What does faith (ıman) mean with questions and answers? Recite kalimah al-tawhid and kalimah al-shahadah without error and mention their meanings. How many parts are the principles of faith divided into? How would you define ijmali faith? How would you define tafsili faith? Recite ‘Amantu’ and explain its meaning. Can you explain how many kinds of people are there in accordance with their beliefs? What is the tranquility and happiness that faith provides people? Explain the relationship between faith and religious deeds. What are the articles of an acceptable and true faith?
Topics:
- Kalimah al-Tawhid and Kalimah al-Shahadah
- The pillars of faith
- Ijmali faith
- Tafsili faith
- The types of people according to their beliefs
- Tranquility and happiness provided to people by faith
- The relationship between faith and deeds
- The conditions for acceptable and true faith
KALIMAH AL-TAWHID
Pronunciation: “La-ilaha illallah, Muhammadur Rasulullah”
Meaning: “There is no God except Allah; Muhammad (saw) is His messenger.”
KALIMAH AL-SHAHADAH
Pronunciation: “Ash-hadu an la-ilaha illallah Wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa Rasuluh.”
Meaning: “I bear witness that there is no God except Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad (saw) is the servant and messenger of Allah.”
THE PILLARS OF FAITH
Literally, faith means to believe in something.
As a religious term, faith means, “believing in the message that our Prophet Muhammad (saw) brought from Allah and uttering this belief with the tongue.”
Faith is divided into two:
- a) Ijmali faith,
- b) Tafsili
- a) Ijmali faith: Belief in Allah and that Muhammad (saw) is Allah’s messenger. This is called “ijmali faith”, which means “belief as a whole”, because it is the summary of everything to be believed in our religion.
The principles of faith are expressed both as a whole and as a summary in kalimah al-tawhid and kalimah al-shahadah. People accept Islam if they utter either kalimah al-tawhid or kalimah al-shahadah with their tongue and believe in by heart. However, a Muslim should not be content with this alone, they should learn the details of the principles of faith.
- b) Tafsili faith: Belief in each of the pillars of faith individually.
The pillars of faith are also called the conditions of faith.
The six articles of faith
- 1) Allah,
- 2) Allah’s angels,
- 3) Allah’s books,
- 4) Allah’s prophets,
- 5) Judgment day,
- 6) Destiny, and the belief that good and evil are from Allah.
The prayer of Amantu contains all the articles of faith. Every Muslim should learn Amantu and its meaning. Amantu is:
Pronunciation: “Amantu billahi wa malaikatihi wa kutubihi wa rusulihi wal-yawmil-akhiri wa bil-qadari khayrihi wa sharrihi minallahi ta’ala wal-ba’thu ba’dal-mawti haqqun ash-hadu an la ilaha illallah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh.”
Meaning: I believe in Allah, the angels of Allah, the books of Allah, the prophets of Allah, the day of judgment, destiny: I believe that goodness and harm is from Allah. Resurrection is true. I bear witness that there is no god except Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad (saw) is the servant and messenger of Allah.”
PEOPLE ACCORDING TO THEIR BELIEFS
People are divided into three groups according to their beliefs:
1) The Believer (Mu’min): These are the people who believe in the existence and oneness of Allah and believe that Muhammad (saw) is Allah’s messenger by their hearts and express this belief with their tongues.
2) The Hypocrite (Munafiq): These are the people who do not believe in the existence and oneness of Allah nor that Muhammad (saw) is Allah’s messenger in their hearts, yet they express as if they believe in by their tongue.
3) The Infidel (Kafir): These are the people who do not believe in the existence and oneness of Allah nor that Muhammad (saw) is Allah’s messenger in their hearts and express this non-belief with their tongue.
Those who are believers will attain a life of endless happiness in the paradise. Hypocrites and infidels will not enter paradise; rather they will suffer the penalty of non-belief in the hell.
TRANQUILITY AND HAPPINESS PROVIDED BY FAITH
A human being comprises of a body and a soul. Just as our body requires food and drink, so does our soul, it requires sustenance.
Strong belief is the soul’s most important sustenance. A person who believes and trusts Allah gains great strength because humans are always in need of Allah’s help. It is a source of tranquility and credence to believe in the Exalted Being that we are in need.
Allah the Almighty commands:
“Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest.”[2]
Faith saves a person from loneliness and emptiness. Faith is the sustenance of our souls, the light of our hearts. A faithless person has a soul without sustenance, a heart in darkness and is void of the biggest support that is Allah.
In life, a person encounters various difficulties, and in these times, the devout believers do not fall into despair. Rather, they take refuge in Allah, awaiting the outcome with patience and trust. It gives a person great peace to be attached to such a powerful ally with love and respect.
However, faithless people fall into despair and suffer in times of hardship. Hoping to escape from their troubles, they look to find comfort in alcohol and drugs that drag them into greater problems. Thus, they lose happiness in both this world and the Hereafter.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FAITH AND DEEDS
A Muslim does not leave Islam or become an infidel by not performing worship, as as long as they have faith in their hearts and do not deny religious judgments. However, they commit a sin and deserve punishment because they have not performed their duties of worship as commanded by Allah.
Religious practices enable faith to mature and strengthen. They are a means to escape from punishment in the Hereafter and to attain the blessings of paradise. To abandon religious practices and only be content with faith causes a person’s faith to weaken and his/her divine light of faith to be extinguished.
This can be explained with the following example:
Faith is like an exposed burning lamp. The lamp must be protected with a glass lantern to avoid it being extinguished. If the lamp continues to burn unprotected in this way, it could be blown out by a slight breeze. Belief is a burning light in our hearts. Its protector is our religious practices. We protect our faith and fulfil our duties towards Allah by performing prayer, fasting and engaging in other religious practices.
If religious practices are not performed, the light of faith will be unprotected like the burning of an exposed lamp. It could burn out one day. If the faith disappears, it means to lose the keys to paradise, the most important asset of the Muslim. Consequently, religious practices have a very important place in protecting our faith and for attaining eternal life in paradise.
THE CONDITIONS FOR AN ACCEPTABLE AND TRUE FAITH
Three conditions must be satisfied for faith to be acceptable and valid:
One cannot start believing in a state of hopelessness. There is no benefit for a disbeliever to begin believing upon realizing the existence of punishment at the time of death.
A Muslim should not deny, by word or action, any religious rulings. For example, if a person believes in all of the religious commandments but denies one, he would lose their faith because the Muslims believe in Islam as a whole and denying one condition of faith means denying all.
A Muslim must accept that all religious rulings are suitable for Muslims. Disliking any religious rulings would cause one to lose his/her faith.
For a Muslim, the most important asset is faith. A person who attains faith will likewise attain tranquility and happiness in this world and eternal bliss in the Hereafter. However, it is a condition to carry this faith until our last breath.
The faith that a person possessed previously will be of no benefit if they depart this world as a disbeliever. Therefore, we must strive hard to protect our faith until our last breath and avoid words or actions that could harm our faith, and even if we do that, we must immediately repent and seek forgiveness from Allah.
Source: Presidency Of Religious Affairs The Turkey, Basics of Islam, Seyfettin Yazıcı