andgrant him peace) one day, when there came to us a manwearing dazzling white clothes, with jet black hair; therewere no marks of travel on him, and yet not one of usknew him. He sat by the Prophet (God bless him and

Ibn Manzur al-Afriqi, Lisan al-Àrab (Beirut, Dar Sadir, ), en-try for amn, /. Abu Ùbayd al-Qasim ibn Salam, Kitab al-Iman (Beirut, Maktabatal-Maàrif, ), p. .


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grant him peace), knee to knee, placed his hands on histhighs, and said: O Muhammad, tell me about surren-der (islam). e Messenger of God (God bless him andgrant him peace) said: Surrender is to testify that thereis no god but God and that Muhammad is God's Mes-senger (God bless him and grant him peace), to performthe prayer, bestow the alms, fast Ramadan and make,if you can, the pilgrimage to the Holy House. He said:

You have spoken truly, and we were amazed that hav-

ing questioned him he should corroborate him. He thensaid: Tell me about faith (iman). He said: To believein God and His angels and His books and His messen-

gers and the Last Day, and to believe in Providence, thegood of it and the evil of it. You have spoken truly, hesaid, and then: Tell me about excellence (ihsan). He

said: To worship God as if you saw Him; for if you seeHim not, He assuredly sees you. He said: Tell me aboutthe Hour. He said: e one questioned knows no moreabout it than the questioner. He said: en tell me ofits portents. He said: at the slavegirl shall give birthto her mistress; and that those who were but barefootnaked needy herdsmen shall build buildings ever higherand higher.en the stranger went away, and I tarrieda while. He then said to me: O `Umar, do you knowwho the questioner was? I said: God and His Messen-ger know best. He said: It was Gabriel. He came unto


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you to teach you your religion.

e articles of faith, then, as the leading scholars of hadithhave claried in the introductory sections of the works theyhave authored on the science of the holy prophetic hadith,are faith in God Almighty, the angels, the revealed scriptures,the messengers and prophets, the resurrection and the LastDay, and Providence, the good of it and the evil of it. eMuslim scholars have authored lengthy works of commen-

tary and reection on the aforementioned hadith, concern-ing the meaning and implications of the articles of faith, andthe dierence between surrender and faith; they have evencalled this hadith the Mother of the Sunna, just as Surat Al-Fatiha is called the Mother of the Book.

Narrated by Imam Muslim in his Sahih: Kitab al-Iman, Bab Ma`rifatal-Iman wal-Islam wal-Qadar wa Àlamat al-Saà, /, no. ; and byImam Bukhari in his Sahih: Kitab al-Iman, Bab Su'al Jibril al-Nabi Salla

Allahu àlayhi wa Sallam àn al-Iman wal-Islam wal-Ihsan wa Ìlm al-Saà, /, no. ; the wording here is that of Muslim. Ibn Hajr al-Àsqalani says in Fath al-Bari: AlQurtubi said that thishadith could rightly be called the Mother of the Sunna because of howit constitutes such a wealth of information about the Sunna; and al-Tayyibi said that this is the reason why al-Baghawi began his two booksal-Masabih and Sharh al-Sunna with it, just as the Qur'an begins with

Al-Fatiha because of how it comprises a summary of all the knowledgeconveyed in the Qur'an. AlQadi Ìyad said: is hadith contains allthe duties of worship, both the outward and the inward, including thecovenants of faith (at the rst, the present, and the last), the acts of thebody, the sincerity of the inner heart, as well as the way to protect one-


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3. e Levels of Surrender (Islam), Faith (Iman) andExcellence (Ihsan)Imam Nawawi says, in his commentary on Muslims Sahih, inthe beginning ofKitab al-Iman:

AlZuhri said: Surrender is the word, and faith is thedeed. He cites as evidence for this the Almightys

words: e Bedouins say: We have aained to faith.Say: You have not aained to faith, but say, We have

surrendered; for faith has not yet entered your hearts(Al-Hujurat, :). Others say that surrender andfaith are the same thing, citing as evidence for thisGods words: en we brought forth such of the faith-ful (mu'minin) as were there; yet We found there but onehouse of those who surrendered (muslimin) (Al-Dhari-

yat, :).

AlKhaabi said: e correct way to approach thisis to speak in specic and not general terms; for one

who surrenders (muslim) might be faithful in somecircumstances but not in others, whilst one who is

self from those things which spoil ones actions. Indeed, all the sciencesof the Sacred Law come back to it, and sprout forth from it. is is whyI have said so much about it; and all that I have mentioned, althoughit seems a lot, is really only a lile when compared to all that this ha-dith contains. Ahmad ibn Hajr al-`Asqalani, Fath al-Bari Sharh Sahihal-Bukhari (Beirut, Dar al-Marifa, ), vol. , p. .


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faithful (mu'min) is in a state of surrender in all cir-cumstances. Everymu'min is a muslim, but not everymuslim is a mu'min. If you take the maer in this way,

you will be able to interpret all the verses and speakabout them equally without changing your positionfrom one to the other.e basis of faith is belief, andthe basis of surrender is submission and acquiescence;a man might surrender on the outside whilst not ac-quiescing on the inside; and he might believe on the

inside whilst not acquiescing on the outside.

AlKhaabi also said, about the Prophets (God blesshim and grant him peace) words Faith is seventysomethingbranches:

is hadith makes it clear that faith, according to theSacred Law, is a name for a concept which has manybranches, and lower and higher levels; and the namecan be applied to any individual part just as it can beapplied to the whole; and the reality of it comprises allits branches, and includes all its parts. It is like canoni-cal prayer, which has branches and parts: the namecan be applied to its parts, yet the reality comprises

Op. cit., vol. , p. . Narrated by Imam Muslim in his Sahih: Kitab al-Iman, Bab Shu`abal-Iman, /, no. .


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and includes all of its parts. is is supported by his(God bless him and grant him peace) words: Shynessis a branch of faith.is arms that there is a hier-archy in faith, and that the faithful are distinguishedfrom one another by its degrees.

Imam Abu Muhammad al-Husayn ibn Mas`ud al-Baghawi says:

e Prophet (God bless him and grant him peace)made surrender a name for outward actions, andfaith a name for inward beliefs. is is not becauseactions are not part of faith, or that belief of the heartis not part of surrender; rather, it is a detailed explana-tion of a totality which is in fact one single thing, the

sum of which is called religion. erefore he (Godbless him and grant him peace) said: It was Gabriel;he came to you to teach you your religion. Belief and ac-tion are both included in the names of faith and sur-render together; this is supported by the fact that the

Almighty says Verily, before God, religion is surrender(Aal `Imran, :), and It has been My good pleasureto choose surrender for you as your religion (Al-Ma'ida,:). e Almighty is saying here that the religionwhich He has gladly chosen, and which He accepts

Part of the aforementioned hadith.


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from His servants, is surrender; and religion couldnot be acceptable or pleasing unless it included beliefalongside action.

Some see that if surrender and faith are mentioned to-gether, they take on dierent meanings, whilst if they arementioned separately, they mean the same thing: if they arementioned in the same place, surrender comes to mean out-

ward action, and faith comes to mean inward action; and

if either one of them is mentioned on its own, it is takento mean both, in which case there is no dierence betweenthem.e Prophet (God bless him and grant him peace) ex-

plained iman as being the faith and submission of the heart,meaning faith in God, His angels, His books, His messen-

gers, and so on; and he explained islam as being a particularsurrender, namely that of the Five Pillars. e same is thecase for the rest of what he (God bless him and grant himpeace) said: he explained faith in that way, and surrender inthis; and that way is the higher one. erefore the Prophet(God bless him and grant him peace) said: Surrender is pub-lic, and faith is in the heart. Outward actions can be seen by

Imam Nawawi, op. cit., vol. , p. . Anas said: e Messenger of God (God bless him and grant himpeace) said: Surrender is public, and faith is in the heart. He then sig-nalled with his hand to his chest three times, and then said: Godconscious-ness is here, Godconsciousness is here. Narrated by Imam Ahmad in his


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others, whilst the belief, knowledge, love, fear and hope ofthe heart are hidden, although they do have eects whichmight indicate them although eects do not indicate any-thing unless their cause is certain.

Both Abd Allah ibn Amr and Abu Huraya reported thatthe Prophet (God bless him and grant him peace) said: emuslim is the oneom whose tongue and hands the Muslims aresafe; and the mu'min is the one whom the people trust with theirlives and their possessions. So he explained the muslim with

an outward maer, namely the peoples safety from him, andexplained the mu'min with an inward maer, namely thatthe people trust him with their lives and their possessions.e laer quality is higher than the former, since if a personis trusted, the people are safe from him, whilst not everyone

who they are safe from can be trusted, since someone might

refrain from harming them, yet nevertheless they might nottrust him in fear that he might only have refrained fromharming them out of desire or fear, and not because of anyfaith in his heart.

Imam Fakhr al-Din al-Razi says in his Tafsir:

Musnad, /, no. . Narrated by Imam Ahmad in hisMusnad/, no. , Imam Tir-midhi in his Sunan: Abwab al-Iman, Bab ma ja' anna al-Muslim manSalima al-Muslimuna min Lisanih wa yadih, /, no. . Taqi al-Din Abu al-`Abbas ibn Taymiyya, Majmu` al-Fatawa (Me-dina, King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran, ),

vol. , pp. .


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ere is a dierence between the general and the spe-cic. Faith can only be aained by the heart, though itmight be spoken with the tongue. Surrender is moregeneral than that; but when the general is presentedin the form of the specic, it unites with it, and is notsomething apart from it. For example, the word ani-mal is more general than the word man; but whena man is called an animal, this does not constitutesomething that can be separated from the man, and

it cannot be said that this animal is only an animaland not a man.e general and the specic and dier-ent in generality, but united in existence. e same istrue of the mu'min and the muslim: the truth is that the

word muslim is more general than the word mu'min,yet there is nothing to prevent the general word be-

ing used with the specic intent: if the mu'min can becalled a muslim, this does not imply that they meanexactly the same thing.

From this, we can see how the heart is the locus for beliefand faith, and the thing that the Almighty Real is interestedin, as the Messenger of God (God bless him and grant himpeace) said:

Abu `Abd Allah Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, Mafatih al-ghayb, or al-Tafsiral-Kabir(Beirut, Dar Ihya` al-Turath al-`Arabi, , rd edition),vol. , p. , .


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Indeed, in the body there is a morsel which, if it is sound,the whole body is sound, and if it is spoiled, the wholebody is spoiled. Indeed, it is the heart.

Because of this, God Almighty denied the existence ofrm faith in the hearts of those Bedouins who claimed tohave reached the station of faith when they entered Islam,and armed that they were participating in the outward ac-tions of surrender, saying:

he Bedouins say: We have aained to faith. Say:You have not aained to faith, but say, We have

surrendered; for faith has not yet entered your hearts(Al-Hujurat, :).

So faith is more specic than surrender, and excellence ismore specic, and a higher level, than faith.e beall and endall of spiritual excellence is for the ser-

vant to ascend the levels of awareness of God Almighty andto witness Him in all ones actions and ones conduct.is isthe third degree, aer surrender and faith, and is higher thanthem both; and it is built upon them, and not extraneousto them. ere can be no faith without surrender, and no

Narrated by Imam Bukhari in his Sahih: Kitab al-Iman, Bab Fadl manIstabra'a liDinih (/, no. ), and by Imam Muslim in his Sahih: Kitabal-Talaq, Bab Akhdh al-Halal wa Tark al-Shubuhat (/, no. ), onthe authority of Nu`man ibn Bashir (God be pleased with him).


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excellence without faith. It is an excellence which the be-liever observes in all situations, and in worship in its mostcomprehensive meaning, which means more than just ritesand supererogatory acts of devotion. Indeed, other narrated

versions of the hadith have it: Excellence is to work for Godas though you see Him; for if you see Him not, He assuredlysees you, and also: Excellence is to fear God as though yousee Him; for if you see Him not, He assuredly sees you.is is

what makes excellence a constant conduct of the faithful in

all their deeds and situations.

4. e Relationship Between Excellence (Ihsan) andSurrender (Islam) and Faith (Iman)Surrender is a designation aained by all who testify withtheir tongues that there is no god but God and that Muham-

mad is the Messenger of God. It pertains to this worldlylife, and to ruling and interactions which have to do withits adherents connection to the rest of the Muslims: he maymarry from them, inherit from them, be prayed over and

buried in their graveyards, and so on the for the rest of theoutward laws. It also requires adherence to the other Pillars:prayer, the alms, fasting, and the pilgrimage.

But the reality of this, and its fruits in the heart and in

Narrated by Imam Ahmad in hisMusnad, /, no. . Narrated by Imam Muslim in his Sahih: Kitab al-Iman, Bab al-Islamma huwa wa ma hiya Khisaluh, /, no. .


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the Hereaer, depend on this adherence to the Pillars be-ing sincerely devoted to God Almighty, without any osten-tation, hypocrisy, pretention, selfsatisfaction or arrogance.is can only be aained when the Muslim adheres to thepillars of Islam whilst being in a state of awareness of God

Almighty with love, desire, fear and hope.is is the mean-ing of excellence.

Faith is belief; and this belief might be knowledge, wit-nessing, or true certainty. Certainty has three degrees and

levels: the knowledge of certainty (ìlm al-yaqin), the vi-sion of certainty (àyn al-yaqin) and the truth of certainty(haqq al-yaqin), as God indicates in the Holy Qur'an whenHe says: Nay! Would that you knew with the knowledge ofcertainty (Al-Takathur, :), You shall surely see it withthe eye of certainty (Al-Takathur, :), Indeed, this is the

truth of certainty (Al-Waqià, :), and And indeed, itis the truth of certainty (Al-Haqqa, :). Yet faith on thelevel of the knowledge of certainty is itself dependable andacceptable; for knowledge pertains to the minds perception,and its certainty is aained by the hearts assurance and rm

belief.To have knowledge of the articles of faith, and for the

mind to accept them, is the lowest level of faith, and isenough to make the morally responsible person a believer(mu'min); yet faith at this level is exposed to disturbances,and could be beset by the gales of doubt, disturbed by the

winds of uncertainty, or uprooted by the hurricanes of trial


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and misfortune. To ascend, however, to a higher level thanthe knowledge of certainty makes faith rm and stable sothat it is impervious to backsliding.is can only be aainedthrough a feeling of cognisance of Gods signs which aremanifest in existence; and one of the clearest of these signsare those that exist in the soul of man, as the Almighty says:And in the earth are signs for the certain; and in your ownselves will you not, then, see? (Al-Dhariyat, :). It canalso be through cognisance of how God is watching over the

believers heart, as He says: We created man, and We knowwhat his heart whispers; and We are closer to him than his jugu-lar vein (Qaf, :). is is the level of excellence, whichis to worship God as though you see Him; for if you see himnot, He assuredly sees you. Hence, we nd the mention offaith in the Holy Quran indicating excellence when God

says: ose who have believed and whose hearts are assuredby the remembrance of Allah . Unquestionably, by the remem-brance of Allah hearts are assured (Al-Rad, :). Assured-ness is a state of the heart which has to do with certaintyand awareness of Gods presence. Consequently, when ex-cellence is actualized it brings perfection to the realm of ac-tion; the Prophet (God bless him and grant him peace) said:God the Exalted One, loves that if any of you performs an action,he should do it with perfection. In this way, the connectionbetween surrender, faith and excellence can be clearly seen.

Narrated by al-Bayhaqi in Shu'ab al-Iman (/ no. )


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5. e Increase and Decrease of Faithe Proof of Islam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, in his bookIhyaÙlum al-Din, says:

Faith is a word with various meanings, used in threeways: the rst is belief with the heart by way of doc-trine and imitation, without there being any personaldiscovery of expansion of breast; this is the faith ofthe ordinary people, the faith of all mankind save for

the elite.is doctrine (i`tiqad) is a knot (ùqda) tiedaround the heart; sometimes it tightens and strength-ens, and at other times it loosens and weakens, justlike a knot in a piece of string.

In that sense, God says:

nd whenever a surah is revealed, there are amongthe hypocrites those who say, "Which of you has

this increased faith?" As for those who believed, it hasincreased them in faith, while they are rejoicing (Al-Taw-bah, :)

he believers are only those who, when Allah is men-tioned, their hearts become fearful, and when His

Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, Ihya' Ùlum al-Din (Beirut, Dar al-Marifa),vol. , p. f.


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verses are recited to them, it increases them in faith; andupon their Lord they rely (Al-Anfal, :);

t is He who sent down tranquillity into the hearts ofthe believers that they would increase in faith along

with their [present] faith(Al-Fath, :);

and that those who were given the Scripture will be con-vinced and those who have believed will increase in faith(Al-

Muddaththir, :).

e second usage is belief and action together, as theMessenger of God (God bless him and grant himpeace) said: Faith is seventysomething portals; andhe (God bless him and grant him peace) said: When

the fornicator fornicates, he is not a believer.

When ac-tion is included in the meaning of the word faith, thefact that it increases and decreases is obvious; as to

whether this implies the increase of the faith whichis only belief, that is a maer of debate; we have indi-cated before that indeed it does.

Narrated by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad, / , no. , and byTirmidhi in his Sunan, /, no. ; he declared it to be rigorouslyauthentic. Narrated by Imam Bukhari in his Sahih: Kitab al-Hudud, Bab Ithmal-Zunnah, /, no. . Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, op. cit.


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ere are around y Qur'anic verses that couple faithwith righteous deeds; for example, God says: Your guard-ian can be only Allah; and His messenger and those who believe,who establish regular prayers and regular charity, and bowdown [in worship] (Al-Ma'idah, :). Hence, God made itclear that those who believe are those who establish regularprayers and charity (zakah), which are amongst the highestrighteous deeds. In fact, the Quran goes so far as to state inthe context of describing believers, that faith in a sense of

aainment and rmness is conned to those who performsuch deeds:

he believers are only those who, when Allah is men-tioned, their hearts become fearful, and when Hisverses are recited to them, it increases them in faith; and

upon their Lord they rely. e ones who establish prayer,andom what We have provided them, they spend. oseare the believers, truly. For them are degrees [of high posi-tion] with their Lord and forgiveness and noble provision(Al-Anfal, :).

So, God made here a bond between true faith and theestablishment of the regular prayers and charity.

e third usage is that it means certain belief by wayof personal discovery, expansion of the breast, and a

beholding of the insights light. is is the most un-


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likely of the three to be subject to increase; but I saythat when it comes to something certain in whichthere is no doubt, the souls assurance of it can dier:the souls assurance that two is greater than one is notthe same as its assurance that the world is created andcontingent, even if neither one of them are doubted.Certain maers dier in their level of clarity, and howassured the soul is about them.

God says:

he believers are only those who believe in Allah andHis Messenger and, when they are [meeting] with

him for a maer of common interest, do not depart untilthey have asked his permission. Indeed, those who ask

your permission, [O Muhammad] - those are the oneswho believe in Allah and His Messenger (Al-Nur, 24:62).

is verse arms that the word Iman [faith] signies amultiplicity of meanings. It is noted here that the faithfulare dened as those who believe, and this describes the stateof heart, and that they do not depart until they have asked hispermission, and this pertains to action. So the Almighty Godmentioned the aribute of faith in dening the faithful ebelievers are only those who believe, and this does not make

Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, op. cit.


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logical sense unless the denition using the same term of theobject dened has dierent usage from it.

6. Aspects of the Eect of Faith onActions and Vice-versaFaith impacts on action from a viewpoint that faith is theenergy on which man draw his activity towards performinga good deed. Man needs to have an impetus that makes himproceed to work and endure the discomforts and diculties

facing him while trying to accomplish or avoid something.e faith of a labourer, for example, in his need for money toobtain food and clothing, aain self-realization and care forhis family constitutes an impetus that drives him to wake upearly and accept tiredness and hardship at work. e sameis true of the faith in God as being the impetus that makes

the faithful constantly obey the commandants and avoid theprohibitions of God, even if such a thing is burdensome onthe soul. in addition, faith has its eect on mans steadfast-ness and his excellence at work as a result of the meaningthat the work holds for him, clarity of the way he operates,and stability of his decisions about it, particularly at the in-tru- sion of feelings of greed and fear, so as to continue toavoid cheating or deceiving and evade anything that mayaect the quality or continuity of the work. e Almightysays:


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ho created me, and He [it is who] guides me. Andit is He who feeds me and gives me drink. And

when I am ill, it is He who cures me. And who will causeme to die and then bring me to life. And who I aspire thatHe will forgive me my sin on the Day of Recompense (Al-Shu'ara', 26:78-82);

and He says:

hose to whom hypocrites said, "Indeed, the peoplehave gathered against you, so fear them." But it

[merely] increased them in faith, and they said, "Su-cient for us is Allah , and [He is] the best Disposer ofaf- fairs. So they returned with favorom Allah andbounty, no harm having touched them. And they pursued

the pleasure of Allah , and Allah is the possessor of greatbounty (Aal 'Imran,:).

Similarly, action impacts on faith. For example, if thesoul is accustomed to fail to adhere to a certain command ofGod and this state continues for a longtime, then its interestand faith in such command incline to gradually go down;and perhaps the soul becomes apathetic toward it and itslife goes on without any eect of such faith on it. ere-fore, the denial of faith in such command when does not goalong with the souls behaviors and desires would be easierthan changing what became entrenched improper conduct.


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God says: No! rather, the stain has covered their hearts ofthat which they were earning. No! Indeed,om their Lord, that

Day, they will be partitioned (Al-Mutan, 83:14-15). AbuHurayrah narrated that the Messenger of God said: Whenthe believer commits a sin, a black dot will be engraved onhis heart. If he repents, refrains and regrets, his heart will

be polished again. If he commits more errors, the dots willincrease until they cover his heart.is is the ran (stain) thatGod described: No! Rather, the stain has covered their

hearts of that which they were earning .e Almightysays: Say, en why did you kill the prophets of Allah be-fore, if you are [indeed] believers? (Al-Baqarah, 2:91); soGod the exalted One made the act of killing evidence whichnegates belief.

7. An Explanation of the Six Articles of Faith

FG

e foundation and basis of faith is faith in God Almighty,which is innate to mans primordial nature, which all spiritsacknowledged from the beginning in the realm of the seed

before creation, as God Almighty says:

Narrated by Imam Tirmidhi in his Sunan, Abwab Tafsir Al-Qur'an(/ no. )


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emember when your Lord took the seeds of thesons of Adam om their loins and made them

bear witness against themselves, and said: Am I notyour Lord?ey said: Yea, we testify.is was lest youshould say on the day of Resurrection: Of this we wereunaware (Al-A`raf, 7:172).

e spiritual void we now see is but a consequence ofthe yearning of all spirits to relive that dening moment by

reviving their faithful connection to the Almighty Creator.e Muslim believes, and is certain, and testies, that

there is no god but God, alone with no partner: a MightyGod, a Glorious King, besides whom there is no other Lord,nor any other object of worship. He is Eternal, without

beginning or end; there is no beginning to His Firstness,

nor any end to His Lastness. He is One, the SelfsucientBesought of all, who neither begat nor was begoen, andnone is like him. He has no likeness nor counterpart; thereis nothing like unto Him, and He is the AllHearing, AllSee-ing. In His Holiness He is beyond time and space, and the re-semblance of any created thing. Direction does not encom-pass Him, nor do temporal events befall Him. He is seledupon Hisrone in the way that He said it, according to themeaning He intended, with a seling that bets the might ofHis Majesty and the height of His Glory and His Grandeur.He is near to all things, and nearer to man than his jugularvein. He watches over all things, and observes them. He is


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Living and AllSustaining. Neither slumber nor sleep over-come Him. He made the heavens and the earth; and whenHe decrees a thing, He but says to it Be!, and it is. God is theCreator of all things, and the Patron of all things.

F

Another article of faith is faith in the noble and holy angels(peace be upon them), who are creatures of light, who do

not disobey God when He commands them, and who do as theyare commanded (Al-Tahrim, :). Qur'anic verses andnoble hadiths speak of them with praise and honour, and in-deed with love; for God mentioned those of them who beartherone, and made it clear that the hearts of the believersshould be lled with love for them:

hose who bear the rone, and those around it,hymn the praise of their Lord and have faith in

Him, and ask forgiveness for those who have faith: Lord,You encompass all things in mercy and knowledge; forgive,then, those who repent and follow Your way, and guardthemom the torment of Hell! (Ghar, :);

Imam Àbd Allah ibn Àlawi al-Haddad on the doctrine of thepeople of the Sunna and the community, from the conclusion of Kitabal-Nasa'ih al-Diniyya wal-Wasaya al-Imaniyya, Dar al-Hawi lilTabaà

wal-Nashr, , pp. .


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he heavens are well nigh rent above them, when theangels proclaim the praise of their Lord, and ask for-

giveness for those on earth. Indeed, God is the Forgiving,the Merciful (Al-Shura, :).

ere are also angels who come in turns to mankind bynight and by day, and the recording scribes who abide withevery person at all times.ere are also angels charged with certain tasks pertain-

ing to mankind, including:. Revelation: Gabriel

. Provision: Michael

. Blowing the trumpet [of the resurrection]: Raphael(Isral)

. Taking spirits: the Angel of Death

. Counting good and bad deeds: the Diligent Observer

. e questions of the grave: Munkar and Nakir

. e guardian of Paradise: Ridwan

. e guardian of hell: MalikPeace be upon them all.


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F

Another article of faith, without which the Muslims faith isinvalid, is faith in the messengers and prophets (peace beupon them all), and in the revealed scriptures that God Al-mighty sent down; these include the scriptures of Abraham,Moses, the Psalms, the Torah, the Gospel and the Qur'an.none of these scriptures contained a promise from God toundertake to preserve them, save only the Holy Qur'an, in

which the Almighty says: It is We who have sent down theRemembrance; and indeed, We are its Guardian (Al-Hijr,:). Islam is the religion which includes all the prophetsand envoys in faith, belief, allegiance and love; and God Al-mighty has made our worship contingent on faith in all themessengers and prophets, may Gods blessings and peace be

upon them.So for us, faith is invalid if one does not believe in theprophethood of our master Noah, or our master Abraham,or our master Moses, or our master Jesus, or any other of theprophets whom God mentions in his Glorious Book whenhe says:

ay: We believe in God, and in what has been sentdown to us, and what was sent down to Abraham,

and Ishmael, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the Tribes, andwhat was given to Moses and Jesus and the prophetsomtheir Lord. We make no distinction between any of them,


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and to Him we surrender (Aal `Imran,:).

From the article of faith in all the prophets and messen-gers, the Holy Qur'an made a foundation upon which theMuslim community can base its relations to other communi-ties.e Almighty says:

you who have faith! Have faith in God, and His Mes-senger, and the Book which He has revealed unto His

Messenger, and the Book which He revealed aforetime.Whoso disbelieves in God, and His angels, and His books,and His messengers, and the Last Day, has indeed wan-dered far astray (Al-Nisa', :).

e principal and general basis, then, for our relations

with all of our blessed prophets (upon them all be peaceand blessings) is the connection of faith, love, belief and al-legiance to their guidance: It is they whom God has guided;

follow, then, their guidance (Al-An'am, :), and taking les-sons and wisdoms from their stories and experiences withthe communities of old. e best of the prophets are theresolute (ulu al-`azm) from among the messengers, namelyour masters Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad,peace be upon them. Faith in the messengers must make nodistinction between them, for God Almighty says:

See Surat Al-Ahqaf, :.


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he Messenger believes in what has been sent downto himom his Lord, as do the believers. Each be-

lieves in God, and His angels, and His books, and Hismessengers: We make no distinction between any of Hismessengers (Al-Baqarah,:).

Yet it is valid to believe that some of them are preferredover others, for God has said:

hese are the messengers; We favoured some of themover others. Some there are to whom God spoke,

and some He raised in rank; and We gave Jesus son ofMary clear signs, and aided him with the Holy Spirit (Al-Baqarah,:).

e Father of the Prophets and the Friend of the Com-passionate, our master Abraham (peace be upon him) wasblessed with a special position, which gives him a certaineminence in our connection to him, in several ways. eseinclude the ascription of the primordial faith (al-haniyya)to him, as well as how our prophet Muhammad (God blesshim and his family and grant him peace) is descended fromhim, and is the answer to the prayer he made when he calledupon God Almighty, saying:

ur Lord, raise among them a messengerom them,who shall convey unto them Your signs, and teach


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them scripture and wisdom, and cause them to growin purity; You are the Almighty, the wise (Al-Baqarah,:).

Our master Moses (peace be upon him) also has a spe-cial eminence in his connection to us, which was manifest-ed when our master Muhammad (God bless him and granthim peace) went back to him several times during his holy

Ascension; each time, he advised him to ask God Almighty

to lessen the burden of the canonical prayer for his commu-nity, until nally God decreed it to be ve prayers, aer ithad been y.

As for our master Jesus (peace be upon him), he has aspecial place with regards to his connection to the Islamiccommunity in that God Almighty made him one of the most

distinctive major portents of the Hour, and one of the keysof deliverance for this community in the end times, whenJesus (peace be upon him) will descend, as our Messengerdescribed it:

He will descend by a white tower east of Damascus wear-

See the narration of Imam Bukhari in his Sahih (/), Kitab al-Salah, Bab Kayfa Furidat al-Salawat lIsra', (no. ); and Imam Mus-lim in his Sahih, Kitab al-Iman, /, no. according to Nawawiscommentary, Bab al-Isra' biRasul Illah ila al-Samawat wa Fard al-Sal-awat, on the authority of Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (God be pleased withhim).


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ing two robes of pale yellow, his hands placed on thewings of two angels. When he lowers his head, beads ofwater will dripom it; and when he raises it, silver beadslike pearls will scaerom it.

How beautiful, then, will be the scene of this descent, andhow aweinspiring will his appearance be (peace be uponhim).e fact that this description is so detailed only addsto the certainty and the aachment of mind, understand-

ing and sensibility to the meaning of our connection withthis holy man so ennobled by his Lord. e hadiths whichdescribe the time, place and manner of his blessed descentare at the level of masstransmission.

erefore, the Muslim believes that he has a special con-nection with Christ (peace be upon him), and that he will

lead the Muslims aer he descends, according to Gods re-ligion that he revealed to his messengers, and his law thathe made the seal of the messages of all his envoys: that ofour master Muhammad (God bless him and his family andgrant him peace).

Narrated by Imam Muslim in his Sahih, Kitab al-Fitan wa Ashrat

al-Saà, /, no. according to Nawawis commentary, Bab Dhi-kr al-Dajjal wa Sifatih wa ma maàh, on the authority of Nawwas ibnSamàn (God be pleased with him). e word mahrudatayn meanstwo robes dyed with wars [a yellow herb] and then with saron. Jumanmeans large silver beads which resemble pearls in their resplendenceand beauty. Àli al-Jafri, al-Masih Isa wa Ummihi al-Siddiqa alayhima al-Salam(Abu Dhabi, Dar al-Faqih, ), pp. .


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Islam addresses the faithful in a way that gives them aspecial aachment, great love, rm esteem and spiritual apt-ness for following our master Christ (peace be upon him)

when he descends. May God make us among those whomHe chooses to love, serve and aid Him Amin!

F LD

Another article of faith is faith in the resurrection, the Last

Day, the reckoning and the requital according to divine mer-cy and justice, as God says: Save for those who repent and dogood works: God shall replace their sins with good deeds, andGod is forgiving, merciful (Al-Furqan, :), and He for-gives much (Al-Shura, :), Whoso does an atoms weightof good shall see it; and whoso does an atoms weight of evil shall

see it (Al-Zalzala, :).is is his way of stirring the be-lievers aspiration and strengthening his resolve to take holdof himself and buckle down to acts of obedience and gooddeeds, and to forswear indulging caprices and delusions ofhappiness based on passions and eeting pleasures. It alsoshows the believer how to take the long view of his future,

which will stretch out without limit, far beyond the time hespends in this world.

F P

e last of these articles is faith in Providence, both the goodand the bad, the sweet and the bier; and faith that the uni-


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verse is never outside the control of the Lords mercy, justiceand wisdom. is is what causes the believer to live a life

which is rened by contentment, tranquillity, security andpatience.

It remains to be said that all the articles of faith are indica-tors that constitute powerful means of building a soul that isassured and condent of its connection to God Almighty, itsoutlook on life, and its consequent deeds and conduct, espe-cially in light of the breadth of the concept of the branches

of faith, which cover every aspect of human outlook andinteraction.

8. e Branches of Faithe essential cultural basis of the concept of the branches offaith is the saying of the Prophet (God bless him and grant

him peace):

Faith is seventysomething or sixtysomething branch-es; the greatest of them is saying there is no god but God,and the least of them is to remove harmful objectsomthe road. Shyness is a branch of faith.

Narrated by Imam Muslim in his Sahih: Kitab al-Iman, Bab Shu`abal-Iman, /, no. , on the authority of Abu Hurayra (God be pleased

with him); similar versions are narrated by Bukhari and others, such as:Faith is sixtysomething branches, and shyness is a branch of faith; Faithis seventysomething portals, the greatest of which is there is no god butGod, and the least of which is to remove bonesom the road; and shyness


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So there are many means of renement in the circle ofthe branches and portals of faith, between the testimony ofDivine Oneness at the top, and removing harmful objectsfrom the road at the boom.is means that all the aspectsof individual and communal life are included. One of thegreatest of them is to love God, the Messenger and his Fam-ily, ones brother and ones neighbour; he (God bless himand his family and grant him peace) said:

ree things which, if they are in a person, he experiencesthe sweetness of faith: for God and His Messenger to bemore beloved to him than anything else; for him to lovea man for no reason other than Gods sake; and for himto hate to return to unbelief just as he would hate to becast intore.

He (God bless him and his family and grant him peace)also said: By Him in whose hand is my soul, no servant believesuntil he loves for his brother the goodness he loves for himself.

is a branch of faith; faith is sixtyfour portals, the highest and loiest ofwhich is to say there is no god but God, and the lowest of which is to re-move harmful objectsom the road; and faith is seventy (or seventytwo)

portals, the highest of which is there is no god but God, and the lowest ofwhich is to remove harmful objects om the road; and shyness is a branchof faith. Narrated by Imam Bukhari in his Sahih: Kitab al-Iman, Bab Halawatal-Iman, /, no. . Narrated by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad, /, no. .


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He (God bless him and his family and grant him peace) alsosaid: He who has no trust has no faith; he who has no covenanthas no religion. He (God bless him and his family and granthim peace) also said: e believer is not he who sleeps full whilehis neighbour goes hungry. He (God bless him and his familyand grant him peace) also said:

Whoso believes in God and the Last Day, let him honourhis guest. Whoso believes in God and the Last Day, let

him not oend his neighbour. Whoso believes in God andthe Last Day, let him say what is good, or be silent.

He (God bless him and his family and grant him peace)also said:

A servants faith is not upright until his heart is upright,and his heart is not upright until his tongue is upright;and no man will enter Paradise whose neighbour is notsafeom his harm.

Narrated by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad, /, no. . Narrated on the authority of Anas ibn Malik (God be pleased withhim), in the Musnad of Bazzar /, no. , and in the Mu`jam Kabirof Tabarani, / no. , and in the Majma` of Haytami /, wherehe ascribed it to Tabarani and Bazzar with a sound chain. Narrated by Imam Bukhari in his Sahih: Kitab al-Adab, Bab Mankana Yu'minu bilLlah wal-Yawm al-Akhir fala Yu'dhi Jarah, /, no. . Narrated by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad, /, no. .


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God has divided your characters among you just as He di-vided your provision among you. God Almighty gives thisworld to those He loves and those He loves not; but Heonly gives religion to those He loves. If God gives religionto someone, then He loves them. By Him in whose hand ismy soul, no servant surrenders until his heart and tongue

surrender; and he does not have faith until his neighbouris safeom his harm.


By Him in whose hand is my soul, you will not enter Para-dise until you have faith, and you will not have faith untilyou love one another. Shall I not show you something that,if you do it, you cause you to love one another? Give oneanother greetings of peace.

Narrated by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad, /, no. . NarratedbyImamMusliminhisSahih:Kitabal-Iman,BabannahulaYadkhul al-Janna illa al-Mu'minun wa anna Mahabbat al-Mu'minin minal-Iman wa anna Ifsha' al-Salam Sabab liHusuliha, /, no. .


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Conclusion: e Building of the Faithful Soul is theBeginning of the Building of Faithbased Societye building of the faithful soul and its education accord-ing to the concept of faith outlined by the aforementionedarticles and qualities, followed by the things the Messengerof God (God bless him and his family and grant him peace)called the branches of faith, and the signs explained by thescholars of faiths increase and decrease these all have con-sequences in real life on the individual, communal and glob-

al level, and on all political, economic, social and culturallevels, which lead to the building of a faithbased civilisation.is is because man, as all religious teachings indicate, is

composed of a spirit, a soul, a heart, a mind and a body. Ifa man understands the meaning of faithful interaction withGod with his entire being that is to say, with his spirit,

mind, heart, soul and body, things will be right between himand God. And if his connection to God Almighty is healthy,then his connection to all others around him will also behealthy. What this means is that the turmoil in which we arecurrently living, and in which the whole world is living notonly the believers is simply the natural result of mans re-jection of, and obliviousness to, the purpose for which Godcreated him, and for which He subjected all existence to him.

T S

e spirit, as Imam Ghazali (God have mercy on him) de-


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nes it, is the divine connection inside man, which inspireshim to turn toward the higher realm and the holier realm,and to connect with the mystery of the rst address that tookplace between him and God Almighty. It is because of thespirit that the believer is able to connect to his Lord with

worship: And I breathed into him of My Spirit (Al-Hijr,:), and it is the means by which the believer ascendsthe stations of love: He loves them, and they love Him (Al-Ma'ida, :); the love which leads to endless states of ex-

tinction in the Beloved, and to subsistence through him: tounion with him, to separation, to the union of union, to theseparation of separation, and so on.

T S

What is meant by soul is that part of man that is subjectto change, so that thereaer the extent of his connection todamnation or felicity can be determined, as the Lord says:

y the soul, and Him who shaped it, inspiring it withits lewdness and its Godconsciousness. Prosperous

is he who puries it, and a failure is he who stunts it (Al-Shams, :).

e most important element of man that has to do withchange and progress to a higher state, or regression to alower state, is the soul, which ascends through seven levels,


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according to the scholars of spiritual discipline and purica-tion.

T S S S

e rst of them is the soul that enjoins evil, to which theAlmighty alluded through the words of the Court Ocerswife: Nor do I exonerate my own soul; indeed, the soul enjoinsevil, save when my Lord has mercy (Yusuf, :).e word

ammara [one who enjoins] is an emphatic nominal form,which implies that it continuously embellishes evil to itsowner. Yet this evilenjoining soul can be raised, by meansof eort and purication, to the second level, which is thatof the reproachful soul.e reproachful soul is that which sometimes incites

good, and sometimes evil; and when its owner commits evil,it reproaches him and tells him to repent and turn back. Godalludes to it when he says: Nay, I swear by the reproachfulsoul (Al-Qiyamah, :).

Higher still is the third level, that of the inspired soul, towhich God alludes when he says: Inspiring it with its lewd-ness and its Godconsciousness (Al-Shams, :). When aperson rises in his faith in God, his soul begins to abate fromits instigations and passions. When he begins to ascend upthe levels of his connection to God Almighty, strugglingagainst his reproachful soul, this soul comes to be recep-tive to the inspirations of the Almighty real, and its instiga-


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tions of caprice and desire begin to subside. it comes to bedominated by reection, meditation and deep thought, andis inspired to utilise sound insight and powerful perception,resulting in a prevalent inclination towards what is good andrighteous.

If the person continues to ascend in selfpurication, hereaches a higher level than the inspired soul, namely thatof the soul at peace, of which God says: soul at peace!(Al-Fajr, :). When the light of divine inspiration shines

upon this soul, it comes to nd peace in the Almighty real,and its certainty becomes stronger, and the vicissitudes andphenomena around it are no longer capable of wresting thispeace from it.is peace or tranquillity is a quality of the righteous

friends of God: it is related that Ibrahim ibn Adham (God

have mercy on him) once boarded a ship which was besetby waves on all sides. ibrahim wrapped his cloth around hishead and lay down to sleep, for there was nothing that couldphysically be done, and all that remained was either fear ortranquillity. e other passengers of the ship clamoured

with cries of fear and prayers, and woke him up and said, Doyou not see the peril we are in? (You can well see how thisturbulent situation resembled the panic and dire straits the

world is experiencing today.) ats not peril, he said. Andwhat is peril, then?, they asked. He answered: to have needfor human beings. He then said: O God, You have shownus Your power; show us now Your clemency; and the sea


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became as calm as a jug of oil. When peace and inner stabil-ity were preponderant in the soul of one man, this led to akind of stability in real life, to the point that the sea becameas calm as a jug of oil.is is something we need to seek forour own souls, to bring the ship of our modern world backunder control.en comes another level higher still; the h level of

the soul. is is the contented soul, to which God alludesby saying: Return to your Lord, contented (Al-Fajr, :).

is contentment is higher than conventional contentment,for it means the seling of contentment in the soul so thatit becomes content with Gods actions and His planning inthis world.is contentment, whose locus is the heart, doesnot oppose or contradict the actions of the body in utilisingmeans to change reality for the beer; we are speaking here

about a contented soul, endowed with wisdom, genius anddepth, not a soul that neglects the real world or fails to dealwith it and work to improve it.en comes the sixth level, namely the accepted soul, to

which the very same verse alludes: Return to your Lord,contented and accepted (Al-Fajr, :), because of howclose it is to the contented soul. He who is content is givencontentment, and he who lives according to the meaning of

Jamal al-Din Abu al-Faraj al-Jawzi, Sifat al-Safwa (Cairo, Dar al- Ha-dith, ), vol. , p. .


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contentment in God is in turn gladly welcomed by God Al-mighty, and thus is accepted.

And when the contentment of the servant is combinedwith the contented acceptance of the Almighty Lord, thesoul becomes ready to ascend to the highest level of humansouls, that of the perfect soul. e meaning of perfectionhere is relative perfection, since absolute perfection belongsonly to God; and this perfection makes a person worthy andable to continue onward to innite horizons of connection

to God Almighty.

TM

As for the mind, it is one of the most important constituentsof man, and is what singles him out from all other creatures.

It is the core of perception, and the means by which manmeasures the barrage of events that surround him againstthe changes of his own soul at moments of anger, sadness,joy, love or hate; for the mind comes to weigh things ac-cording to knowledge, whether it be religious knowledge orempirical knowledge. Both of these come back to the mind,

which in turn is equipped to receive them; a person benetsfrom them according to the power of his mind, once he hascleansed it from the distractions of his souls caprices anddesires.


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TH

It is the seat of choice in man, which is aected by the statesof the spirit, the levels of the soul and the opinion of themind, and makes the decision based on these. It is also thething at which the Lord looks, as the noble hadith says: Godlooks not at your bodies or your forms; but He looks to your heartsand your deeds. Spiritual ascent causes the heart to rise andlive in a state of certainty, in its three levels as described by

the experts in this art, namely knowledge of certainty, visionof certainty and truth of certainty, which is the highest levelto which a man can rise, aer which there is no end to theascent of his hearts stability. In this way, the heart ascendsthrough the nine stations of certainty, which are: repentance,renunciation, patience, gratitude, fear, contentment, hope,

reliance, and love, according to how they are enumerated inQut al-Qulub.

T B

It is the clayhewn container of the spirit, soul, mind and

Agreed upon [by Bukhari and Muslim], on the authority of our mas-ter Abu Hurayra (God be pleased with him). Abu Talib al-Makki, Qut al-Qulub Mu`amalat al-Mahbub wa WasfTariq al-Murid ila Maqam al-Tawhid, ed. Dr. `Asim Ibrahim al-Kayali(Beirut, Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyya, ), Chapter : An Explanationof the Stations of Certainty and the States of the Certain; vol. , p. f.


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heart, and asks for various things; some are needs, and oth-ers are responses to the caprice of the soul. Needs fall intothe legal categories of obligatory or recommended (such aseating for necessity or to give the body growth and preserva-tion; vaccines or medicines to protect the body or cure itsails; or marriage for necessity or for the benet of preservingthe human species and increasing it). As for the caprices ofthe soul, they might fall into the category of recommended,permied, reprehensible or forbidden.

is perspective might amount to a subtle dierence, butit also shows that there is a big dierence between the per-spective of faithbased civilisation and that of other civilisa-tions when it comes to life and mans role in life. Moderncivilisation sees mans connection with the universe fromthe viewpoint of his being the master of the world, having

the right to use it however he pleases; even the discourse ofthe environmentalists is predicated on the aim of preserv-ing mankind and the future of the children who live on theplanet, with the exception of certain civil liberties organisa-tions which take a humanistic outlook and speak about loyconcepts.e perspective of faithbased civilisation concerning

mans connection to the life he lives, however, is higher thanthat, for it sees man as Gods vicegerent on earth. is per-spective means that when man listens to what God says tohim, utilising the understanding of his mind, he rises withhis spirit to a state of harmony with existence and all that


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is within it.If man understands how to correct his aims in life by rid-

ding his heart of heedlessness, correcting his concept of faithand connecting himself to God Almighty that is, if all ofour aairs, motions, words, states, and even the impulsesof our hearts, as far as we are able, are characterised by anunderstanding of what it means to oer worshipful serviceto God in every part of them if that is achieved, then ourrelationships with all creation will be rectied, and we will

have true mastery, thriving and vicegerency.is is becauseman has a purpose in existence, namely to worship; and hehas a task, namely to thrive; and he has a way to achievethe purpose and the task, namely selfpurication.ese arethree essential maers of earthly existence. We nd the pur-pose of worship in Gods words: And I created not the jinn

and mankind save that they should worship Me (Al-Dhariyat,:); and the task of thriving in his words:

ou have no god other than He. It is He who pro-duced you om the earth, and has given you to

thrive thereon; so ask forgiveness of Him, then repent toHim; surely my Lord is nigh, and answers prayer (Hud,11:61);

and the way of purication in his words: Prosperous ishe who puries it, and a failure is he who stunts it (Al-Shams,:).


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God Almighty has made us responsible for thriving onthe earth upon which we live a stage of our lives, a thriv-ing wherein we benet from the earth and look aer it.eProphet (God bless him and his family and grant him peace)told us that

A prostitute of the Israelites saw a dog pacing about a well,about to die of thirst. She removed her sock and drewsome water in it, and gave it to him and on account of

that, God forgave her.

He (God bless him and his family and grant him peace)also told us that

A man who never did any good at all, except to move a

thornom the road either it was on a tree, so he cut itoand threw it away, or it was lying on the ground, sohe removed it so God thanked him for it, and admiedhim into Paradise.

Each of them were aware of the responsibility of havingmercy on the earth and all that is upon it; and this was ameans of their entering Paradise.

Narrated by Imam Muslim in his Sahih, Kitab al-Adab, Bab Fadl Saqial-Baha'im al-Muhtarama, /, no. . Narrated by Abu Dawud in his Sunan, Kitab al-Adab, Bab Imatatal-Adha `an al-Tariq, /, no. .


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We need to reexamine how to link the moral of thrivingwith the moral of purication, and with the ascent to themeaning of faith and worshipful service of God Almighty;for upon this will be based a whole way of life and civiliza-tional conduct.is way of life does not require us as somepeople imagine to withdraw from real life, nor to dive intoits vicissitudes; rather, it is a maer of understanding faith

based interaction with the constituents and events of reality,so that we can arrive to a rened and humane civilisation.

I ask God Almighty to grant us success in aainingthis, by His grace, and to help us to spread

it; only He can grant it, andHe is well able to do so.

Praise be to God,

Lord of theworlds.


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The Concept of Faith in Islam

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