. J '-Ɵ  (cont.)

"' DŽ / / "It is not you [O Muhammad] that they deny, but it is the signs of Allah that the wrongdoers deny" (al-Anaam 33). In another verse, Allah says, 0;.15' p oqr4=-fj hti ă;Ą J. "Nay, he brought them the Truth but most of them are averse to the Truth" (al­ Muminoon 70). Thus, the difficult aspect for the disbelievers is that of having love for the truth, seeking the truth and submitting to it. That is, they must free themselves from all the things that act as barriers to their required submission to the truth. This includes arrogance, pride, envy, ego, seeking after the fleeting pleasures of this world, love for power, control and dominance, nationalistic pride and customs, lust and so forth. In general, the truth of tauheed is clear to all of them; however, they do not want to submit and accept itthe diseases of the heart can become so strong in a person that he no longer recognizes the truth or he completely refuses to recognize it whatsoever. This is one of the major aspects that distinguishes a believer from a non-believer. It is not simply a matter of knowing that Allah exists or recognizing that fact. It is this component of Imaan, "belief in the heart", that is the most important. It is the foundation and driving force behind the other components of Imaan. When it comes to the components of faith, one is never excused from fulfilling this component while, under different circumstances, one may be excused for not fulfilling the other components. Hence, if a person really wants to be certain that he has true Imaan and he seeks to protect himself from losing that Imaan, he must concentrate on these components and follow the steps that 1 lbn Taimiya (al-Imaan al-Ausit), p. 79, as quoted in al-Misri, p. 28. Hadith #2: The Hadith of Jibreel will strengthen them in himself. The essential components are the recognizing of the truth, desiring the truth and having love for the truth in one's heart. This is combined with hatred for falsehood and disbelief. Note what Allah stated while describing the true believers, J .,,., J ,,.. J. .,,., J ,... ,,,. ,, ,., ,... p1 } (':11 DEj ਜ਼;u * .. Fjj I } (':11 I Gj r--''=' ; ,... ; H":" ; ,, ; J / ., ., S/1_;T w ¥ji 0HTj j_;.JJTj "But Allah has endeared the faith to you and has beautified it in your hearts and has made disbelief, wickedness and disobedience hateful to you. These! They are the rightly guided ones" (al-Hujuraat 7). It must once again be noted that the word tasdeeq ("affirmation, belief') when used in the definition of faith does not simply refer to the abstract or theoretical concept of believing in something rationally. Instead, it means the belief in something that drives one to accept it, submit to it and implement it. This is what is meant by tasdeeq being the foundation or essential definition of faith. 1 (2) Profession by the Tongue. The second necessary component of Imaan is profession of one's faith by the tongue.2 Al-Misri stated, "It is inconceivable that the belief in the heart is completely realizedboth statement and deeds of the heartwithout the faith being realized with the profession of the tongue. "3 This profession of the tongue plays a two fold role. It is first a statement of a fact. One is testifying that he recognizes the truthfulness of that statement of faith. This would be analogous to a person giving testimony in a court oflaw. All he is really stating is that those are the facts that he believes to be true. Second, though, it is statement of commitment to that fact. It is an admission by the person that he intends to adhere to the requirements and guidance of what he has testified to. In an important passage in Kitaab al-Imaan, ibn Taimiya has written, The Arabs do not have any such thing in their language as affirmation or denial unless it be in meaning and wording or wording that points to meaning. One will not find in Arabic speech the statement, "Mr. X believed in Mr. Y," or "denied him" if he knew only in his heart that so and so was true or false. [Such a statement would only be made if the person actually] spoke it. Whoever does not affirm his belief in someone else with his speech, if he has the ability to do so, is not called, according to the Arabs, a believer. Therefore, the 1 See Haakimi, vol. 2, pp. 19-20. 2 Obviously, this only applies to those who have the physical means to do so. 3 Al-Misri, p. 33. 1 79 Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi Pious Forefathers of this Nation, of the Companions and those who followed them in goodness, agree on this point.