CORRECT UNDERSTANDIN
G OF EEMAN
Safety
security
Root word-
Aman pea
ce
IBN TAYMIYYAH ON “EEMAN”
Its extraction from the word aman is in essence “Al-Qaraar” (firmness) & “Tuma’ninah” (tranquillity) and that is only if the heart accepts it with truthfulness and obedience
EEMAN
BELIEF OF THE HEART (tasdeeq)
STATEMENT OF THE TONGUE (iqraar)
ACTION OF THE LIMB
Decreases with disobedience
Increases with obedience
All acts of obedience
in ones
Inner self
Outer self
Ibn Taymiyy
ahIman &
aqeedah are one
EEMAN
SPEECH
HEART
TONGUE
ACTION
HEART
TONGUE
LIMBS
Firm belief upon knowledge contained
Confirmation & affirmation with the tongue
Ibadah of the hearts (love, fear , hope etc.)
Enjoining good & forbidding evil, dhikr, repentance
Enjoining good, forbidding evil, salah, zakah, not cheating etc.
Speech of the heart Belief of the heart with respect to Allah and other pillars of iman
Knowledge contained in the heart and its firm belief in itTawheed ar-ruboobiyah & Asma was sifat
Tawheed Al-Uloohiyah (comes
under action)
Surah Zumar:33-34
Surah anam:7
5
Surah hujurat:
14Surah anfal:2
Sahih bukhari
& muslimEvidence for
the heart
Speech of the tongueTongue’s confirmation of what the heart containsSpeech of tongue related to knowledge
Evidence for the tongue
Surah qasas :
53
Surah ash-
shura:14
Surah Al-
Ahqaf(13)
Sahih bukhari
& muslim
Speech relates to knowledge and specific details of faith such as
• Correct belief in Allah• His tawheed• Matters of the Unseen such as hell-fire,
paradise, bridge over hell-fire• Hearts belief and conviction in these
things
Place of Knowledge & belief – speech of heart
Place of emotions &
feelings (Ibadah) – action of
heart
ACTIONS OF THE HEART
Feelings of the heart such as love, fear, hope, reliance, submission – ibaadah of the heart Includes tawheed al uloohiyah
Actions of the tongue
Eg- Dhikr, enjoining good & forbidding evil, seeking forgiveness etc. Includes Tawheed-al-uloohiyah as these actions should be for Allah aloneTongue just like the heart has two roles
Affirm belief of the heart like Belief in Allah, Prophet etc.
Acts of worship
specific to belief like Dhikr etc.
Action of the limbDoing what is commanded & keeping away from forbidden thingsPhysical acts of worship like praying, fasting, giving zakah, not backbiting , cheating etc.Also related to uloohiyah in that they should be done for Allah alone Actual acts of worship
Evidence for actions
Surah hajj:77
Surah Al-
baqarah :238
Sahih bukhari
:
When the hypocrites come to you (O Muhammad SAW), they say: "We bear
witness that you are indeed the Messenger of Allâh." Allâh knows that
you are indeed His Messenger and Allâh bears witness that the hypocrites are
liars indeed. [Munaafiqoon 63:1]
Here the hypocrites are treated as liars, even though they expressed with their tongues their testification that Muhammad is indeed the Messenger of Allaah.
They were that day, nearer to disbelief than to Faith, saying
with their mouths what was not in their hearts. And
Allâh has full knowledge of what they conceal [Aali Imraan :167] (Also al-Fath :11)
Decreases with
disobedienceIncreases
with obedience
The believers are only those who, when Allâh is mentioned, feel a fear in their hearts and when His Verses (this Qur'ân) are recited unto them, they
(i.e. the Verses) increase their Faith; and they put their trust
in their Lord (Alone) [Surah Anfaal 8:2]"Eemaan consists of seventy-odd
branches, the highest of which is to testify None has the right to be
worshipped except Allah and the lowest of which is to remove something
harmful from the floor, and modesty is a part of eemaan." (Bukhaaree, Muslim
Abu Daawood, Ahmad, Ibn Maajah, and others.)
"The most perfect of people with respect to his eemaan,
is the best of them in his manners."
(Bazzaar, all of its narrators are reliable and al-Haithamee mentioned it in Majmoo az-Zawaaid)
Hadeeth: "Whoever loves for Allaah (alone), hates for Allaah (alone), gives for Allaah (alone)
and withholds for Allaah (alone), then he has perfected
eemaan." (Abu Daawood - saheeh).
Complete/perfect (increases until reaches the likes of mountain)Incomplete
/ imperfect (decreases until as small as atoms weight)
EEMAN
Iman decreases & increases subject to the degree of sincerity, love,
hope, fear etc. in the heart
Eg- Zina – Iman decreases & can disappear for the
time being
“No adulterer is a believer at the time when he iscomitting adultery, no thief is a believer at the time When he is committing adultery, no thief is a believer at the time when he is stealing, no drinker of wine is a believer the time when he is drinking it” (Bukhari & Muslim)
BRANCHES OF EEMANRequired for completion & perfection of eemanLack of them does not make one exit from islam
Defecient
eemanSinner/ Faasiq
Does not make one
kaafir
Hadd/sharee
punitive acts
(stealing,zina,slander etc.)
ESSENTIAL PILLARS OF EEMAN
If any of the pillars are not believed then the whole of the eeman becomes null
and void
KHAWARIJ
MURJIAH
INCORRECT UNDERSTANDING OF EEMAN- THE TWO EXTREMES
Deny the part that faith increases and decreases
A muslim is out of the fold of islam if he commits a major sin and thus they fight the muslims by declaring takfir on them
Extreme murjiah limit faith to affirmation of the heart without actions or statements
Thus they do not declare kufr even on those who do major acts of kufr
Mutazillite
Assign the sinner a station between belief and disbelief
Claim Quran is created Man’s action totally independent of
Allah’s will
“Indeed does not forgive association
with Him but He forgives what is
less than that for whom He wills.
And he who associates others
with Allah has certainly
fabricated a tremendous sin”
(Nisa:48)
“..And whoever disobeys Allah and
His Messenger – then indeed for him is the fire of
hell; they will abide therein
forever.”(Jinn:23)
Proofs against the deviant beliefs QURAN - Sinners have the threat but not expulsion
from deen
OTHER DEVIANT BELIEFS
Deny the existence of Qadr Negation of Allah’s prior knowledgeYahya ibn Umar said that he told Ibn Umar about how the
Qadariyah denied the Qadr of Allah whereupon he distanced himself from them and told him that “Allah would not accept any of their good deeds even if they were the most sincere of His worshippers until they believed in Qadr” (Introduction to sahih Muslim)
QADARIYYAH
JAHMIYYAH
Humans forced to do what they do- denied
abilty to humans
Allah cannot be attributed with
creations’ adjectivesParadise & hell
will endFaith comprises
only Allah’s knowledge
Actions -only as a figure of speech
Allah’s knowledge has a
beginning
ImanKufr
Literally “to cover/to hide”
Covers the truthThat which
nullifies iman
Rejection of Allah/prophethood/anything prophet came with or any action which is clear cut kufr
Kafir- Someone who rejects
Allah’s divinity or prophethood or
shariah
Kufr