Bab Furoo' al-Iman wal-Islam
The Branches of Iman and Islam
I submitted, "Do not do so, I fear that people will solely rely on this (that just by saying 'La ilaha illallah' we will be saved) and they will abandon doing deeds. Therefore, leave them." So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "(Alright then, O Abu Hurairah) leave them" (so they may do deeds).
Friends! From these Ahadeeth it is proven that Iman is the root, and actions are the branches. The one with Iman, no matter how many sins he commits, will eventually definitely enter Paradise. By committing a sin, a person does not become a Kafir. According to the Kharijites, by committing a sin one becomes a Kafir. According to the Mu'tazilites, one neither remains a Muslim nor becomes a Kafir, but stays in between. We, the Ahl-e-Sunnah wal Jama'ah, say that a sinful Muslim remains a Muslim. If he repents, it becomes as if he had not committed the sin. If he does not repent, then God has the choice: to save him through the intercession of His Prophet ﷺ, or to keep him in Hell for a few days.
Hazrat Umar's (RA) stopping him was for this reason, that people would leave doing deeds, and the Prophet ﷺ said, "Alright, leave them to do deeds." O Messenger of Allah! We testify 'La ilaha illallah'; through your intercession, may our salvation happen.
بَابٌ : فُرُوْعُ الْإِيْمَانِ وَ الْإِسْلَامِ وَ ابْتِغَاؤُهُمَا وَ مُقْتَضَيَاتُهُمَا
وَعَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ ـ اَلْإِيْمَانُ بِضْعٌ وَ سَبْعُوْنَ شُعْبَةً فَأَفْضَلُهَا قَوْلُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَأَدْنَاهَا إِمَاطَةُ الْأَذَى عَنِ الطَّرِيقِ وَالْحَيَاءُ شُعْبَةٌ مِنَ الْإِيْمَانِ ۔ (متفق عليه) Vocabulary: بِضْعٌ (Bid'un): A number from three to nine. بِضْعُ النِّكَاحِ (Bid'un-Nikah): A woman's private parts. بِضْعُ لَحْمٍ (Bid'u Lahmin): A piece of meat, meaning fully saturated. بِضْعٌ وَ سَبْعُوْنَ (Bid'un wa Sab'un): Some over seventy (70), meaning around 80. شُعْبَةٌ (Shu'batun): Branch, piece. The plural is شُعَبٌ (Shu'ab) and شِعَابٌ (Shi'ab). أَفْضَلُ (Afdhal): Best, most virtuous, greatest. أَدْنَى (Adna): Closest, lowest. إِمَاطَةٌ (Imatah): To remove. اَلْأَذَى (Al-Adha): Trouble, harm.
Translation: Hazrat Abu Hurairah (RA) narrates that the illuminated Prophet ﷺ said, "Iman has some over seventy (70) branches, and the most excellent among them is to say 'La ilaha illallah' (meaning there is no deity to be worshipped other than Allah. Acknowledging by tongue, testifying by heart, and acting upon it with the limbs) and the lowest branch among them, meaning the most minor, is to remove harmful things from the path, and modesty is also a branch of Iman." (Just as branches emerge from a tree, similarly branches emerge from "Iman" concerning "La ilaha illallah". Removing harmful things from the path is also a branch of Iman, and "modesty" as well).
(Both Bukhari and Muslim have narrated this Hadith; it is Muttafaq Alayhi)
---
وَعَنْ أَنَسٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ ثَلَاثٌ مَنْ كُنَّ فِيهِ وَجَدَ بِهِنَّ حَلَاوَةَ الْإِيْمَانِ ـ مَنْ كَانَ اللَّهُ وَ رَسُولُهُ أَحَبَّ إِلَيْهِ مِمَّا سِوَاهُمَا وَمَنْ أَحَبَّ عَبْدًا لَا يُحِبُّهُ إِلَّا لِلَّهِ وَمَنْ يَكْرَهُ أَنْ يَعُودَ فِي الْكُفْرِ بَعْدَ أَنْ أَنْقَذَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى مِنْهُ كَمَا يَكْرَهُ أَنْ يُلْقَى فِي النَّارِ ۔ (اخرجه الخمسة الا ابوداؤد)
Translation: Hazrat Anas (RA) narrates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "There are three things; whoever has them (will find) the sweetness of Iman: (1) that Allah and His Messenger become more beloved to him than everyone else. (2) and that if he loves a servant of God, he loves him only for the sake of God (meaning for the sake of Allah). (3) and that he hates to return to Kufr (meaning becoming a Kafir or becoming apostate) after Allah has saved him from Kufr, just as he would hate to be thrown into the fire." (This Hadith is narrated by the four masters of Hadith (Muhadditheen): Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, and Nasai, excluding Abu Dawud. In the science of Hadith, "Al-Khamsa" meaning "the five" refers to the following scholars of Hadith: (1) Imam Bukhari (2) Imam Muslim (3) Imam Abu Dawud (4) Imam Tirmidhi (5) Imam Nasai. The remaining four masters have recorded the above Hadith in their books, excluding Abu Dawud).
وَعَنْهُ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ يَقُولُ "لَا يُؤْمِنُ أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى أَكُونَ أَحَبَّ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ وَالِدِهِ وَ وَلَدِهِ وَالنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ ۔ (أَخْرَجَهُ الشَّيْخَانُ وَ النَّسَائِيُّ ـ تيسير الوصول (١) صفحه (١٢))
Vocabulary: يُؤْمِنُ (Yu'minu): brings Iman. لَا يُؤْمِنُ (La Yu'minu): does not bring Iman. أَحَدُكُمْ (Ahadukum): any one of you.
Translation: And it is narrated from him (Hazrat Anas (RA)) that he said, I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saying, "None of you will become a believer until I become more beloved to him than his father, his children, and all mankind." (Both Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim have written this Hadith, and Imam Nasai has also, and it is also in Taysir, volume 1, page 12).
عَنْ مُعَاذٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ قُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ) أَخْبِرْنِي بِعَمَلٍ يُدْخِلُنِي الْجَنَّةَ وَ يُبَاعِدُنِي مِنَ النَّارِ قَالَ لَقَدْ سَأَلْتَ عَنْ أَمْرٍ عَظِيمٍ وَ إِنَّهُ لَيَسِيرٌ عَلَى مَنْ يَسَّرَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَلَيْهِ ـ تَعْبُدُ اللَّهَ وَلَا تُشْرِكُ بِهِ شَيْئًا وَ تُقِيمُ الصَّلَوةَ وَ تُؤْتِي الزَّكوةَ وَتَصُومُ رَمَضَانَ وَ
---
تَحُجُّ الْبَيْتَ ثُمَّ قَالَ أَلَا أَدُلُّكَ عَلَى أَبْوَابِ الْخَيْرِ ـ الصَّوْمُ جُنَّةٌ وَالصَّدَقَةُ تُطْفِئُ الْخَطِيئَةَ كَمَا يُطْفِئُ الْمَاءُ النَّارَ وَصَلَوةُ الرَّجُلِ فِي جَوْفِ اللَّيْلِ ـ ثُمَّ تَلَا "تَتَجَافَى جُنُوبُهُمْ عَنِ الْمَضَاجِعِ" حَتَّى بَلَغَ يَعْمَلُونَ ـ ثُمَّ قَالَ أَلَا أَدُلُّكَ بِرَأْسِ الْأَمْرِ وَعَمُودِهِ وَ ذُرْوَةِ سَنَامِهِ ـ قُلْتُ بَلَى يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ قَالَ رَأْسُ الْأَمْرِ الْإِسْلَامُ وَ عَمُودُهُ الصَّلَوةُ وَذُرْوَةُ سَنَامِهِ الْجِهَادُ ثُمَّ قَالَ أَلَا أُخْبِرُكَ بِمِلَاكِ ذَالِكَ كُلِّهِ قُلْتُ بَلَى يَا نَبِيَّ اللَّهِ فَأَخَذَ بِلِسَانِهِ فَقَالَ "كُفَّ عَلَيْكَ هَذَا" فَقُلْتُ يَا نَبِيَّ اللَّهِ إِنَّا لَمُؤَاخَذُونَ بِمَا نَتَكَلَّمُ بِهِ قَالَ ثَكِلَتْكَ أُمُّكَ يَا مُعَاذُ وَهَلْ يَكُبُّ النَّاسَ فِي النَّارِ عَلَى وُجُوهِهِمْ أَوْعَلَى مَنَاخِرِهِمْ إِلَّا حَصَائِدُ أَلْسِنَتِهِمْ ۔ (رواه احمد و الترمذي و ابن ماجه ـ مشكوة)
Translation: Hazrat Mu'adh (RA) narrates that he submitted, "O Messenger of Allah ﷺ! Tell me of a deed which will make me enter Paradise and keep me away from Hell." He ﷺ said, "You have asked about a great matter, and it is easy for the one for whom Allah makes it easy. Worship Allah and do not associate anything with Him, establish the regular prayer, pay the Zakat, fast during Ramadan, and perform the Hajj of the House (of Allah)." Then he said, "Shall I not show you the gates of goodness? Fasting is a shield, and charity extinguishes sin just as water extinguishes fire, and a man's prayer in the middle of the night (meaning performing Tahajjud)." Then he recited (this verse): "Their sides part from their beds" (meaning they awaken from sleep) until he reached (this verse) "Ya'maloon" (they do). Then he said, "Shall I not inform you of the head of the matter, its pillar, and its highest peak?" I submitted, "Yes, O Messenger of Allah." He said, "The head of the matter is Islam, its pillar is the prayer, and its highest peak is Jihad." Then he said, "Shall I not inform you of the foundation of all of that?" I submitted, "Yes, O Prophet of Allah." So he took hold of his tongue and said, "Restrain this." I submitted, "O Prophet of Allah! Will we be held accountable for what we say?" He said, "May your mother be bereaved of you, O Mu'adh! Does anything throw people into the Fire on their faces, or on their noses, except the harvests of their tongues?" (It is a custom among the Arabs to say out of love, "May your mother be bereaved of you." Just as out of love we sometimes refer to a beloved as "May you be lost" or poets address their beloved as "Oppressor").
Friends! Reflect on this Hadith. From it, the definition of servitude and the evil of Shirk are made evident! And how much emphasis is placed on establishing prayer, paying Zakat, fasting during Ramadan, and performing the Hajj of the House of Allah. However, the condition of the people is such that they fall very short in observing the prayer. Some ignorant people consider reading the prayer to be completely useless. Undoubtedly, they understand. And some people think it is better, but only consider it a means of exercise.
---