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Al-Iman
assing
01/01/01 at 13:48:43
{This is a "partial" translation of the beginning ibn Taymiyyahs' book "Al-Iman", which clarifies some issues about iman especially its relation to islam, a topic about which me myself was a bit confused until i listened to some lectures explaining this book, which Alhamdulillah hepled me to understand this deen better and at the same time help me to increase my iman, and i hope Allah will benefit some by it as it has benefited me}                                    Al-Iman     Indeed all praises is due to Allah, we praise him and we seek his assistance and forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of ourselves and our bad deeds, whoever Allah guides there is none that can misguide him and whoever is leads astray there is none that can guide him, and i bear witness there is no God deserve to be worshipped other than Allah, and He has no partners, and we bear witness that Muhammad is his servant and messenger, may Allah's' peace and blessings be upon him, his family and his companions, and as to what follows;     Know that whenever the word "iman" and "islam" conjugates, the deen is encompassed in them both. Many people have spoken about the reality of iman and islam, and they have differed about them and even contradicted themselves {in its definition}, in addition to the many books written about this topic, and the differences  about this issue goes back since the time the Khawarij emerged within the ranks of the ummah.    We are going to mention what is can be benefit us {with regards to iman and islam} from the statements of Allah and the statements of His messenger {salalluh alayhi wa salam}, hence, the mu'min will reach to that directly from the statements of  Allah and His messenger {salalluh alayhi wa salam} to this goal, for this is the objective, because we do not mention the differences of opinion in the beginning, but rather during the process of explaining the statements of Allah and His messenger {salalluh alayhi wa salam}, which shows that refering back to Allah and His messenger {salalluh alayhi wa salam} when differing is the most befitting interpretation and produces the best results in this life and the next.     So we say: the messenger {salalluh alayhi wa salam} in the hadeeth of Jibreel differentiated between what is called "al-islam," what is called "al-iman" and what is called "al-ihsan," he said:                   "Islam: is that you testify that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, and you establish prayer, pay Zakat, observe the fast of Ramadan, and perform pilgrimage to the (House) if you are solvent enough (to bear the expense of) the journey"      He said "Iman: That you affirm your faith in Allah, in His angels, in His Books, in His Apostles, in the Day of Judgment, and you affirm your faith in the Divine Decree about good and evil"      He said "Ihsaan: That you worship Allah as if you are seeing Him, for though you don't see Him, He, verily, sees you"       Likewise, in the famous hadeeth of ibn Umar, he {salalluh alayhi wa salam} said "Islam is built on five pillars, testifying (the fact) that there is no God but Allah, that Muhammad is His servant and messenger, and the establishment of prayer, payment of Zakat, Pilgrimage to the House (Ka'ba) and the fast of Ramadan" {Bukhari and Muslim}       The hadeeth of Jibreel states that islam is built upon five things: this is islam in itself, nothing else it is built upon, as a matter of fact the messenger {salalluh alayhi wa salam} made the deen into three levels; the highest of it is ihsan, the middle of it iman and then comes islam. Hence, every Muhsin is a mu'min and every mu'min is a muslim, and not every mu'min is a muhsin and not every muslim is a mu'min, as shall be further explained inshallah. As in other hadeeth like the hadeeth narrated by Hammaad ibn Yazeed, from Ayyub, from Abi Qilaabah from a man from the people of As Shaam from his father, that the messenger {salalluh alayhi wa salam} said "Aslam tuslim i.e. accept islam and you will be safe" he asked: and what is islam?  he {salalluh alayhi wa salam} replied "that you submit your heart to Allah, and that the muslims be safe from your hands and your tongue" he asked: and what is the best type of islam? he {salalluh alayhi wa salam} replied "al-iman" he asked: and what is iman? he {salalluh alayhi wa salam} replied "that you believe in Allah, His angels, His boks, His messengers and the resurrection  after death" he asked: and what is the best type of iman? he {salalluh alayhi wa salam} replied "al-hjirah" he asked: and what is hijrah? he {salalluh alayhi wa salam} replied "that you migrate from evil" he asked: and which type of hijrah is best? he {salalluh alayhi wa salam} replied "al-jihad", he asked: and what is jihad? he {salalluh alayhi wa salam}  replied "that you make jihad or fight the kuffaar if you meet them, and you do not steal from the spoils of war and not to be cowardly", then the messenger {salalluh alayhi wa salam}  said "two deeds, they are the best of deeds, except those who perform equivalent to them" he said it three times "a righteous hajj or umrah" {narrated by Ahmad in his "musnad" and the "musannaf" of Abdur Razzaq, and Al-Abani graded it as saheeh}   This is why he {salalluh alayhi wa salam} mentioned these four levels in the following hadeeth "the muslim is the one who the muslims are secure from his hands and his tongue, and the mu'min is the one who the peoples' money and wealth are safe from him, and the muhaajir {migrator} is the one who migrates from evil, and the mujaahid is the one who makes jihad against his nafs for Allahs' sake" {narrated by imam Ahmad with an authentic chain of narrators, it is also narrated in the sunan of At-Tirmidhee, and some of its wording are in saheeh Bukhari and Muslim}    Also in the hadeeth of Abdullah ibn Abeed ibn Umayr from his father, from his grandfather that the messenger {salalluh alayhi wa salam} was asked: what is islam?, he {salalluh alayhi wa salam}  replied "sharing food and having good speech", he was asked: so then what is iman?, he said "dignity and patience", he was asked: so whom of the muslims has the best iman?, he replied "those who posses the best behavior", he was asked: so what is the best type of hijrah?, he replied "whoever migrates from what Allah has made haram for him", he was asked: what is the best kind of salah?, he replied "that which has the longest qunut {supplication}", he was asked what type of sadaqah is best?, he replied "an accepted effort {jihad}", he was asked: which jihad is the best?, he replied "that you make jihad with wealth and your self {to such an extent} that your slaughter your horse and spill your blood", he was asked: which hour is best?,  he replied "the middle of a dusty night" {saheeh, Sunan An-Nasa'i, also narrated in the musnad of Imam Ahmad and the Sunan of Ad Darimee}    Thus, "iman" can also consists of apparent actions, as in the hadeeth "iman has over seventy 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}, and also indicated from his {salalluh alayhi wa salam} statement to the delegation of Abdul-Qays "I command you to have iman in Allah only, do you know what it is to have iman in Allah alone? That you bear witness that there is no God but Allah not associating anything with Him, and to establish the salah, and to give that zakat, and to give give 1/5 from the spoils of war" {saheeh, Al Jaami' As Sagheer by Al Albani}    It is quite obvious that he {salalluh alayhi wa salam} did not intend by these deeds {that one performs}  that they are done so just by faith in Allah without it being accompanied by the iman of the heart, thus the iman of the heart is a must. The messenger {salalluh alayhi wa salam}  said "indeeed in the body there is a portion of flesh, if it is good it will rectify the whole body, and if it is bad it will corrupt the whole body, indeed it is the heart,"  {Bukhari and Muslim} so who ever purifies his heart his body will be pure, and the opposite is not necessarily  true.  Sufiyan ibn Uyaynah said "the scholars of the past used to write to each other with the following words "whoever rectifies his private affairs, Allah will rectify his public affairs, whoever rectifies what is between him and Allah, Allah will rectify what is between him and the people, and whoever works for the next life, Allah will suffice his affairs in this life" narrated by ibn Abi Dunyah in his book "Al Ikhlaas"  Therefore know that if the heart pure because of iman, then the body will be upright because of islam, and this is from iman, and this is indicated in the hadeeth of Jibreel where he {salalluh alayhi wa salam} said "this is Jibreel he came to you all to teach you your religion." He categorized the deen according to islam, iman and ihsaan, and it was made clear that our deen consists of all three, i.e. it being of three levels: muslim then a mu'min then a muhsin, as Allah says "Then We gave the Book the Qur'ān) for inheritance to such of Our slaves whom We chose . Then of them are some who wrong their ownselves, and of them are some who follow a middle course, and of them are some who are, by Allāh's Leave, foremost in good deeds." {Al-Fatir: 32}. Those who follow a middle course and those who are foremost in good deeds, they both will enter into jannah without any punishment as opposed to the ones who wrong themselves, and this applies to all those who came with the apparent actions of islam along with the confirmation {belief} in their hearts {such as believing in Allah and the last day, the prophet Muhammad, Allah's' books His angels and so forth}, but did not establish what was obligatory upon them from the inner-iman {such as true fear of Allah, loving Him, hoping for His mercy ............, etc.}, and such a person is under the threat of being punished.      As for ihsan it is broader term in of itself, but is more restricted with regard to iman, and iman is a broader term in of itself, but is more restricted with regard to islam. For iman is part of ihsan and islam is part of iman, hence the name "muhsin" is more restrictive than that of "mu'min," and the name "mu'min" is more restrictive than that of "muslim." The concept can be further clarified by that of "messengership" and "prophethood," for messengership falls under the category of prophethood, messengership being broader in of itself. Thus, every messenger is a prophet, but not every prophet is a messenger. Therefore, the prophets are in a broader category than that of the messengers, and prophethood is a part of messengership. Hence, messengership comprises of prophethood, but prophethood does not necessarily consist of messengership.   The messenger {salalluh alayhi wa salam} explained what islam and iman is just as he gave the definition of something when he was asked what is such and such, as in the hadeeth when he was asked: what is backbiting? he replied "to mention about your brother that which he dislikes" {Muslim}. And in another hadeeth "kibr {pride} is to deny the truth and look-down on others" {saheeh, Abu Dawud and At Tirmidhee}.    Likewise, with regards to iman; he {salalluh alayhi wa salam} explained it in many hadeeth such as the one where he said "shyness is a part of iman" {Bukhari and Muslim}, the hadeeth narrated by ibn Umar, ibn Masood and Imran ibn Husayn that the messenger {salalluh alayhi wa salam} said "none of your has {complete} iman until I am more beloved to him than his children, parents and he whole of mankind" {Bukhari and Muslim}, he said "none of you has {complete} iman until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself" {Bukhari and Muslim}, he said "by Allah one does not have iman, by Allah one not does have iman, by Allah one does not have iman" the sahabahs said who is that o messenger of Allah? he said "that one whose neighbor is not safe from him" {Bukhari}, and as in the famous hadeeth "whoever amongst you sees and evil, change it with his hands, if he can't with his tongue, if he can't with his heart, and that the weakest of iman" {Muslim}, and also he said in another hadeeth "Allah has never sent a prophet except that there were a people from his ummah who followed his guidance and stuck to his sunnah, then they were succeeded by a people who say that which they do not do, and they do that which they are not commanded to, so whoever fights them with his hands then he is a mu'min, and whoever fights them with his tongue then his a mu'min, and whoever fights them with his heart then he is a mu'min, and behind that there is not even a mustard seed of  iman" {this is one of the hadeeth only imam Muslim narrated}   Also amongst the hadeeth which only imam Muslim narrated in his Saheeh is his {salalluh alayhi wa salam} statement "by the One whose hands posess my soul, you will not enter jannah until you have iman, and you not have iman until you love each other, would you like that i direct you to a thing if you do it you will love each other? spread the salaams amongst yourselves" , and the hadeeth narrated by both Bukhari and Muslim "the fornicator who fornicates is not a mu'min while he commits fornication, and no thief who steals is a mu'min while he commits theft, and no drunkard who drinks wine is a mu'min while he drinks it and no plunderer who plunders a valuable thing that attracts the attention of people is a mu'min so long as he commits this act"   Thus, it can be said that sometimes iman is mentioned by itself without being accompanied by the term islam, nor with good deeds or anything like that, and sometimes it can mentioned:                                         either with islam, as in the hadeeth of Jibreel; "what is islam? and what is iman?", like Allahs' statement "Indeed the muslimeen and the muslimaat and the mu'mineen and the mu'minaat" {Al-Ahzab: 35}, and "The bedouins say: "We believe." Say: "You believe not but you only say, 'We have surrendered (in Islām)" {Al-Hujurat: 14}, and as Allah describes the situation when He was about to destroy the people of Lut {Sodom} "So We brought out from therein the believers {mu'mineen}, but We found not there any household of the Muslims except one" {Az-Zariyat: 35, 36}      And sometimes iman is mentioned with good deeds, and you find this in many places in the Quran like surah Al-Asr, verse 3 "Except those who believe and do good deeds"                                             Or iman can sometimes be mentioned together with those who are given knowledge, as Allah says in surah Ar-Rum verse 56 "And those who have been bestowed with knowledge and iman", and "Allāh will exalt in degree those of you who believe, and those who have been granted knowledge." {Al-Mujadilah: 11}, and whenever those who believe are mentioned, those who have knowledge are automatically included in this category for they are the best of them, Allah says "And those who are firmly grounded in knowledge say: "We believe in it; the whole of it (clear and unclear Verses) are from our Lord." {Al-Imran:7}, and "But those among them who are well-grounded in knowledge, and the believers, believe in what has been sent down to you and what was sent down before you" {An-Nis'a: 163}            In conclusion, it can be deduced that whenever iman is mentioned with islam, islam represents the apparent actions: The shahadah, salat, zakat, sawm and hajj, and iman represents that which is in the heart from belief in Allah, His angels, His Books, His Apostles, and the Day of Judgment", as in the hadeeth narrated in the Musnad of imam Ahmad by Anas that the messenger {salalluh alayhi wa salam}  said "islam is what is apparent and iman is what is in the heart" {daef - weak, Musnad Ahmad}, and this is why the messenger {salalluh alayhi wa salam} used to say in his du'a whenever he prayed for a dead person "O' Allah whoever you let live amongst us let him live upon islam, and whomever you cause to die let him die upon iman" {Abu Dawud and At Tirmidhee, imam At Tirmidhee said the hadeeth is hasan, saheeh}. The hikmah as to why he would say this type of dua at such an occasion is because one is able to do deeds with one limbs while one is alive, but at the time death there remains only affirmation with ones heart as ibn Rajab Al Hanbali says in his book "Jaami' uloom wal hikam".       However, if iman is mentioned by alone, by itself, islam and good deeds are also included in it, as in the hadeeth of branches of iman "iman is seventy something branches, the highest of it being the statement la ilahah ilallah, and the lowest of it is removing something harmful off the street" {Bukhari and Muslim}, and this applies to all the other hadeeth which defines righteous deeds as part of iman.
NS

Re: Al-Iman
destined
01/02/01 at 18:56:49
slm, [quote]every Muhsin is a mu'min and every mu'min is a muslim, and not every mu'min is a muhsin and not every muslim is a mu'min[/quote] what does muhsin mean?

Re: Al-Iman
se7en
01/02/01 at 21:28:03
It means one who does good.  It has the same root as ihsan, hassana, etc. Muhsin pl. muhsinoon m. muhsinaat f. - Denotes the believing Muslim who is righteous and very aware of Allah's knowing and seeing all that he or she does and therefore they constantly perfect their deeds to conform to the will of Allah and avoid anything that would nullify or lessen thier reward.
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