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1 75 Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi one worthy of worship but Allah. Instead, along with that "belief' other components must be present for it to be the correct form of imaan that is acceptable to Allah. He wrote, Imaan is the affirmation that requires acceptance and submission. If a person believes in something without acceptance and submission, that is not imaan. The evidence for that is that the polytheists [Arabs] believed in Allah's existence and believed in Allah as the Creator, Sustainer, Giver of Life, the One who Brings forth Death and the Manager of the Universe's Affairs. Furthermore, one of them even accepted the messengership of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) but he was not a believer. That person was Abu Taalib, the uncle of the Prophet (peace be upon him) . . 1 But that [belief in the Prophet (peace be upon him)] will not avail him whatsoever because he did not accept and submit to what the Prophet (peace be upon him) brought.2 The Components of Jmaan As just noted, a thorough study of the Quran and sunnah shows that Imaan has certain components. Ibn al-Qayyim once wrote that Imaan is a compound of the following components: (1) having the knowledge of what the Prophet (peace be upon him) taught; (2) having complete and firm belief in what the Prophet (peace be upon him) brought; (3) verbally professing one's belief in what he brought; (4) yielding or submitting to what he brought out of love and humility; (5) acting in accord with what the Prophet (peace be upon him) brought, both outwardly and inwardly, implementing it and calling to its path according to one's ability.3 These components were summed up by the earliest scholars in their statement, "Imaan is statement and action."4 Statement here includes both statement of the heart (affirmation) and statement of the tongue (verbal profession). Action includes both the actions of the heart (willingness to submit, love and so forth) and actions of the body (such as prayer and so forth).5 1 Ibn Uthaimin then goes on to quote some lines of poetry from Abu Taalib in which he expressed his belief in the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). 2 Muhammad ibn Uthaimeen, Sharh hadith Jibreel Alaihi al-Salaam (Daar al-Thuraya, 1415 A.H.), pp. 4-5. 3 Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Fawaaid, p. 1 07. (As quoted in Al-Misri, p. 41.) 4 Abu Zura and Abu Haatim, two of al-Bukhari's most important teachers, narrated that the scholars that they had met from Hijaz, Iraq, Greater Syria and Yemen all said, "lmaan is statement and action, it increases and decreases." See Hibatullah al-Laalakai, Sharh Usool ltiqaad Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamaah min al-Kitaab wa al-Sunnah wa Ijmaa al-Sahaabah wa al­ Tabieen min Badihim (Riyadh: Daar Taiba, n.d.), vol. I , p. 1 76. 5 Cf., ibn Taimiya, Majmoo, vol. 7, p. 672; Safr al-Hawaali, Dhaahirah, vol. 1, pp. 221-236. 1 76 Hadith #2: The Hadith of Jibreel For the sake of clarity, over time, these two components were broken down into the three following essential components of Imaan that have also been stated by many scholars: (1) Belief in the heart; (2) Profession by the tongue; (3) Performance of deeds by the physical parts of the body. 1 Each one of these three components shall be discussed separately. The third component shall be dealt with in some detail in the next section entitled, "The Relationship Between Imaan and Deeds". (1) Belief in the Heart. The heart is the locus of Imaan or its foundation. Allah says in the Quran, J p,J J 2 ,J p,J .,... ,,,. ""' ,,.. i-:1l.J : ƒ \ : ! Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi of the truth then, if it is free from diseases such as envy, arrogance, following of doubts and misconceptions, following of desires and lusts, it will fill with love for the truth and will submit to the truth. This is because the hearts are endowed with a love for truth and seeking it. Therefore, there is nothing more beloved to a pure and sound heart than Allah. 1 In reality, the first aspect of recognizing and admitting the existence or truth of Allah is something that readily comes about. It is, in fact, ingrained in the nature of man. It is the second aspect of this first component, the actions of the heart, that needs to be stressed and implied properly. In fact, in general, when Allah sent messengers to mankind, their main message and dispute with their people was not the recognition or acceptance of Allah's existence but it was with respect to submitting to Allah and following His commands. The truth of the first proposition was clear and could not be denied. Allah has made it clear in many verses of the Quran that the main problem for disbelievers is not a recognition of the truth but a hatred for it. Allah has said, 0J .&\ ¡Iii ¢\ pj J.D;চ -g ছLi ,,,. ,,,. / / ,... ,,,. \.