Al-ʿAllāmah Rabeeʿ Ibn Hādī ʿUmayr Al-Madkhalī (rahimahullāh) stated: “Imān is speech and action; speech of the heart and tongue, and action of the heart and limbs. Or you can say: Imān is speech, action and belief (iʿtiqād). It increases with obedience and decreases with disobedience. This is imān with Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamāʿah.”
He continued: “For the Murji’ah: Imān is belief in the heart, just belief in the heart (tasdeeq), and according to the Jahmiyyah, it is merely affirmation of the existence of Allāh (maʿrifah) – or only belief in the heart (tasdeeq) in the view of the extreme Murji’ah.
According to Murji’at Al-Fuqahā, imān is belief in the heart and speech with the tongue – in their view, actions do not enter into the definition of imān. As for Ahlus-Sunnah, then the actions of the heart and the actions of the limbs enter into the definition of imān after tasdeeq (belief in the heart). So, imān encompasses the creed (iʿtiqād) and actions of the heart, such as fear (khawf) of Allah, and love for Him, hope in Him, desire for Him and reliance. All of these are from the actions of the heart, and are from the essence of imān – and imān cannot be established except with them, and it is not present except with them. Likewise, the actions of the limbs, such as fasting, prayer, zakāt, jihād and so on, from the legislated deeds to the extent that even removing an obstacle from the pathway is from imān. The Prophet (salallāhu ʿalaihi wasallam) said:
الإِيمَانُ بِضْعٌ وَسَبْعُونَ أَوْ بِضْعٌ وَسِتُّونَ شُعْبَةً فَأَفْضَلُهَا قَوْلُ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَأَدْنَاهَا إِمَاطَةُ الأَذَى عَنِ الطَّرِيقِ وَالْحَيَاءُ شُعْبَةٌ مِنَ الإِيمَانِ
‘Imān has over seventy branches or over sixty branches, the most virtuous of which is the testimony that there no diety has the right to worship except Allah, and the least level of imān is the, removal of something harmful from the path – and modesty [too] is a branch of faith.’ (Muslim, no. 35)
This imān [according to Ahlus-Sunnah] increases with obedience, and decreases with disobedience. It can rise until it reaches the likes of mountains, and it can fall until it is like the smallest grain of corn.
The Murji’ah believe that imān does not increase or decrease because imān, according to them, is merely tasdeeq (belief in the heart), so it cannot decrease. If it undergoes any decrease, it is finished – and the person leaves the fold of imān [altogether]. Therefore [according to the Murji’ah], imān cannot decrease; it stays at one level, and is not of varying levels. The imān of the most wicked, foul and wretched of sinners is the same as the Prophets, the truthful believers and the angels! This is immense misguidance.” (See Sharh Usoolus-Sunnah of Shaikh Rabeeʿ Al-Madkhalī, p. 73-74)
والحمد لله رب العالمين وصلى الله على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين.
سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك أشهد أن لا إله إلا أنت، أستغفرك وأتوب إليك
Abu Khadeejah Abdul-Wāhid.
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