. J '-Ɵ  (cont.)

The hadith in Muslim and al­ Bukhari begins with, "lmaan has more than sixty parts (bid wa sittun shu'bah)." Abu Dawood, al-Tirmidhi and Ibn Maajah record, "lmaan is more than sixty or seventy chapters (bid wa sittun aw sab'un bab)." The reporter of this hadith was not sure whether the Prophet (peace be on him) said, "more than sixty" or "more than seventy". 2This is the ending of the hadith mentioned in the previous note. 3Recorded by al-Tirmidhi, Abu Dawood, Ahmad, al-Daarimi and Ibn Hibbaan. It is an authentic hadith according to al-Albaani. See al-Albaani's footnotes to Ali ibn Abu al-Izz, Sharh al­ Aqeedah al-Tahawiya, (Beirut: al-Maktab al-Islaami, 1984), p. 339. Hereinafter, this work will simply be referred to as "al-Albaani, footnotes to Sharh." 4Recorded by Ibn Maajah. The words in Abu Dawood are, "Do you hear? Do you hear? Verily, simplicity in dress (al-badhadhah) is part of lmaan." This is a hasan hadith. See al-Albaani, footnotes to Sharh, p. 340. 5 lbn Abu al-Izz, vol. 2, pp. 471-475. 1 72 Hadith #2: The Hadith of Jibreel performing a major sin), he becomes a disbeliever, falls outside of the fold of Islam and will be in Hell forever. This view clearly contradicts the Quran and sunnah. For example, Allah has prescribed a punishment for the person who commits adultery. That punishment is not the same as the punishment for apostasy. This is because the one who commits such a sin does not, by that act in itself, remove himself from the fold of Islam. The view of the Mutazilah: According to this view, the locus of imaan is the heart, tongue and physical actions. They supposedly took a position between the above two positions. They stated that a great sinner is neither a believer or a disbeliever; he falls somewhere in between the two. At the same time, though, they say that such a person will be in the Hell-fire forever. In order to come to this conclusion, they have to reject numerous authentic and conformed reports from the Prophet (peace be upon him) that believers who commit such sins will be rescued from the Hell-fire. The view of the Murjiites of the jurists: According to this view, the locus of imaan is the heart and the tongue, and it excludes physical deeds. The deeds of the heart are included but not the physical acts that a person performs. Acts are only the fruit of faith and do not make up one of the essential components of faith. Imaan is, in essence, tasdeeq or affirmation in the heart. Therefore, it is as one level and cannot possibly increase or decrease. This view also contradicts the Quran and sunnah. The Quran and sunnah clearly demonstrate that imaan increases and decreases. Furthermore, numerous hadith also demonstrate that acts do form a part of imaan. The view of the majority of the Maturidis: According to this view, the locus of imaan is the heart and the tongue, and it excludes physical deeds. They also say that imaan neither increases or decreases, since it is tasdeeq or affirmation in the heart. They differ from the Murjiites in that they say that the deeds of the heart are also not included as part of imaan, only the statements or beliefs in the heart. Some of them even exclude the statement of the tongue as part of imaan, arguing that it is only a sign of imaan and not a component of imaan. The view of the Asharites and many Maturidis: According to this view, the locus of imaan is the heart only. Imaan is only tasdeeq or affirmation in the heart. Imaan does not increase or decrease. They exclude all deeds, deeds of the heart as well as of the body. A person is a perfect and complete believer even if he does not perform any corresponding deeds, as long as tasdeeq is in his heart. They even exclude statement of the tongue and argue that a person does not have to make the testimony of faith-- so he will be considered a disbeliever in this world while he is a believer in his heart. This view also contradicts the Quran and sunnah in many aspects. Imaan being only tasdeeq would imply, for example, that Abu Taalib was a believer and should be in Paradise. However, this is not what the Prophet (peace be upon him) stated about him. 1 73 Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi The view of many of the Murjiites: According to this view, the locus of imaan is the heart only. Imaan does not increase or decrease. Many of them do include the deeds of the heart and not just tasdeeq. At the same time, they exclude all other deeds, including statement of the tongue. The view of the Jahmites: According to this view, the locus of imaan is the heart only. However, it is not tasdeeq (belief, affirmation) but it is simply marifah or having knowledge of Allah. Most scholars have declared the Jahmites to be outside of the fold of Islam due to such beliefs.