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Iman (Arabic:إِيمَان,romanized: ʾīmān,lit. 'faith' or'belief', also 'recognition') inIslamic theology denotes a believer's recognition of faith and deeds in thereligious aspects ofIslam.[1][2] Its most simple definition is the belief in the six Pillars of faith, known asarkān al-īmān.
The termiman has been delineated in both theQuran andhadith.[3] According to the Quran,iman must be accompanied by righteous deeds and the two together are necessary for entry intoParadise.[4] In the hadith,iman in addition toIslam andihsan form the three dimensions of the Islamic religion.
There exists a debate both within and outside Islam on the link between faith and reason in religion, and the relative importance of either. Some scholars contend that faith and reason spring from the same source and must be harmonious.[5][page needed]
InArabic,iman (إِيمَان,ʾīmān)pronounced[ʔiːˈmæːn] means'faith' or'recognition'. It is theverbal noun ofآمَنَ,'to have faith' or'to give recognition'.[citation needed]
In ahadith, the Islamic prophetMuhammad definediman as "an acknowledgement in the heart, a voicing with the tongue, and an activity with the limbs."[citation needed] Faith is confidence in a real truth. When people have confidence, they submit themselves to that truth. It is not sufficient just to know the truth, but the recognition of the heart should be expressed by the tongue which is the manifestation of intelligence and at last to reflect this confidence in their activities.[6]
Hamiduddin Farahi, while explaining the meaning ofiman in his exegesis, wrote:
The root ofimān isinn. It is used in various shades of meaning.[7] One of its derivatives ismu'min, which is among the noble names of Allah because He gives peace to those who seek His refuge. This word is also an ancient religious term. Hence the certitude which exists with humility, trust and all the conditions and corollaries of adherence to a view is called imān and he who professes faith in Allah, in His signs and His directives and submits himself to Him and is pleased with all His decisions is amu'min.[1]
The definition ofiman according toAhl al-Sunnah wa'l-Jama'ah is:
Giving recognition with the heart, saying with the tongue, and doing with the limbs; it increases with obedience and decreases with sins.[8]
The people of jurisprudence and hadith are unanimous thatIman is speech and action, and there is no action except with theintention.
[A]nd the consensus was from thesahabas, and theTabi'een. After them, we realized thatIman is saying and doing, and intention is one of the three, those are not sufficient alone without the others.
AndIman in the language of the law is ratification with the heart, and action with the limbs.[citation needed]
Iman is saying and deed, it increases and decreases.[9]
They are unanimously agreed thatIman (recognition) increases with obedience and decreases with sins, and its deficiency does not mean that we doubt about what we are commanded to believe in, nor our ignorance of it, because that isKufr or rejection from the religion, instead it is a decrease in the rank of knowledge or mind and an increase in our sayings, similar to that, the weight of our obedience and the obedience of the Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace) differs, even if we are all performing our duty.[10]
Faith (iman) includes six primary beliefs:[11][12]
Of these, the first four are mentioned and the fifth implied inayah 2:285 of the Quran.[3] All six appear in the first hadith of the collectionSahih Muslim, where the angelGabriel asks to be told ofiman and Muhammad replies:
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.[13]
Another similar narration ascribed to Muhammad is:
Ibn Abbas narrates that the Angel Jibril once asked the Prophet: "Tell me what is Islam?" The Prophet replied: "Iman is to believe in Allah, the Day of Judgment, His (Allah's) Angels, Books and Prophets and to believe in life after death; and to believe in Paradise and the Fire, and the setting up of theMizan (scales) to weigh the deeds; and to believe in the Divine Decree, the good and the bad of it (all). Jibril then asked him: "If I do all this will I be withIman?" The Prophet said: "When you have done all of this, you will be havingIman."[14][page needed]
In the Qur'an, iman is one of the 10 qualities which cause one to be the recipient of God's mercy and reward.[15] The Qur'an states that faith can grow with the remembrance of God.[16] The Qur'an also states that nothing in this world should be dearer to a true believer than faith.[17]
Al-‘Abbas reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “He has tasted the sweetness of faith who is content with Allah as a Lord, Islam as a religion, and Muhammad as a messenger.”Source: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 34[18] He also said that no one can be a true believer unless he loves prophet Muhammad peace be up on him more than his children, parents and relatives.[19][20] At another instance, he remarked that it is this love with Allah and Muhammad after which a person can be aware of the real taste of faith.[21][22]
Amin Ahsan Islahi, a notable exegete of the Qur'an has clarified the nature of this love:
[I]t does not merely imply the passionate love one naturally has for one's wife, children, and other relatives, but it also refers to the love based on intellect and principles for some viewpoints and stances. It is because of this love that a person, in every sphere of life, gives priority to this viewpoint and direction... So much so, if the demands of his wife, children and relatives clash with the demands of this viewpoint, he adheres to it and without any hesitation turns down the desires of his wife and children and the demands of his family and clan.[23]
Islahi andAbul A'la Maududi both have inferred that the Quranic comparison of a good word and a bad word in chapter 14[24] is a comparison of faith and disbelief. Thus, the Quran is effectively comparing faith to a tree whose roots are deep in the soil and branches spread in the vastness of the sky.[25]
Iman is also the subject of a supplication uttered by Muhammad to God:
O God! I have resigned myself to You and I have consigned my matter to you and have taken support from You fearing Your grandeur and moving towards You in anticipation. There is no refuge and shelter after running away from You, and if there is, it is with You. Lord! I have professed faith in your Book which You have revealed and have professed faith in the Prophet you have sent as a Messenger.[26]
"The Seventy-Seven Branches of Faith" is a collection compiled by theShafi'iimamal-Bayhaqi in his workShu'ab al-Iman. In it, he explains the essential virtues that reflect trueiman (faith and recognition) through related Quranic verses and prophetic sayings.[27][28]
This is based on the following Hadith ascribed to Muhammad:
Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet said: "Iman has more than 70 branches. The most excellent among these branches is the saying"Laa ilaaha ill Allah" (there is no God but Allah), and the smallest branch is to remove an obstacle from the wayside. And"Haya" (modesty) is an important branch ofIman."[29]
These 77 branches described by Bayhaqi are:[30]
Thirty actions connected with the heart:
The seven works attached to the tongue:
Forty works are attached to the whole body:
In Islam, there must exist harmony and concord between faith and deeds. Farāhī has explained this aspect in histafsīr in the following manner:[31]
Righteous deeds are mentioned in the Qurān right after faith in the capacity of an explanation [...] In the case of faith, the need for its explanation is obvious: the place of faith is the heart and the intellect. In matters of intellect and heart, not only can a person deceive others but also at times he can remain in deception. He considers himself to be amu'min (believer) whereas actually, he is not. For this reason, two testimonies needed to be required for it: a person's words and a person's deeds. Since words can be untrue, hence a person who only professes faith through words is not regarded as amu'min and it was deemed essential that a person's deeds also testify to his faith.[31]
The relationship between reason and faith in Islam is a complex debate spanning centuries.Ismail Raji al-Faruqi states on this subject:
As for the non-Muslims, they may contest the principles of Islam. They must know, however, that Islam does not present its principles dogmatically, for those who believe or wish to believe, exclusively. It does so rationally, and critically. It comes to us armed with logical and coherent arguments, and expects our acquiescence on rational, and hence necessary, grounds. It is not legitimate for us to disagree on the relativist basis of personal taste, or that of subjective experience.[32]
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