. J '-Ɵ  (cont.)

The point he made is this: When it comes to any concept from the Quran and sunnah, historically speaking, there have been two approaches to determine its correct meaning. The first approach is to discover the meaning of that concept from the Prophet (peace be upon him) as he passed on such knowledge to his Companions and them to their followers. The second approach is to go directly to the word itself and, based on presupposed premises, discover its meaning from a linguistic and logical point of view without first studying how Allah and the Prophet (peace be upon him) explained those terms. The first approach is the approach of the ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamaah while the second approach is that of the heretical groups. In fact, these two approaches are what really distinguishes the correct way of Islam from the distorted, later-invented views of the religion. On this point, ibn Taimiya wrote, One must understand that if any term is found in the Quran or hadith, and its explanation is known and its purport made clear by the Prophet (peace be upon him), there is then no need to use as evidence the statements of the linguists or others .... The words salaat, zakah, siyaam (fasting), hajj found in the words of Allah and His messenger have had their meanings clarified by the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). The same is true for the word khamr (intoxicant) and others. From him, one knows their meanings. If anyone wants to explain such terms in any way other than how the Prophet (peace be upon him) explained that term, such an explanation will not be accepted ... The terms Imaan, Islam, nifaaq (hypocrisy) and kujr are more important than all of those terms [just mentioned]. The Prophet (peace be upon him) explained the meanings of those terms in such a way that it is not necessary to look for their linguistic origins or how they were used by the [pre-Islamic] Arabs and so forth. Therefore, it is a must that, while trying to determine the meanings of such terms, one refers to how Allah and His Messenger explained those terms. Their explanation is clear and sufficient... The heretics have been misled on this matter. They tum away from this method [just described]. Instead, they begin to explain the religion of Islam based on some premises that they believe to be sound, either concerning 1 Muhammad Abdul Haadi al-Misri, Haqeeqat al-Imaan ind Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamaah (Daar al-Furqaan, 1991), p. 9. Hadith #2: The Hadith of Jibreel linguistic meaning or rational thought. They do not ponder or consider the explanation of Allah and His Messenger. Every premise that goes against the clarification from Allah and His Messenger is certainly misguidance.1 Al-Misri adds that the one who will truly follow the methodology of going to the Quran and sunnah is the one who firmly believes that the Prophet (peace be upon him) explained the entire religion in a clear manner to his Companions and that those Companions passed that clear knowledge on to their followers and so forth.2 Everything that essentially needs to be known of the meaning of the Quran has been given by the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself. This fact should be something fundamental and obvious to all Muslims. In theory it may be so. In practice, however, many people fail to apply this point and start looking elsewhere concerning matters that have already been made clear in the Quran and sunnah. The question of Imaan is a very clear illustration of this point. Turning to the Quran and sunnah, one can attempt to answer some basic questions concerning Imaan. These basic questions are the following: (1) What is true Imaan or who is a true believer (mu'min)? (2) What is the locus of imaan and what are the essential components of Imaan? (3) What is the relationship between Imaan and deeds? (4) What are the articles of lmaan? In other persons, what is a person supposed to believe in? This is what the Prophet (peace be upon him) explained to the Angel Gabriel. These topics shall be discussed in some detail as they are mentioned in the hadith. The Definition of Imaan According to the Quran and Sunnah Opinions differ about the exact composition of Imaan.3 The different views can be summarized as follows (they are also presented in Figures 2.la­ d): 1 Ahmad ibn Taimiya, al-Imaan (Beirut: al-Maktab al-Islaami, 1988), pp. 271-273. 2 al-Misri, p. 10. 3 Cf., Safr al-Hawaali, Dhaahirah al-Irjaa ft al-Fikr al-Islaami (Cairo: Maktab al-Tayyib, 1417 A.H.), vol. 2, pp. 405-421 ; ibn Abu al-Izz, vol. 2, pp. 459-462. Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi lmaan is by the heart, tongue and physical actions I I I I The Ahl alSunnah wa alThe Khawaarij The Mutazilah Jamaah I I I Deeds as a Deeds are a Deeds are a class are a component of component of component of lmaan. But the lmaan and there lmaan.