. J '-Ɵ  (cont.)

If a one who is no lmaan for person commits commits a major the one who a major sin, he sin is not a does not perform loses his imaan disbeliever but and becomes a any religious disbeliever he will be in Hell deeds forever Fig. 2.l a. The Components oflmaan as Viewed by Different Sects j Hadith #2: The Hadith of Jibreel Iman is by the heart and tongue only and it excludes the outward deeds of the person I The Murjiites The Majority of the of the Jurists Maturidis The deeds The deeds of the heart of the heart are not part are included of lmaan, but not the only the deeds of the beliefs in the body. Deeds heart. Some of the body even are only a exclude the fruit of faith. statement by lmaan is one the tongue. thing that lmaan is one does not thing that increase or does not decrease increase or decrease. Figure 2.lb. The Components oflmaan as Viewed by Different Sects The Jahmites lmaan is simply marifahor knowledge of Allah Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi The Asharites lmaan is by the heart only lmaan is tasdeeqor affirmation in the heart. It excludes all deeds as part of its essential components. Figure 2.lc. v Many Maturidis The Murjiites lmaan includes the acts of the heart, and not just tasdeeq. However, it does not include any other type of deed. The Components oflmaan as Viewed by Different Sects 1 70 Hadith #2: The Hadith of Jibreel Iman is by the tongue only The Karram ites lmaan is just by a statem ent of the tongue. Figure 2.l d. The Components oflmaan as Viewed by Different Sects The view of the ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamaah: According to this view, the locus of imaan is the heart, tongue and physical actions. Imaan increases and decreases. Deeds form a part of imaan. Some such deeds are essential, others are required and yet others are recommended. This does not preclude the possibility that true believers commit sins. Such sins, even major sins if they are less than kufr and shirk, do not take the person out of the fold of Islam. In the Hereafter, the sinner may be punished in the Hell-fire or be forgiven by Allah. However, all people who have even the slightest amount of imaan in their hearts will eventually be rescued from Hell and entered into Paradise. This is the belief that was passed on from the Prophet (peace be upon him) to his Companions and their followers. It is the only view that takes into consideration of the different relevant pieces of evidence from the Quran and sunnah. lbn Abu al-Izz wrote, [The Prophet (peace be upon him)] has made it absolutely clear that a person is definitely not a mu'min (a believer) if it is 1 71 Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi claimed that he believes in the Prophet (peace be on him) but he does not profess it with his tongue, even though he can, nor does he offer salaat, nor fasts, nor loves Allah and His Prophet (peace be on him), nor fears Him. If, he also hates the Prophet (peace be on him) and fights against him [then he obviously cannot be called a believer]. He has also made it clear that our happiness and position in the hereafter depends upon our statement of the testimony of faith and our sincerely believing in Allah's unity and acting accordingly. For instance, he said, "Imaan has more than seventy parts, the highest is the confession that there is no god except Allah, and the lowest is removing a harmful object from the road."1 "Modesty is part of lmaan."2 "The most perfect mu'min (believer) is the one who is best in character."3 "Simplicity in dress is part of Imaan."4 If Imaan has different parts and each part is called Imaan, it follows that salah is Imaan, zakah and hajj are Imaan, virtues such as modesty, trust, fear, and submission, even removing an obstacle from the way, are part of Imaan. Some of these parts are so basic, like the two Shahaadah, that if you lose them you lose Imaan completely; others are so marginal, such as removing an obstacle from the road, that if you lose them you do not lose Imaan. In between the two, we have numerous parts of varying importance, some next only to the Shahaadah, and others only a little more important than removing an obstacle from the way. As the parts of lmaan are Imaan, similarly the parts of kufr are kufr. To judge according to the rules revealed by Allah is part of Imaan, and to judge against them is kufr.5 The view of the Khawaarij : According to this view, the locus of imaan is the heart, tongue and physical actions. But in this view, if anyone falls short in his deeds (such as failing to perform an obligatory deed or actually 1The wording of the hadith in hadith collections is a little different.