Part 50

From this it becomes clear also how to respond to their [Murji?ites] claim that whoever believes and dies before works are made obligatory, dies as a believer. This is correct, for he had accomplished the obligations required for his Iman before works were made obligatory for his Iman. It is necessary to know this, since by knowing it the doubt will be lifted.

If it is said that obligatory works are part of Iman, then it should be clear that the obligatory Iman is not one thing but many things for different people. Orthodox Muslims say that all good works [whether obligatory or merely desirable] are part of Iman. That is, they are part of the perfect, desirable Iman, but not the obligatory Iman. Thus he differentiated between the obligatory Iman and the perfect, desirable Iman, as the Muslim scholars say that the ghusl, ablution, is of two kinds: either being rewarded for doing the obligatory or for performing the perfect of the desirables. The expression “perfect” may refer to the obligatory as well as to the desirable Iman.

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However, their claim that Allah has differentiated, in many places, between Iman and works is correct. And the author has indicated that Iman, when used in an absolute sense, is included by Allah and His Messenger in the obligatory works. And Iman may be associated with works, and we have already mentioned many examples to prove this. For the essence of Iman is what is in the heart, as well as the outward works that are a necessary part of this. Thus, one cannot imagine the existence of the required Iman of the heart without it being accompanied with all the works of parts of the body. Indeed, whenever outward works diminish, it would be so due to the diminishing of Iman that is in the heart. Since it is conjoined with works, this means that Iman in the heart is not enough, but must be accompanied by good works.

People have taken two different positions concerning this notion [i.e., that the root of belief exists within the heart, but that it must be spoken of in association with good works, since these are considered to be a necessary outcome or component of true belief]. There are those who say that the second term [namely, good works} forms part of the first [namely, belief]; however, such works are specifically mentioned by name lest it be thought that they are not included in the first term [belief]. People holding this view note that this occurs whenever a more specific aspect of something is mentioned in conjunction with a more general, inclusive term, as when Allah says: “Whoever is an enemy to Allah, His Angels, His Messengers, Gabriel and Michael . . .” (2:98); and “And when We took from the Prophets their Covenant, from you [Oh, Muhammad], and from Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus, son of Mary . . .” (33:7); and “But those who believe and do righteous good works, and believe in that which is sent down to Muhammad, for it is the Truth from their Lord . . .” (47:2), where belief is defined specifically in terms of that which was revealed to Muhammad. When Allah mentions “those who have believed,” He is referring to the Prophet’s Companions and other believers. Likewise Allah says: “Guard strictly the [five obligatory] prayers and especially the middle prayer . . .” (2:238); and “And they were commanded not, but that they should worship Allah, and worship none but Him alone and offer prayers and give zakah . . .” (98:5). Allah’s primary intent is that he alone be worshiped; He also intends for prayer to be established and charity to be practiced in order to indicate that they are obligatory acts of worship. Thus, it is not enough to worship none but Allah without prayer and charity. Hence, one should not think that it is enough to have Iman without righteous works. Moreover, belief is

mentioned first because it is the indispensable root; following this, good works are mentioned since they are a necessary component of the perfect practice of religion, lest anyone should suppose that either belief or religion may be considered complete if one has belief alone without good works. Allah says: “Alif. Lam. Mim. This the Book [the Qur’an], whereof there is no doubt, is a guidance to those who are the righteous ones. Who believe in the Unseen and offer the prayers and spend out of what We have provided for them. And those who believe in that which has been revealed to you [Muhammad] and in that which was revealed before you [i.e., the Torah and the Gospel] and they believe in the Hereafter. They are on [true] guidance from their Lord, and also they are the successful ones” (2:1-5). It has been said that those spoken of in this verse are the People of the Book, such as Ibn Salam and others, who believed in what had been revealed to Muhammad and to others before him, but that they belong to a different category than those mentioned earlier, namely, “those who believe in the Unseen.” Others, however, have held that all those spoken of here—those who have believed in what was revealed to Muhammad and to the Prophets who came before him, and those who believe in the Unseen—belong to a single group, and have been spoken of separately simply to bring out different ways in which they can be described. A similar use of conjunctions to describe a single entity may be seen in the verses where Allah says: “Glory be the Name of your Lord, the Most High, Who has created [everything], and then proportioned it, and Who measured and then guided. And Who brings out the pasturage. And then makes it dark stubble” (87:1—5). For Allah Almighty is One, but various of His attributes and activities have been spoken of in conjunction with others. The same applies to the verse where Allah says: “. . . The middle prayer . . .” (2:238); it is the late afternoon prayer mentioned in conjunction with prayer in general, of which the afternoon prayer is one example.

When attributes are used within the definite, they are being employed for clarification; and they may also imply either praise or blame. You might say, for example, “this man is the one who did such and such, or such and such and such and such,” thereby enumerating the praiseworthy things he has done. Therefore, with subordinate components, they may be associated with something via a conjunctive particle, or be placed in the accusative or in the nominative cases, which is correct. For if those who believe in the Unseen do not believe in what has been revealed to the Prophet Muhammad [with reference to the verses above] and

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to the prophets who came before him, then neither are they rightly guided by their Lord, nor are they spiritually prosperous or fearers of Allah. Likewise, if those who believe in what was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad and to the prophets who came before him are not included among those who believe in the Unseen, perform the ritual prayers, and spend [wisely] the wealth that Allah gives them, neither will they be rightly guided by their Lord, nor will they prosper spiritually or be fearers of Allah. And what this indicates is that all these attributes describe those who are rightly guided, Allah-fearing people whose guidance has come from the Book revealed to Muhammad (pbuh); for one attribute has been mentioned in conjunction with another, even though one of them actually represents part of the other. The intent [of such passages in the Quran] is to describe their belief, affirming that they believe in all that Allah has revealed to His Prophets and that they make no distinction between one prophet and another. Otherwise, if no mention were made of anything but belief in the Unseen, then someone might say: “T believe in the Unseen,” when in fact he believes in [only] some of the things in which he is required to believe but not others.

Since Surat al-Baqarah is the sinam, hump, of the Qur’an and the first seerah revealed in Madinah, Allah begins with four verses that describe traits of the believers, two verses about unbelievers, and several about hypocrites. For when the Prophet (pbuh) emigrated to Madinah, people divided into three groups: believers, unbelievers who outwardly manifested their rejection of Iman, and hypocrites. Indeed, this was not the case when they were in Makkah, where there was not a single hypocrite. This is why Ahmad Ibn Hanbal and others said that there was not a single hypocrite among those who emigrated. But hypocrisy prevailed among the tribes of al-Ansar, the Helpers, for Makkah was dominated by unbelievers. Thus, no one believed or emigrated out of Makkah unless he was a believer, so there was no need for one to be a hypocrite there. However, in Madinah the people of influence became believers. Thus, the believers have protection and dignity through al-Ansar who used to harm whoever was not a believer. Therefore, the hypocrites found it necessary to pretend that they were believers although they had no Iman in their hearts. Indeed, in the beginning of Strat al-Bagarah, its middle verses, and its end verses, Allah stresses the necessity of having Iman in all that was sent down by the prophets. In the opening of the seerah, He utters the verse sited above. In the middle of the seerah, He says: “Say you: We believe in Allah, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Ismail,

Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to [all] Prophets from their Lord: We make no difference between one and another of them: and we bow to Allah {in Islam]. So if they believe as you believe, they are indeed on the right path; but if they turn back, it is they who are in schism. . .” (2:136-37). In the end of the seerah, He says: “. .. The Messenger believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord, as do the men of belief. Each one [of them] believes in Allah, His Angels, His Books, and His Messengers. ‘We make no distinction [they say] between one and another of His Messengers.’ And they say: ‘We hear, and we obey: [we seek] Your forgiveness, Our Lord, and with you is our destiny’” (2:285).

It was reported in the two famous sound collections of hadith that the Prophet (pbuh) said: “Whoever recites the last two verses of Sarat al-Baqarah, Chapter of the Cow, at night will suffice him.” He also said: “That he [the Prophet] used to recite the middle verse.” The Prophet used to recite these verses during the two rak‘ahs, prostrations, of the Fajr, dawn, prayer. He also used to recite the following verse. Allah says: “Say [Oh, Muhammad]: ‘Oh, people of the Scripture [Jews and Christians] come to a word that is just between us and you . . .”” (3:64). At other times the Prophet recited the Strat al-Kafiriin, Chapter of Unbelievers, and the Siirat al-Ikhlas, Chapter of Sincerity, which starts with: “Say [Oh, Muhammad] Allah is One” (112:1). Thus the Prophet used to recite verses that have reference to Iman and Islam as well as reference to Oneness of Allah and Sincerity.