Iman (, , also 'recognition') in Islamic theology denotes a believer's recognition of faith and deeds in the religious aspects of Islam. Its most simple definition is the belief in the six articles of faith, known as .
The term has been delineated in both the Quran and hadith. According to the Quran, must be accompanied by righteous deeds and the two together are necessary for entry into Paradise. In the hadith, in addition to and 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 must be harmonious.
Etymology
In Arabic, () means or . It is the verbal noun of , or .
Definition and meaning
In a hadith, the Islamic prophet Muhammad defined as "an acknowledgement in the heart, a voicing with the tongue, and an activity with the limbs." Faith is confidence in a real truth. 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 intelligence and at last to reflect this confidence in their activities.
Hamiduddin Farahi, while explaining the meaning of in his exegesis, wrote:
The definition of according to Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l-Jama'ah is:
Ibn 'Abd al-Barr said: Al-Shafi'i said in : Muhammad bin Ismail bin Muhammad bin Al-Fadl Al-Taymi Al-Asbhani said: Sufyan ibn 'Uyaynah said: Al-Ash'ari said:
The Six Articles of Faith
Faith () 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 Injeel (revealed to Jesus), the Torah (revealed to prophets and messengers amongst the Children of Israel), Psalms (revealed to David), the Scrolls of Moses, and the Scrolls of Abraham. Belief in the existence of prophets: Muhammad being the last of them, Jesus the penultimate, and others sent before them [like Moses, Abraham, David, Joseph, Jacob]. Belief in the existence of the Day of Judgment: in that day, humanity will be divided into two groups: that of paradise and that of hell. These groups are composed of subgroups. Belief in the existence of God's predestination (, ) due to God's omniscience, whether it involves good or bad.
Of these, the first four are mentioned and the fifth implied in 2:285 of the Quran. All six appear in the first hadith of the collection , where the angel Gabriel asks to be told of 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 and was pleased to accept God as Lord, Islam as religion and Muhammad as a 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 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 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.
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 Shafi'i imam al-Bayhaqi in his work . In it, he explains the essential virtues that reflect true (faith and recognition) through related Quranic verses and prophetic sayings.
This is based on the following Hadith ascribed to Muhammad:
These 77 branches described by Bayhaqi are: