The Six Articles Of Faith In Islam

Iman ( ''ʾīmān'', lit. faith or belief) 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 and '' hadith''. According to the Quran, iman must be accompanied by righteous deeds and the two together are necessary for entry into Paradise. In the ''hadith'', ''iman'' in addition to ''Islam'' and ''ihsan'' 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

In Arabic, ''iman'' ( ''ʾīmān'') means "" or "". It is the verbal noun of آمَنَ, "to have faith" or "to give recognition."

Meaning

In a hadith, the Islamic prophet Muhammad 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: the Quran (revealed to Muhammad), the Gospel (revealed to Jesus), the Torah (revealed to Moses), and Psalms (revealed to David).
# Belief in the existence of prophets: Muhammad being the last of them, Jesus the penultimate, and others sent before them Abraham, David, Joseph in Islam">Joseph, Jacob in Islam">Jacob">Joseph_in_Islam">Joseph<_a>,_J.html" ;"title="Abraham in Islam">Abraham, David, Joseph, Jacob in Islam">Jacob
# 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 '' Āyah">ayah 2:285 of the Quran. All six appear in the first hadith of the collection ''Sahih Muslim'', where the angel Gabriel">Sahih Muslim">Āyah">ayah 2:285 of the Quran. All six appear in the first hadith of the collection ''Sahih Muslim'', where the angel Gabriel 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 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 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
* Al-Ikhlas
* Taqwa
* Six Kalimas
* Amin and Amina, names derivant of Iman

References

Citations

Sources

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External links

77 Branches of Iman (Faith)

Reality of Iman (Faith) – Meaning and Understanding

Faith in allah

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Islamic ethics
Islamic terminology
Islamic belief and doctrine
Faith