. J '-Ɵ  (cont.)

The one who believes in his heart but does not verbally state his belief is not treated in either this life or the Hereafter as a believer in any way. Allah has not declared such a person to be a believer in the Messenger simply because of the knowledge and belief in his heart. He is only considered a believer if he confirms it by his speech. Therefore, the outward speech is an essential aspect of the faith and, according to the early and later scholars, one will not be saved except with that speech. The Muslims have agreed that the one who does not make the profession of faith although he has the ability to do so is a disbeliever. He is a disbeliever both inwardly and outwardly according to the Pious Forefathers and Imams of this Nation.1 However, the simple pronouncement of the words in and of themselves is not what is sought. Obviously, the hypocrites did such and they were by no means true believers. The pronouncement of the words must be accompanied by a sincere attempt to implement the following aspects: (1) the correct belief in the Lordship of Allah and its related aspects; (2) the abandonment of and freedom from any kind of association of partners with Allah; and (3) the following and implementation of the laws of Islam. If this is not what the person means by his profession of faith, then such a profession will not avail the person whatsoever.2 Hence, before a person makes the testimony of faith, he must be taught and explained that this is what he is testifying to. The testimony does not have to be in the Arabic language or with specific terms but it must be very clear as to the exact meaning and purport of what the person is saying.3 The Relationship Between Imaan and Deeds The third component mentioned above as an essential component of Imaan is "performance of deeds by the body". Deeds form a primary part of the concept of Imaan.4 The concept or word Imaan incorporates in its meaning the deeds that are to be performed in accordance with Imaan. 1 See ibn Taimiya, al-lmaan, p. 126. Also see al-Aini, vol. 1, p. 1 10 where he reiterates the same sentiment. 2 Al-Misri, p. 35. 3 In a hadith, some people embraced Islam by saying, Saba'na, meaning they had entered the faith of those who were called Sabi'iya, which was a term of the people of Ignorance for the Muslims. 4 As noted above, there are a group of scholars that divorce faith from deeds and state that the latter is not an essential component for the former. Their views, although in many aspects simply a question of semantics, do not seem to be the strongest views and will not be covered in detail here. I l l I l l I I Hadith #2: The Hadith of Jibreel Some scholars get stuck on the linguistic meaning of Imaan as being tasdeeq (belief) and, therefore, they divorce actions from the essential aspects of Imaan. 1 However, such a view is not the view of the early scholars of Islam. In Kitaab al-Umm, al-Shafi'ee wrote, "There was a consensus of the Companions and the Followers after them and those we have met that Imaan is statement, action and intention. None of them are sufficient in themselves without the others."2 The Maliki jurist Ibn Abdul Barr also said, The scholars of fiqh and hadith have agreed that lmaan is statement and action. And there is no action without intention. Faith, in their view, increases by acts of obedience [to Allah] and decreases by acts of disobedience. Every act of obedience is a part of faith in their view ... As for the remaining jurists of personal reasoning (ahl al-ra'i) [other than Abu Hanifah] and the scholars of the reports from the Hijaz, Iraq, Greater Syria and Egypt, including Malik ibn Anas, al-Laith ibn Saad, Sufyaan al-Thauri, al-Auzaa'ee, al-Shafi'ee, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ishaaq ibn Rahawaih, Abu Ubaid al-Qaasim ibn Salaam, Dawood ibn Ali, al-Tabari and those who follow their path, they all say that Imaan is statement and action. [They say that it is] statement with the tongue, which is profession of the faith, belief in the heart and deeds of the body. All of that [must be] with purity towards Allah by a sincere intention. They also say that every act of obedience to Allah, whether obligatory or voluntary, is a part of Imaan.3 Sahl ibn Abdullah al-Tustari, one of the early ascetics, was once asked, "What is /maan?" and he answered, "[It is] statement, action, intention and [following the way of the] sunnah. This is because if Imaan is only a statement without action then it is disbelief. If it is statement and action without [proper] intention, it is hypocrisy. If it is statement, action and intention without [following the way of the] sunnah, it is heresy."4 Similar statements have also been recorded from Ali ibn Abu Taalib, al-Hasan al-Basri, al-Auzaa'ee, Sufyaan al-Thauri and Saeed ibn Jubair.5 1 Al-Hawaali (Fikr, vol.