Pillars of Iman (Arkan ul Iman)

Usama Ghumman · 25/12/2022

Pillars of Iman (Arkan ul Iman)

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Pillars of Iman (Arkan ul Iman) | What are the 6 pillars of iman?

Iman meaning

Iman is the power of the heart, which shall be translated to words said by lips, and most importantly actions done by limps. Iman changes one’s way of life to be in conformity with Allah’s guidance.

Iman comes from the Arabic root Amana, whose original linguistic meaning signifies calmness of the soul and freedom from fear.

Iman also means safety and security, which result from a sound relationship with Allah.

“It is ˹only˺ those who are faithful and do not tarnish their faith with falsehood1 who are guaranteed security and are ˹rightly˺ guided.” (Al-An’am,82)

(Also, the related word amâna refers to a sacred trust that has been given to someone, who then must protect and fulfill that trust, whether it is a promise, safeguarding someone’s property, secret, reputation, and the like.)

The word Iman has been mentioned in several places in the Quan.

The word Iman was mentioned only thirteen times.

The derivatives of the word Iman have been mentioned many times.

Other derivatives of the term Iman appeared more than 400 times. Mostly these verses are telling us about the attributes of believers (Mu’minun) or the attributes that do not belong to the believers.

“˹But˺ Allah will surely admit those who believe and do good into Gardens, under which rivers flow.” (Al-Hajj, 23)

The Iman in the Arabic language means to affirm something and to comply with it. Accordingly, Iman needs an affirmation and not merely belief.

Iman is the power of the heart, which shall be translated to words said by lips, and most importantly actions done by limps. Iman changes one’s way of life to be in conformity with Allah’s guidance.

Six pillars of Iman

Umar b. al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said:

“…..The man further asked, ‘Tell me what is Iman?’ The Prophet, may Allah exalt his mention, said, ‘Iman is to believe in Allah, and to believe in His angels, His Books, His Messengers, and to believe in the Final Day, and in al-Qadar and in its good & bad consequences.’ ‘You have told the truth…”. (Saheeh Muslim)

Allah saying:

believers! Have faith in Allah, His Messenger, the Book He has revealed to His Messenger, and the Scriptures He revealed before. Indeed, whoever denies Allah, His angels, His Books, His messengers, and the Last Day has clearly gone far astray. (Al-Maida, 136)

Iman in Islam covers the following six main pillars:

1- Iman (Belief) in the existence and unity of Allah:

Iman in Allah, because this is the basis of the Iman.

Iman in Allah includes believing that Allah exists and that His Existence is without the time and without place; unlike the existence of the created things, He does not need a place.

Iman that Allah is not a body and does not have body parts. Iman that He is One and there is no God except Allah. Iman that He does not have a partner, parts, or branches.

He –the All-Mighty has no comparable and no one is like Him. He creates everything, all the creatures are in need of him. He does need anyone. He is the Greatest.

2- Belief in the existence of Angels:

Iman in Allah’s angels.

Iman that they were created from light and were created before humans. They all are obeying Allah, Allah has not given them the ability to choose.

“who never disobey whatever Allah orders—always doing as commanded. “ (Al-Tahrim .6)

3- Iman in the books of Allah:

Iman in the books of Allah which delivered to the nations by the messengers. Allah revealed books to his messengers as a form of guidance and proof for mankind0

Iman that these Books were revealed to the messengers, all of them have the same creed, which is to believe in the Existence of Allah and that. He does not resemble any of the creations.

Iman all of these Books are one and the same in the creed; however, what differs is the laws of application (sharia).

4- Iman in Allah’s messengers, and that Muhammad is the last of them:

We must Iman in all the prophets and all that they came with, those whom we know and those whom we do not know.

Most of the messengers of Allah were sent to a specific nation except Prophet Muhammad, who was sent to guide all of mankind. It is a duty of Muslims to send salaams (Peace and Blessings of Allah) when mentioning the names of any of the Prophets.

5- Iman in the Day of Judgment:

It is obligatory Iman in it. Allah prepared it to assemble people on that day.

Allah has not created his creation in vain. He created men and jinn to worship him and promised paradise as a reward to those who obey him and his messengers, and promised hellfire to those who disobey Him.

“And we place the scales of justice for the Day of Resurrection, so no soul will be treated unjustly at all. And if there is [even] the weight of a mustard seed, we will bring it forth. And sufficient are We as an accountant.” (Al-Anbia’, 47)

6- Iman in the Qadhaa’ & Qadr (Doom & Divine Decree):

The Messenger of Allah said: “And to believe in destiny (qadar)–both good and evil.”

It is obligatory Iman that everything that happens in this universe happens according to the Will of Allah, by the Creating of Allah, and by the Qadar of Allah.

Qadar, when used to mean the eternal attribute of Allah, means Allah’s managing things and making them occur in accordance with His eternal Will and Knowledge. In other words, it is making things the way they are.

Iman that Allah is the creator of all things. There is no other creator besides him.

Iman that Allah is well acquainted with everything taking place, and His Knowledge encompasses everything.

Iman e Mujmal

What is meant by the Iman Mujmal is that a Muslim believes in the six pillars of Iman in general terms.

For Iman Mujmal, one should have Iman in Allah as his Lord Who runs the affairs of His slaves. That Allah is the only Ture God, one should not associate anyone as a partner in worshipping Him.

Iman Mujmal, one should also have Iman that Allah has the beautiful Names and Attributes which reached the utmost degree of Majesty and Perfection.

So, every Muslim should acquire this portion of knowledge, and this is the Mujmal Faith.

As for the Iman Mujmal: this is what every human being can know and learn, such as knowing that Allah is One with no partner.

And that He sent His prophets with guidance, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, who shall be followed.

That’s besides knowing Salah, Zakat, and other obligations imposed by Allah upon His servants, so this is called Iman Mujmal.

Iman e Mufassal

As regards the Iman Mufassal, then it is that a Muslim should know the details of those matters related to:

Ar-Ruboobiyyah (believing that Allaah is the only Creator, Cherisher, Sustainer).

Al-Uloohiyyah (believing that Allah alone is worthy of worship) and Al-Asmaa’ Was-Sifaat (to correctly believe in all the Names and Attributes that Allaah has described Himself with) and the evidence of each one of them, etc.

So, not every Muslim is obligated to learn this (portion of knowledge); rather, learning it is a communal obligation that requires believing in all the details that it contains.

In other words, the Iman Mujmal is to believe in all what the Prophets conveyed in general, however, the Mufassal Faith is to believe in the details of what they conveyed.

The more one gets more detailed knowledge about Iman the more he adheres to Allah’s way of life, and the more he gets closer to Allah.

6 pillars of iman activity

Iman is Action in the sense of both at heart and limbs. The action of the heart includes intention and piety, while the action of limbs would be helping in a good cause and refraining from bad.

Imam Shatbi said in al-muwafiqat:

“That this is why the Shariah has stipulated that the outward actions are the attestation of an inward belief.

If outward action is incorrect, then the same will be assumed for inward belief.

The same principle is applied in Fiqh, and worldly dealings and experiences also suggest the same.

Hence, to attest that Iman is rooted in heart one has to observe mandatory actions, this gives evidence that this person has at least the level of Iman necessary to save him from hellfire.

But if a person completely does not observe mandatory actions then it gives evidence that he doesn’t even have the lowest level of Iman.

Iman is the only mark of a person’s identity that holds any real meaning. Everything else—ethnicity, language, skin color, profession, wealth, palaces, and so on—is meaningless when compared to the gigantic matter of Iman.

Nothing else in human life—no perfection or success in any other realm of existence—can possibly compensate for the loss in Iman.

The higher meaning of Iman refers to the strength of one’s belief in these truths and the degree to which a person lives his or her life in accordance with them, for Iman is something that may increase or decrease in a person:

“Whenever a sûrah is revealed, some of them ask ˹mockingly˺, “Which of you has this increased in faith?” As for the believers, it has increased them in faith and they rejoice.” (Al-Tawbah, 124)

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When Iman is beneficial?

The significance of Iman is only meaningful in this life, in which we have a choice.

For when we die and veils are removed, the most desperate and despicable of human beings will suddenly rush to claim their belief in Allah and the reality of the Hereafter. But it will be too late:

“But their faith was of no benefit to them when they saw our torment. This has ˹always˺ been Allah’s way ˹of dealing˺ with His ˹wicked˺ servants. Then and there the disbelievers were in ˹total˺ loss.” (Ghafir, 85)