Bismillâh wal-hamdulillâh
There are three degrees of Islâm, which are: Islâm, Îmân and Ihsân. Each of them has a meaning and certain pillars or essential parts.
1 – Islâm, which in Arabic means submission. In sharî`ah terminology its meaning varies according to usage, and it may mean one of two things:
(i) When the word is used on its own and is not accompanied by the word Îmân (faith, belief), it refers to the religion as a whole, including both major and minor issues of belief, words and deeds, as in the verses where Allâh says:
“Truly, the religion with Allâh is Islâm” [TMQ Âli `Imrân 3:19]
“and have chosen for you Islâm as your religion” [TMQ al-Mâ'idah 5:3]
“And whoever seeks a religion other than Islâm, it will never be accepted of him” [TMQ Âli `Imrân 3:85]
Hence some of the scholars defined Islâm as meaning: Submitting to Allâh by affirming that He is One (Tawhîd) and submitting to Him by obeying Him and disavowing Shirk and its people.
(ii) When it is used in conjunction with the word Îmaan (faith, belief), in which case it refers to outward deeds and words, as in the verses where Allâh says:
“The bedouins say: ‘We believe.’ Say: ‘You believe not but you only say, “We have surrendered (in Islâm),”for Faith has not yet entered your hearts’…”
[TMQ al-Hujurât 49:14]
It is narrated from Sa`d ibn Abî Waqqâs that the Messenger of Allâh (صلى الله عليه وسلم ) distributed (Zakâh) amongst (a group of) people while Sa`d was sitting there. Sa`d said: But the Messenger of Allâh (صلى الله عليه وسلم) left a man who I thought the best of them all, and did not give him anything. I said, “O Messenger of Allâh, why did you leave out So and so? By Allâh I regard him as a faithful believer.” The Messenger of Allâh (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: “Or (merely) a Muslim.” I remained quiet for a while, but could not help repeating my question because of what I knew about him. I said, “O Messenger of Allâh, why did you leave out so and so? By Allâh I regard him as a faithful believer.” The Messenger of Allâh (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: “Or (merely) a Muslim.” I remained quiet for a while, but could not help repeating my question because of what I knew about him. I said, “O Messenger of Allâh, why did you leave out So and so? By Allâh I regard him as a faithful believer.” The Messenger of Allâh (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: “Or (merely) a Muslim. I give to one person even though another is dearer to me, for fear that he might be thrown on his face in the Fire.” [Narrated by al-Bukhâriyy (27) and Muslim (150)]
With regard to the Prophet’s words “or (merely) a Muslim,” when Sa`d (رضي الله عنه) said to him, “By Allâh I regard him as a faithful believer” mean: You do not know about his faith, all you can see is his Islâm in the sense of his outward actions.
2 - The second degree is Îmaan (faith), which in Arabic means belief which is committed to submission. In Islamic terminology its meaning varies according to usage and it may mean one of two things:
(i) When the word is used on its own and is not accompanied by the word Islâm, it refers to the religion as a whole, as in the verses where Allâh says:
“Allâh is the Wali (Protector or Guardian) of those who believe. He brings them out from darkness into light” [TMQ al-Baqarah 2:257]
“and put your trust in Allâh if you are believers indeed” [TMQ al-Mâ’idah 5:23]
And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: “No one will enter Paradise except the believers.” [Narrated by Muslim (114)]
Hence the salaf were unanimously agreed that Îmân means “affirming in the heart – which includes actions of the heart – and saying with the tongue and acting with one’s physical faculties. It increases by doing acts of obedience and decreases by committing sin.”
Hence Allâh limited the word Îmân to those who adhere to His religion in full, inwardly and outwardly, when He said:
“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);
Who perform As-Salaah (Iqaamat‑as‑ Salaah) and spend out of that We have provided them. It is they who are the believers in truth. For them are grades of dignity with their Lord, and forgiveness and a generous provision (Paradise)” [TMQ al-Anfâl 8:2-4]
And Allâh referred to Îmân as including all of that when He said:
“but Al-Birr is (the quality of) the one who believes in Allâh, the Last Day, the Angels, the Book, the Prophets and gives his wealth, in spite of love for it, to the kinsfolk, to the orphans, and to Al-Masâkîn (the poor), and to the wayfarer, and to those who ask, and to set slaves free, performs As-Salâh (Iqâmat-as-Salâh), and gives the Zakât, and who fulfil their covenant when they make it, and who are patient in extreme poverty and ailment (disease) and at the time of fighting (during the battles). Such are the people of the truth and they are Al‑Muttaqûn (the pious)” [TMQ al-Baqarah 2:177]
And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) referred to Îmân as including all of that in the hadîth about the delegation of `Abd al-Qays, where he said: “I enjoin you to believe in Allâh alone. Do you know what belief (or faith) in Allâh alone is?” They said: “Allâh and His Messenger know best.” He said: “To bear witness that there is no god but Allâh and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allâh, to establish regular prayer, to pay zakâh, to fast Ramadân, and to give one-fifth of the war-booty (the khums).” [Narrated b yal-Bukhâriyy (53) and Muslim (17)]
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) described fasting the month of Ramadân out of faith and in the hope of reward as being part of faith; he also said the same concerning spending the night of Laylat al-Qadr in prayer, fulfilling one's trusts, jihâd, Hajj, attending funerals, etc. The Messenger of Allâh (صلى الله عليه وسلم)says: “Faith has seventy-odd branches, the highest of which is saying Lâ ilâha ill-Allâh (there is go god except Allâh) and the least of which is removing a harmful thing from the road.” It would take too long to mention all the verses and ahâdîth that speak of this topic. [Narrated by al-Bukhâriyy (9) and Muslim (35)]
(ii) When the word îmân is used in conjunction with the word Islâm. In this case it is understood as referring to inward beliefs as in the hadîth of Jibrîl etc., and as in the hadîth of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) concerning the funeral du`â': “O Allâh, whomever among us you cause to live, cause him to live in Islâm, and whomever among us you cause to die, cause him to die in Îmân (faith).” [Narrated by at-Tirmidhiyy, 1-24; he said it is hasan sahîh.] That is because physical actions can only be accomplished during life, but when one is dying all that is left is the words and actions of the heart.
The point is that when either word, îmân or Islâm, is used alone, there is no difference between them, rather each of them when used alone refers to the entire religion. If there is any difference between them, then the word Islâm refers to outward physical actions and the word Îmân refers to inward actions of the heart. This is what is indicated by the hadîth of Jibrîl which was from `Umar ibn al-Khattâb who said:
One day when we were with the Messenger of Allâh (صلى الله عليه وسلم), there appeared before us a man whose clothes were exceedingly white and his hair was exceedingly black, and there were no signs of travel on him. No one among us recognized him. He came and sat down by the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and rested his knees against his and placed the palms on his hands on his thighs. He said: “O Muhammad, tell me about Islam.” The Messenger of Allâh (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: “Islâm is to testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah, to establish regular prayer, to pay zakâh, to fast Ramadân and to go on pilgrimage to the House if you are able to.” He said: “You have spoke the truth.” And we were amazed at his asking that and saying that he had spoken the truth. Then he said: “Tell me about Îmaan (faith, belief),” He said: “It means believing in Allâh, His angels, His Books, His Messengers, and the Last Day, and believing in al-Qadr (the divine will and decree), both good and bad.” He said: “You have spoken the truth.” He said: “Tell me about Ihsân.” He said: “It means worshipping Allâh as if you can see Him, and although you cannot see Him, He can see you.” He said: “Tell me about the Hour.” He said: “The one who is being asked does not know more about it than the one who is asking.” He said: “Then tell me about its signs.” He said: “The slave-girl will give birth to her mistress, and you will see the barefoot, naked, destitute herdsmen competing in constructing lofty buildings.” Then he departed and I stayed for a while. Then he said to me: “O `Umar, do you know who the questioner was?” I said: “Allâh and His Messenger know best.” He said: “That was Jibrîl, who came to teach you your religion.” [Narrated by Muslim (8)]
The third degree is ihsân, which in Arabic means doing something well, perfectly and sincerely. In Islamic terminology its meanings vary according to usage and it may mean one of two things:
(i) When it is used alone and is not mentioned in conjunction with Islam or eemaan, it refers to the religion as a whole, as stated above with regard to the words Islâm and Îmân.
(ii) When it is used in conjunction with either or both of the words Islâm and Îmân, the meaning is perfecting one’s outward and inward deeds. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) explained it in a manner that no other created being apart from him (صلى الله عليه وسلم) could have explained it, because of the gift of concise speech that Allâh bestowed upon him. He (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said: “It means worshipping Allâh as if you can see Him, and although you cannot see Him, He can see you.” This is the highest degree of Islâm. Those who attain this are the foremost in doing good, the ones who will be closest to Allâh in the highest degrees of Paradise.
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) has told us that the degree of ihsân is of two categories, one of which is higher than the other.
The first position is the higher of the two: This means worshipping Allâh as if you can see Him. This means that a person acts as if he can see Allâh in his heart, so his heart is filled with light and the matters of the unseen becomes almost like that which is visible (i.e., it becomes very real to him). Whoever worships Allâh with awareness of His nearness and turning to Him and acts as if he is before Allâh and looking at Him is bound to fear Him and venerate Him.
The second position is that of sincerity and awareness that Allâh is always watching. This means that a person acts with an awareness that Allâh can see him and is close to him. If a person bears this in mind and acts accordingly, then he will be sincere towards Allâh because this awareness will prevent him from paying attention to anyone other than Allâh or doing anything for the sake of anyone else. If a person achieves this position, it will become easy for him to reach the position described above. Hence the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, “and although you cannot see Him, He can see you.” If a person truly understands when worshipping Allâh that He can see him and knows all his deeds, hidden and visible, inward and outward, and that nothing is hidden from Him, then it will be easy for him to move from the lower position to the higher, which is the constant awareness that Allâh is close to His slave and is with him, because it is as if he can see Him. We ask Allâh of His great bounty.
Wallâhu A`lam wa Ahkam
