Brothers and sisters! In today’s khutba, I wish to share some thoughts with you on the topic of iman. What is meant by iman and what are its implications? In order to understand the real meaning of iman, it is necessary to realize that any man who has attained maturity of intelligence should begin to ponder over questions like: “Who am I?” “From where did I come?” “Where do I go to after I die? “What is the nature of the universe?” Was it always there or was it created in time?
Without an answer to these questions, a human being is in dark about himself, about the purpose of his life, about his own beginning and end, and about the beginning and end of the universe. It is evident that these questions cannot be answered merely by our physical senses. The question whether or not we had any existence before our creation in this world, and whether after death there will be any continuity of our existence or not, cannot be answered by our senses. Living in this world, we can neither peep into the world of existence prior to our birth nor beyond physical death.
Despite these natural limitations, there have been in the history of mankind a number of persons who claimed that they had a special source of knowledge which they called ‘revelation’ or wahy in Arabic. On the authority of revelation, they knew for certain that this universe did not exist from eternity nor would it remain in existence for ever. It has been brought into existence by a Creator who is unique in His essence and attributes. He had always existed and will continue to exist for ever. It is He Who has created us and it is He Who causes us to die. It is He who will again bring us back to life after death—to a life that will be everlasting.
Iman means to believe in Allah (SWT) as He is in His names and attributes, and to accept His commands as mentioned in the primary sources of Islam—the Qur’an and the Sunnah. This is the generalized form of iman or al-Iman al-Mujmal. Then there is the detailed form of iman or al-Iman al-Mufassal
known through a well-known hadith called Hadith Jibril, and includes believing in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, in the Last Day, and in Divine Destiny.
According to a hadith, “Iman is knowledge in the heart, a voicing with the tongue, and an activity with the limbs.” The heart is the specific faculty or spiritual organ that separates human beings from animals. Thus, a human being without a functioning heart is an animal, or worse. The Qur’an giving example of such people says,
أَمْ تَحْسَبُ أَنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ يَسْمَعُونَ أَوْ يَعْقِلُونَ إِنْ هُمْ إِلاَّ كَالْأَنْعَامِ بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ سَبِيلاً
“Do you think most of them can hear or understand? They are like cattle. Indeed, they are even more astray” (al-Furqan, 25:44). In fact, the nature of a healthy heart is to understand the nature of things, but many hearts as the Qur’an has termed them are diseased, rusted, or locked.
فِي قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَضٌ فَزَادَهُمُ اللَّهُ مَرَضًا
“In their hearts is a disease, which Allah has increased.” (al-Baqarah, 2:10)
كَلاَّ بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِم مَّا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ
“No. In fact what they have been doing has rusted their hearts.” (al-Mutaffifin, 83:14)
When someone asked the Prophet (SAW), “What could cleanse the hearts again,” he replied, “frequent remembrance of death and recitation of the Qur’an.”
أَفَلاَ يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ أَمْ عَلَى قُلُوبٍ أَقْفَالُهَآ
“Will they not, then, ponder over this Quran? Or are there locks upon their hearts?” (Muhammad, 47:24).
The condition of the spiritual heart must always be kept in mind. Nothing shall benefit man on the Day of Judgment except if he comes to Allah (SWT) with a sound heart.
يَوْمَ لَا يَنْفَعُ مَالٌ وَلَا بَنُونَ () إِلَّا مَنْ أَتَى اللَّهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ
“The day when neither wealth nor children will benefit anyone; except for someone who comes to Allah with a sound heart.” (ash-Suh’ara, 26:88-89)
When people are completely immersed in the material world, believing that the world is all that matters and all that exists and that they are not accountable for their actions, they affect a spiritual death of their hearts. May Allah save us from this situation.
The tongue is the tool of expressing what you have in your heart and mind. When the heart recognizes the truth, there should be a way out to express it. It is the capacity to speak that allows us to communicate with our Creator through our prayers, supplications, repentance, and constant remembrance of Him.
Iman has also to be manifested through one’s actions. The Qur’an frequently mentions iman and good deeds together. Good deeds are an index of true iman. Allah says,
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ إِنَّا لَا نُضِيعُ أَجْرَ مَنْ أَحْسَنَ عَمَلًا
“As for those who believe and do good deeds, We do not let the reward of anyone who does a good deed go to waste.” (al-Kahf, 18:30)
So long as iman is confined to the stage of verbal confession and is limited to utterance of words only, actions could be different to what is confessed, as commonly found in our society.
كَبُرَ مَقْتاً عِندَ اللَّهِ أَن تَقُولُوا مَا لاَ تَفْعَلُونَ
“It is very hateful to Allah that you should say what you do not do.” (al-Saff, 61:3)
Describing iman, Imam al-Hasan al-Basri (Rahimahullah) said, “Iman is neither appearance nor mere wishes. It is what you have in your heart which is confirmed by your deeds.” This means that what is actually desirable is true faith and not mere verbal affirmation of faith. But when iman reaches a state of certainty in our heart, then our actions will necessarily be changed because the actions of a man are based on what he believes in firmly.
For example, we know that fire can burn us, so we would never put even a finger in it. Now if a person believes with utmost certainty that Allah exists and that He is All-seeing, All-hearing, and All-knowing; that every movement of this person, every word which he utters, and every intention of his heart is known to Allah; that after death, he shall have to present himself before Allah, and shall have to give full account of his entire life, with no chance of escaping from Allah’s punishment, nor any hope of deliverance through ransom or intercession, then that person, believing all these things firmly, would never dare to intentionally lead a sinful life.
This is the condition which has been described in a hadith the meaning of which is: “No adulterer (zani) commits adultery (zina) while he has iman. No thief commits a theft while he has iman. And no wine-drinker drinks wine while he has iman.” In fact these sins are committed only at a time when due to one reason or another, the real faith or iman of a man has vanished from his heart. The iman which the Qur’an regards as true faith has been explained in numerous verses of the Qur’an such as:
إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَرْتَابُوا
“True believers are those who believe in Allah and His Messenger, then entertain no doubt.” (al-Hujurat, 49:15)
إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِرَ اللَّهُ وَجِلَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ
“True believers are those whose hearts tremble with awe, whenever Allah is mentioned to them.” (al-Anfal, 8:2)
وَالَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا أَشَدُّ حُبًّا لِلَّه
“Those who have iman love Allah most.” (AI-Baqarah, 2:165).
According to a hadith, a sahabi by the name of Abi ‘Amrah Sufyan bin Abdullah (RA) said to the Prophet (SAW),
يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ! قُلْ لِي فِي الْإِسْلَامِ قَوْلًا لَا أَسْأَلُ عَنْهُ أَحَدًا غَيْرَك؛
“O Messenger of Allah, tell me something of Islam which I can ask of no one but you.” The Prophet (SAW) replied,
قُلْ: آمَنْتُ بِاَللَّهِ ثُمَّ اسْتَقِمْ
“Say I believe in Allah, and then be steadfast.” We learn through another hadith that says,
ذَاقَ طَعْمَ الإِيمَانِ مَنْ رَضِيَ بِاللَّهِ رَبًّا وَبِالإِسْلاَمِ دِينًا وَبِمُحَمَّدٍ رَسُولاً
“Indeed he who is pleased with Allah as his Rabb, Islam as his Deen, and Muhammad (SAW) as his Messenger has tasted the sweetness of iman.”
May Allah (SWT) make us among them; ameen. My dear brothers and sisters! It is important that we keep assessing our level of iman in the light of these and other such Qur’anic verses and prophetic traditions.
أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين
My dear brothers and sisters! Iman necessarily leads to two results: The first is that a man’s internal anxiety must disappear and he must achieve inner peace and tranquility, and this is called amn in Arabic. Iman and amn are derived from the same root letters hamza-meem-noon (ء م ن). One who possesses iman attains amn and becomes a friend of Allah (Wali Allah).
أَلَا إِنَّ أَوْلِيَاءَ اللَّهِ لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
“Behold! The friends of Allah will feel no fear nor will they grieve.” (Yunus, 10:62).
The second result is a reform of one’s actions and life-style. A true righteous believer should be adorned with high morals and virtuous deeds, and should be free from degrading actions. We learn from a hadith which says, “Iman wears out in the heart of any one of you just as clothes wear out, so ask Allah to renew the iman in your hearts.” The Prophet (SAW) taught us a dua which says,
اللَّهُمَ حَبَّبْ إِلَيْنَا الْإِيمَانَ وَزَيِّنْهُ فِي قُلُوبِنَا، وَكَرِّهْ إِلَيْنَا الْكُفْرَ وَالْفُسُوقَ وَالْعِصْيَانَ، وَاجْعَلْنَا مِنَ الرَّاشِدِينَ
“O Allah! Make iman beloved to us and beautify it in our hearts, and make disbelief, sinfulness and disobedience hateful to us, and make us from amongst the rightly-guided ones.”
It is crucial for all of us to keep a regular check on our iman and if we feel it is diminishing in any way, then we should take measures to restore it. It is our responsibility to know those things that decrease our iman and how to avoid them and those that increase our iman and how to embrace them.
May Allah (SWT) bless us with the tawfiq to do so, ameen.
