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In the Qur'an, iman is one of the 10 qualities which cause one to be the recipient of God's mercy and reward. The Qur'an states that faith can grow with the remembrance of God. The Qur'an also states that nothing in this world should be dearer to a true believer than faith.
Muhammad is reported to have said that he gained sweetness of faith who was pleased to accept God as Lord, Islam as religion and Muhammad as prophet. He also said that no one can be a true believer unless he loves Muhammad more than his children, parents and relatives. At another instance, he has remarked that it is this love with Allah and Muhammad after which a person can be aware of the real taste of faith.
Amin Ahsan Islahi, a notable exegete of the Qur'an has clarified the nature of this love:
Islahi and
77 Branches of Iman (Faith)
Reality of Iman (Faith) – Meaning and Understanding
Faith in allah
{{Authority control Islamic ethics Islamic terminology Islamic belief and doctrine Faith
Iman ( ''ʾīmān'', lit.
].
# Belief in the existence of the Islamic eschatology, Day of Judgment: in that day, humanity will be divided into two groups: that of paradise and that of hell. These groups are themselves composed of subgroups.
# Belief in the existence of God's predestination (''qadar'', 'Divine Decree') due to God's omniscience, whether it involves good or bad.
Of these, the first four are mentioned and the sixth implied in ayah 2:285 of the Quran. All six appear in the first hadith of the collection '' Sahih Muslim'', where the angel faith
Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as "belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion".
Religious people often ...
or belief
A belief is an attitude that something is the case, or that some proposition is true. In epistemology, philosophers use the term "belief" to refer to attitudes about the world which can be either true or false. To believe something is to take ...
) in Islamic theology denotes a believer's faith in the metaphysical aspects of Islam.Farāhī, Majmū‘ah Tafāsīr, 2nd ed. (Faran Foundation, 1998), 347. Its most simple definition is the belief in the six articles of faith, known as ''arkān al-īmān''.
The term ''iman'' has been delineated in both the Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing.: ...
and ''hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...
''. According to the Quran, iman must be accompanied by righteous deeds and the two together are necessary for entry into Paradise
In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...
. In the ''hadith'', ''iman'' in addition to ''Islam'' and ''ihsan
Ihsan ( ar, إحسان , also romanized ''ehsan''), is an Arabic term meaning "to do beautiful things", "beautification", "perfection", or "excellence" (Arabic: , ). Ihsan is a matter of taking one's inner faith ('' iman'') and showing it in b ...
'' form the three dimensions of the Islamic religion.
There exists a debate both within and outside Islam on the link between faith and reason in religion, and the relative importance of either. Some scholars contend that faith and reason spring from the same source and hence must be harmonious.
Etymology
InArabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...
, ''iman'' ( ''ʾīmān'') means "" or "". It is the verbal noun
A verbal noun or gerundial noun is a verb form that functions as a noun. An example of a verbal noun in English is 'sacking' as in the sentence "The sacking of the city was an epochal event" (''sacking'' is a noun formed from the verb ''sack'').
...
of آمَنَ, "to have faith" or "to give recognition."
Meaning
In ahadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...
, the Islamic prophet Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the monot ...
defined ''iman'' as "a knowledge in the heart, a voicing with the tongue, and an activity with the limbs." Faith is confidence in a truth which is real. When people have confidence, they submit themselves to that truth. It is not sufficient just to know the truth, but the recognition of the heart should be expressed by the tongue which is the manifestation of the intelligence and at last to reflect this confidence in their activities.
Hamiduddin Farahi, while explaining the meaning of imān in his exegesis, wrote:
The Six Articles of Faith
Faith (''iman'') includes six primary beliefs: # Belief in the existence and oneness of God. # Belief in the existence of angels. # Belief in the existence of the books of which God is the author: theQuran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing.: ...
(revealed to Muhammad), the Gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...
(revealed to Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...
), the Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...
(revealed to Moses), and Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived f ...
(revealed to David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
).
# Belief in the existence of prophets: Muhammad being the last of them, Jesus the penultimate, and others sent before them Abraham
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the Covenant (biblical), special ...
, David, Joseph
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the m ...
, Jacob in Islam">Jacob
Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam ...Gabriel
In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብ ...
asks to be told of ''iman'' and Muhammad replies:
Another similar narration ascribed to Muhammad is:
Delineation in the Qur'an and Hadith
In the Qur'an, iman is one of the 10 qualities which cause one to be the recipient of God's mercy and reward. The Qur'an states that faith can grow with the remembrance of God. The Qur'an also states that nothing in this world should be dearer to a true believer than faith.
Muhammad is reported to have said that he gained sweetness of faith who was pleased to accept God as Lord, Islam as religion and Muhammad as prophet. He also said that no one can be a true believer unless he loves Muhammad more than his children, parents and relatives. At another instance, he has remarked that it is this love with Allah and Muhammad after which a person can be aware of the real taste of faith.
Amin Ahsan Islahi, a notable exegete of the Qur'an has clarified the nature of this love:
Islahi and Abul A'la Maududi
Abul A'la al-Maududi ( ur, , translit=Abū al-Aʿlā al-Mawdūdī; – ) was an Islamic scholar, Islamist ideologue, Muslim philosopher, jurist, historian, journalist, activist and scholar active in British India and later, following the parti ...
both have inferred that the Quranic comparison of a good word and a bad word in Chapter 14 is actually a comparison of faith and disbelief. Thus, the Quran is effectively comparing faith to a tree whose roots are deep in the soil and branches spread in the vastness of the sky.
Iman is also the subject of a supplication uttered by Muhammad to God:
The Seventy-Seven Branches of Faith
"The Seventy-Seven Branches of Faith" is a collection compiled by the Shafiʽi imam al-Bayhaqi in his work ''Shuʽab al-Iman''. In it, he explains the essential virtues that reflect true faith through related Quranic verses and prophetic sayings. This is based on the following Hadith ascribed to Muhammad:Faith and deeds
In Islam, it is essential that there exist harmony and concord between faith and deeds. Farāhī has explained this aspect in his tafsīr in the following manner:Farāhī, Majmū‘ah Tafāsīr, 2nd ed. (Faran Foundation, 1998), 349.Righteous deeds are mentioned in the Qurān right after faith in the capacity of an explanation ... In the case of faith, the need for its explanation is obvious: the place of faith is the heart and the intellect. In matters of intellect and heart, not only can a person deceive others but also at times he himself can remain in deception. He considers himself to be a mu’min (believer) whereas actually he is not. For this reason, two testimonies needed to be required for it: a person's words and a person's deeds. Since words can be untrue, hence a person who only professes faith through words is not regarded as a mu’min and it was deemed essential that a person's deeds also testify to his faith.
Faith and reason in Islam
The relation between reason and faith in Islam is a complex debate spanning over centuries.Ismail Raji al-Faruqi
Ismaʻīl Rājī al-Fārūqī ( ar, إسماعيل راجي الفاروقي January 1, 1921 – May 27, 1986) was a Palestinian people, Palestinian-United States, American philosopher. He spent several years at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, t ...
states on this subject:
As for the non-Muslims, they may contest the principles of Islam. They must know, however, that Islam does not present its principles dogmatically, for those who believe or wish to believe, exclusively. It does so rationally, critically. It comes to us armed with logical and coherent arguments, and expects our acquiescence on rational, and hence necessary, grounds. It is not legitimate for us to disagree on the relativist basis of personal taste, or that of subjective experience.Isma'il Raji al Faruqi, ''Islam and Other Religions''
See also
*Five Pillars of Islam
The Five Pillars of Islam (' ; also ' "pillars of the religion") are fundamental practices in Islam, considered to be obligatory acts of worship for all Muslims. They are summarized in the famous hadith of Gabriel. The Sunni and Shia agree ...
* Al-Ikhlas
* Taqwa
* Six Kalimas
* Amin and Amina, names derivant of Iman
References
Citations
Sources
*External links
77 Branches of Iman (Faith)
Reality of Iman (Faith) – Meaning and Understanding
Faith in allah
{{Authority control Islamic ethics Islamic terminology Islamic belief and doctrine Faith