Beginners guide to Islam (Vol-01)

Basics of 'Faith' (إِيمَان)

Islamic 'Faith', in Arabic 'Imaan' (إِيمَان) is to strongly confirm the core beliefs and fundamentals (Prayer, Zakat, Hajj, Fasting, Law ordained by Allah) of Islam. The Prophet (ﷺ) was asked about Faith (إِيمَان) :

قَالَ فَأَخْبِرْنِي عَنِ الإِيمَانِ ‏.‏ قَالَ ‏"‏ أَنْ تُؤْمِنَ بِاللَّهِ وَمَلاَئِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ وَتُؤْمِنَ بِالْقَدَرِ خَيْرِهِ وَشَرِّهِ ‏"‏ ‏.‏ قَالَ صَدَقْتَ

He (the enquirer) said: Inform me about Imaan (faith). He (the Prophet) replied: "That you affirm your faith in Allah, in His Angels, in His Books, in His Messengers, in the Day of Judgment, and you affirm your faith in the Divine Decree about good and evil." He (the enquirer) said: You have told the truth.

[The Hadith is authentic]

Islamic faith, 'Imaan' (إِيمَان) is the most important matter of the religion. One must believe the matters of Imaan in the heart, verbally declare it and act according to it. Imaan is the only thing that fuels a muslims soul and Imaan is the straight path that the muslim follows throughout their life. We ask Allah for the straight path:

[1:6]

ٱهْدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٰطَ ٱلْمُسْتَقِيمَ

"Show us the straight path."

The straight path is Imaan that is based on Quran and Sunnah. As Allah mentions in his Book:

[4:59]

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ أَطِيعُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا۟ ٱلرَّسُولَ وَأُو۟لِى ٱلْأَمْرِ مِنكُمْ فَإِن تَنَٰزَعْتُمْ فِى شَىْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ وَٱلرَّسُولِ إِن كُنتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْءَاخِرِ ذَٰلِكَ خَيْرٌ وَأَحْسَنُ تَأْوِيلًا

"O you who believe! Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger, and those charged with authority among you. If you differ in anything among yourselves, refer it to Allah and His Messenger, if you do believe in Allah and the Last Day: That is best, and most suitable for final determination."

My teacher comments on Straight path:

قال الشيخ نعمان محبوب في خطبة الجمعة:
و ما ادرىك ما الصرط المستةيم
الصراط المستقيم هو الإيمان والقرآن والسنة
"والسنة" أضافه تحسين نافع [من تلاميذ الشيخ نعمان محبوب]

Translation:

Sheikh Nouman Mahbub said in his Friday's sermon that:

"Do you know what is straight path? Straight path is Imaan, Quran and Sunnah." "And Sunnah" was added by Tahasin Nafi [one of Sheikh Nouman Mahbub's student ]

And the Imaan in Islam is based on Quran and Sunnah meaning clear textual evidence. It is not a fictional story or a philosophy of a mad philosopher. Rather it is dependent on revelations (وُحِيّ) and the revelations are the Book of Allah and the example of the Prophet (ﷺ). And we limit ourselves in Quran and Sunnah in cases of Imaan, we do not give a personal opinion in matters of Imaan (faith). Whatever is proven from Quran and Sunnah, we take it without changing (adding or substracting) anything and we refrain from assuming in matters of Imaan which we do not have any knowledge about, example- the nature of Allah's hand, face etc. Rewards of any action in Islam depends on the doers 'Intention' and 'Faith'. For every good deed (rights of Allah, ie. Prayer, Hajj, Fasting) to be accepted in the sight of Allah, there is a crying need of a correct Imaan. If the Imaan is flawed then all the worship that a person does is of no benefit for him in the afterlife. If there is Kufr (disbelieve) in heart then any worship done by one is not accepted in the sight of Allah and good deeds such as being patient, feeding the poor etc. doesn't benefit him in the afterlife.

The evidence for it are the following Sahih Hadiths from Imam Muslim's (may Allah have mercy on his soul) Sahih-

عَنْ عَائِشَةَ قَالَتْ قُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ابْنُ جُدْعَانَ كَانَ فِي الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ يَصِلُ الرَّحِمَ وَيُطْعِمُ الْمِسْكِينَ فَهَلْ ذَاكَ نَافِعُهُ قَالَ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ لَا يَنْفَعُهُ إِنَّهُ لَمْ يَقُلْ يَوْمًا رَبِّ اغْفِرْ لِي خَطِيئَتِي يَوْمَ الدِّينِ

Aisha reported: I said, "O Messenger of Allah, the son of Jud'an would maintain family ties and feed the poor in the time of ignorance. Will it benefit him?" The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "It will not benefit him, for he never said even for one day: My Lord, forgive my sins on the Day of Judgment.

عن أنس بن مالك رضي الله عنه مرفوعاً: «إنَّ الكافر إذا عمل حسنة، أُطْعِمَ بها طُعْمَةً من الدنيا، وأما المؤمن فإِنَّ اللهَ تعالى يدخر له حسناته في الآخرة، ويُعْقِبُهُ رزقًا في الدنيا على طاعته». وفي رواية: إنَّ الله لا يظلم مؤمنا حسنة، يُعْطَى بها في الدنيا، ويُجْزَى بها في الآخرة، وأما الكافر فَيُطْعَمُ بحسنات ما عمل لله تعالى في الدنيا، حتى إذا أفضى إلى الآخرة، لم يكن له حسنة يُجْزَى بها

Anas Ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: "When a disbeliever does a good deed, he is rewarded for it in this world. As to the believer, Allah, the Almighty, saves his good deeds to reward him in the Hereafter and provides him with sustenance in this life as a reward for his obedience." Another narration reads: "Allah does not deal unjustly with a believer regarding a single good deed. He is given blessings for it in this world and will be rewarded for it in the Hereafter. As to the disbeliever, he is given sustenance as a reward for his good deeds in this world, so when he comes to the Hereafter, there are no more good deeds for him for which he can be rewarded."