Part 85

THE CONCEPT OF IMAN AND RELATED ISSUES 353

THE OPINION OF IBN SALAH CONCERNING IMAN AND ISLAM

Abu ‘Amr Ibn Salah said that our Prophet’s (pbuh) said: “Islam is to testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger.” He [the Prophet] also said: “Iman is to affirm your belief in Allah, in His Angels, in His Books and in His Messengers.” This is the explanation of both the essence of Iman, which is inward tasdiq, and the essence of Islam, which is overt submission and obedience. The Prophet’s (pbuh) statement also indicates that whoever overtly testifies that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger is judged to be a Muslim. But the Prophet (pbuh) also added the other four pillars [since they are the most prominent religious duties] to indicate that whoever fulfills them has completely submitted [to Allah], but whoever abandons them loosens the bond of obedience.

The term Iman includes the term Islam, as it is interpreted in the Prophet’s (pbuh) hadith, in addition to other acts of obedience, since they are the results as well as the foundation of the inward tasdiq, which is the essence of Iman and supports, compliments, and preserves it. Thus, our Prophet (pbuh) interpreted Iman, in his statement to the delegation of the people of ‘Abd al-Qays, as the two testimonies of belief, establishment of prayer, giving zakah, and payment of one-fifth of the spoils that falls to one’s lot. So the name “perfect believer” does not refer to someone who has committed a major sin or abandoned an obligation, since the description of something as perfect is applicable only to that which is complete, and inapplicable to the [overtly] imperfect, unless some restriction is attached. Therefore, it is permissible to negate the Iman of someone based on the Prophet’s (pbuh) saying: “A fornicator who fornicates is not a believer so long as he commits fornication.”

The term Islam, if used alone, also includes the essence of Iman, and it is tasdiq and the essence of acts of obedience, and all this is submission [to Allah]. He [Abu “Amr Ibn al-Salah] said that from his investigations he discovered that Islam and Iman can be found together as well as separately, and that every believer is a Muslim but not the reverse. This finding is in total agreement with the Quran, the Sunnah, and the sayings of the vast majority of Muslim scholars of hadith and others. Often those who indulge in discussing these matters err.

THE OPINION OF THE AUTHOR CONCERNING THE STATEMENT OF IBN SALAH

This he [Ibn Salah, may the Mercy of Allah be upon him] mentioned that there is harmony in the statements of Muslim scholars, and that what is in the Book and the Sunnah is the statement of the majority of the scholars, that “every believer is a Muslim and not every Muslim is a believer.” And he further related that in the hadith in which he mentioned the roots of belief and Islam, one might note that the Prophet (pbuh) replied to questions about belief and Islam with answers that are limited to the defined. Hence, what he mentioned corresponds to both [belief and Islam], not simply to their origins. For belief is belief in what he has mentioned both inwardly and outwardly; at the same time, however, the belief of which he speaks encompasses Islam, just as Ihsan encompasses belief.

THE CONCEPT OF IMAN AND RELATED ISSUES 355

the fruits of inward tasdiq, two things are meant. First, it means that acts of obedience are a necessary outgrowth of belief, such that whenever inward belief is present, outward acts of obedience will also be in evidence. This is the view adopted by the pious ancestors and other Orthodox Muslims. Second, it means that inward belief may be a cause in the sense that it exists in completeness even before such acts of obedience have come into being. This is the view of the Murji’ites, the Jahmites, and others. And as we mentioned above, they are in error in three different respects. First, they err in thinking that the belief in one’s heart may be complete without the works of the heart, such as loving and revering Allah, fearing Allah and relying on Him, and longing to meet Him. Second, they are in error by thinking that the belief that is in one’s heart may be complete without outward actions. This is the view adopted by all the Murji’ ites. Their third error is their claim that whoever is declared to be an unbeliever by the Lawgiver {i-e., the Prophet] is declared to be so because of the absence of inward tasdiq in the blessed, almighty Lord. Many later thinkers, who tacitly agree with the Murji?ites’ and Jahmites’ views on belief, confuse the doctrines of the pious ancestors with the claims of the Murji?ites and Jahmites, and therefore make no distinction between them. Such people hold the pious ancestors and hadith scholars in great awe, and think that they are reconciling the views of the pious ancestors with the views of others.

AL-MaARWAZi DoEs NOT DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN ISLAM AND IMAN

Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad Ibn Nasr al-Marwazi said: “A third group, which represents the great majority of Orthodox Muslims and hadith scholars, said that the Iman that Allah has called for and commands us to follow is Islam, which He declares to be the religion He would accept from His servants. Islam is the opposite of unbelief, which Allah abhors”. He [Allah] says: “. . . He likes not disbelief for His slaves . . .” (39:7); and “. . . | have chosen for you Islam as your religion . . .” (5:3); and “Those whom Allah wills to guide, He opened his breast to Islam...” (6:125); and “Is one whose heart Allah has opened to Islam, so that he has received the light from his Lord . . .” (39:22). It follows that Allah praises Islam in the same way He praises [man. He also makes [slam a name of praise and thanks, and declares that he who submits to Islam will receive enlightenment and guidance from Allah, Moreover, He indicates that Islam is the religion which He

chooses, praises and makes obligatory. Do you not see that His Prophets and Messengers desired it [Islam] and asked Allah to have it? For example, Ibrahim and Isma‘ll said that Allah says: “Our Lord! Make of us Muslims, bowing to Thy [Will], and of our progeny a Muslim people, bowing to Thy [Will] . . .” (2:128). Yiisuf said that Allah says: “Cause me to die as a Muslim, and join me with the righteous ones . . .” (12:101). Allah also says: “And this was enjoined by Ibrahim upon his sons, and so did Jacob [saying]: ‘Oh, my sons! Allah has chosen for you the true religion, then die not except as Muslims’” (2:132). Allah also says: “. . . And say to the People of the Book and to those who are unlearned: Do you [also] submit yourselves? If they do, they are in right guidance . . .” (3:20). In another place Allah says: “Say you: ‘We believe in Allah, and the revelation given to us, and to Ibrahim, Isma‘ll, and Ishaq . . .”” (2:136); and “So if they believe as you believe, they are indeed on the right path . . .” (2:137). Accordingly, Allah’s judgment is that whoever submits to Allah is rightly guided, and whoever believes is also rightly guided. Hence He equates the two.

Muhammad Ibn Nasr al-Marwazi says that we have mentioned the entire argument in support of the claim that Islam is Iman, that they are neither separate nor different from each other, an argument we prefer not to repeat so as not to be verbose or bore the reader. However, we will cite the evidence that was not mentioned previously, so as to show how it has been misinterpreted. We will also mention the pieces of evidence they cite from the Qur’an and other sources in order to clarify the difference between Islam and Iman.

EXPLAINING THE VIEW OF AL-MARWAZI AND RESPONDING TO IT

Al-Marwazi means to say that the praiseworthy Muslim is the praiseworthy believer, and that the blameworthy Muslim lacks both Islam and Iman. Moreover, every believer is a Muslim and every Muslim must have Iman: this is right and agreed upon. He also means to say that whoever is called a Muslim is likewise called a believer. However, a dispute over terminology arises here. Al-Marwazi’s claim is that the connotation of one is the same as that of the other, but this similarity was never reported by our ancestors, although it is said that they [Islam and Iman] are inseparable from each other. But in this case, the referent of the first word must not be the same as the referent of the other. Indeed, he does not cite any of the Prophet’s Companions, their Successors, or Muslim jurists, who said that