Part 79

He [Abu ‘“Umar] said that the Mu‘tazilites regard Iman as the sum total of all acts of obedience. Moreover, whoever fails to perform any act of obedience is considered a fasiq, sinner, but not a believer or an unbeliever. This is the opinion of the Mu‘tazilites, who believed in the manzilah bayna al-manzilatayn, state in between. He also said that Iman increases and decreases. It increases with obedience and decreases with disobedience. This is also the opinion of the people of traditions and of jurists in the provinces. Ibn al-Qasim related, on the authority of Malik [Ibn Anas], that belief may increase, though he stops short of saying that

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it may also decrease. However, ‘Abd al-Razzaq, Ma‘an Ibn “Isa, and Ibn Nafi‘’ related on his authority that according to him, belief may either increase or decrease. This is in agreement with the views of hadith scholars within the Orthodox Islamic community. Praise be to Allah.

Then he [Abu ‘Umar] cited the arguments of the Murji?ites and the Orthodox Muslims, after which he refuted the claim made by the Khirijites that those who disobey Allah [e.g., through fornication or theft] are unbelievers, either based on the criteria mentioned or based on inheritance, and he also cited the hadith of ‘Ubadah: “He who gets something of that [inheritance] and then will be punished for it in this world; it is in the realm of penance.” He [Abu ‘Umar] said that there are many degrees of Iman. Hence, an imperfect believer is not like a perfect believer. Allah says: “For believers are those who, when Allah is mentioned, feel a tremor in their hearts . . .” (8:2). For that reason Allah also says: “These are the true believers . . .” (8:4). Further support comes from the Prophet’s (pbuh) hadith that reads: “A believer is he whom Muslims trust [with their persons and property]; whereas a Muslim is he from whose hand and tongue other Muslims are safe.” And also he [the Prophet] said: “And the most perfect of believers in Iman are the best of them in morals.” Naturally, in order for one to have perfect Iman, others must have a lesser degree of Iman.

The Prophet (pbuh) said: “The closest bonds of Iman are love and hate for the sake of Allah;” and “No Iman [is accepted] from he who is untrustworthy.” This indicates that there are types of Iman that are more perfect and trustworthy than others. In this regard, the following hadith, which was narrated by al-Tirmidhi and others, is mentioned: “Whoever loves, hates, gives, and prohibits for the sake of Allah perfects his Iman.” Furthermore, Abu ‘Umar al-Talamanki mentioned the consensus of the Orthodox Muslims, which states that Iman is words, works, good intent, and good undestanding of the Sunnah.

THE OPINION OF ABU TALIB AL-MAKKi ON ISLAM AND IMAN

Abu Talib al-Makki said that Islam has five pillars: to testify that there is no god but Allah, to pray, to fast during Ramadan, to give zakah, and to go on pilgrimage;

* Tbn Nafi’, Abu ‘Abd Allah (2-186 A.H.), was a famous jurist of Madinah and a disciple of Imam Malik, [Kitab al-Jman MZ, p. 293.]

whereas Iman has seven pillars: the five pillars mentioned in Gabriel’s saying plus having belief in divine predestination and in Paradise and Hell. Both of these are mentioned in Gabriel’s hadith, which will be cited later, in sha’a Allah.

Likewise, he said that belief is to believe in Allah’s Name and His Attributes, to believe in Allah’s Books and His Prophets, and to believe in the Angels and the devils. He means here, and Allah knows best, to distinguish between them [Angels and devils]. For indeed some people place them in one category. But they are distinguished according to their deeds, as human beings are distinguished as those who are righteous and those who are not. Also Iman is to believe in Paradise and Hellfire and that both of them were created before Adam and to believe in Resurrection after death and to believe in all categories of predestination; the good and the evil and the sweet and the bitter. These all emanate from Allah’s Predestination, Will, and Wisdom. That is just from Him and Great Wisdom. He is the only One who knows the Unseen and the meaning of their realities.

Abu Talib as well as others said that Iman is Islam, thereby denying the existence of differing degrees, and this is closer to the doctrine of the Murji’ites. Others said that Islam is not Iman and those are the ones who introduce the concept of the opposite and the difference between the two, and this is close to the saying of the al-Ibadiyyah sect. This is a problematic question that requires a lengthy explanation. Indeed, the relationship of Islam to that of Iman resembles the relationship of the two parts of the testimonies, both in meaning and in principle. For indeed the testimony of the Prophet is different from the testimony of the Unity of Allah. Both of them are considered of equal prominence and they are both related to each other in principle and wisdom, and they bond together as one and so Iman and Islam are bonded together as if they form one unit. Thus there is no Iman for one who has no Islam, nor is there any Islam for one who has no Iman. For one must have some Iman in order to be a Muslim, just as a believer must have some Islam in order to fulfill his Iman. Thus a believer will not be derived of Islam and this indeed will affirm his Iman. For Allah commands good deeds as a condition for Iman. In the realization of this Allah says: “Whoever does good deeds, while he is a believer, his efforts will not be rejected . . .” (21:94). He also commands Iman as a condition for good deeds. Allah says: “But whoever comes to Him [Allah] as a believer, and has done good deeds, they have the highest ranks [in the Hereafter]” (20:75). Hence, whoever outwardly manifests Islam’s deeds and does not believe in the inner essence of belief of the Unseen is

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called a hypocrite, and his hypocrisy is the type that excludes him from the [Muslim] community. And whoever believes in the Unseen but does not act according to Iman and Islamic laws is called an unbeliever. His unbelief contradicts the Oneness of Allah. Finally, whoever believes in the unseen and does what the Messengers of Allah reported is called a believing Muslim. Otherwise, it would be possible for a believer not to be called a Muslim or for a Muslim not to be called a believer in Allah.

The people of the Qiblah agreed that every believer is a Muslim and every Muslim is a believer in Allah, in His Angels, and in His Books. Iman is to deeds as the heart is to the body: they are inseparable from each other. He [Abu Talib] said that the likeness of Iman to works resembles the likeness of the heart to the body: they are inseparable from each other. No living body can exist without a heart and no heart can exist without a body. They are two separate entities and they are, in meaning and principle, considered two separate things. The likeness of them is similar to a seed, which has both an inside and an outside and yet is one. That is, we do not call it two seeds due to the variation in the characteristics of the outside and the inside. So are the deeds of Islam. Islam is the overt expression of Iman and Iman is the covert expression of Islam. And it is action of the parts of the body, and Iman is the inward aspect of Islam and it is part of the works of the heart.

It was also narrated from the Prophet (pbuh) that he said: “Islam is overt whereas Iman is in the heart.” In another version: “Iman is a sirr, secret thought, in the heart.” Hence, Islam is the works of Iman; and Iman is the beads of Islam. Hence there is no Iman without deeds and there are no deeds without binding. Similar to this are overt and covert knowledge, which are connected with the person who possesses them through acts of the heart and the acts of the parts of the body. This can be seen in the saying of the Prophet (pbuh): “Indeed, works are achieved only through good intentions.” Hence, no works, whether of the body or the heart, are accepted without good intentions. Namely, there is no deed fulfilled except with resolve and intention because the particle innama, indeed, used in the above cited hadith, is used to affirm the realization of one thing and negate everything else. Thus he affirmed that the work of the parts of the body is considered behavior and the work of the heart is considered intention. For action is to belief what the lips are to the tongue. For speech cannot occur without both of them, since the lips bring the words together while the tongue produces outward speech, such that if either of these entities were taken away, no speech would be possible. Similarly,

if action were removed, there would be no belief. Therefore, when Allah enumerates the blessings that He bestows upon man through speech, He makes mention of the lips along with the tongue, as in the following verses. Allah says: “Have We not made for him a pair of eyes? And a tongue and a pair of lips?” (90:8-9). In other words, He is asking: “Did We not create human beings to be able to see and to speak?” He thus depicts the notion of speech by referring to the tongue and the lips, since the lips are the tongue’s resting place, as it were. Moreover, he makes mention of the lips because the speech through which Allah’s blessings were revealed could not have come about without them.

The relationship between belief and Islam may also be likened to a large tent or pavilion with an upper canopy that rises above ground level, tent pegs that hold it in place, and an upright post in the center. The tent is like Islam in that, just as Islam has foundations or “pillars” consisting of outward deeds performed by the body, the tent has pegs that hold the outer edges of the canopy in place, and a pole that stands upright in the center. This center pole may be likened to belief, for just as the tent cannot stand without the center pole, neither can Islam remain standing without belief. For the tent is in need of these pegs and poles, being unable to stand firm and upright without them, just as Islam, with its outward actions, may not remain standing without belief. And conversely, belief involves acts of the heart from which no benefit may come except through Islam with its accompanying works of righteousness.