The day Jibril came to teach

Imagine sitting with Nabi ﷺ and his Companions, when a stranger walks in. His clothes are very white. His hair is very black. He does not look like a traveler, yet nobody knows him. He sits right in front of Nabi ﷺ and starts asking questions.

That stranger was the angel Jibril (Gabriel). He came to teach the Muslims their religion by asking questions in front of them¹. His questions were about Islam, iman (faith) and ihsan (doing your best for Allah). Scholars call this hadith the mother of the Sunnah, because it holds the whole religion in a few lines.

Islam: the five pillars

Islam means submitting to Allah: giving yourself to Him. In the hadith of Jibril it is the outward part of the religion, the things you do with your body and your money. Nabi ﷺ said Islam is built on five⁵:

The pillars hold the building up. Islam has much more inside it, like good manners, honesty and kindness to parents. But the five pillars are its frame.

Allah says: the religion with Allah is Islam⁷. Islam is not a new religion that began in Makkah. It is the same message every prophet brought: worship Allah alone.

Iman: the six pillars, and the map of this Guide

Iman means faith: believing in the heart, being sure, and trusting. In the hadith of Jibril it is the inner part of the religion. Nabi ﷺ named six things to believe in⁸. Allah lists them too: the Messenger and the believers all believe in Allah, His angels, His books and His messengers⁹.

These six pillars are also the map of this whole Guide. Each one has its own chapters:

Allah says that whoever rejects Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers and the Last Day has gone far astray¹⁰. So the six pillars go together. A Muslim believes in all of them, not just some.

The last part of the Guide, Iman rises and falls, Following the Sunnah and The Companions, is about living this belief day to day.

Ihsan: as if you see Him

Ihsan means doing something in the best way. Nabi ﷺ explained it like this: worship Allah as if you see Him. And if you do not see Him, He sees you¹¹.

Think of two levels:

• The higher level: you pray, read and make dua as if Allah is right in front of you. Your heart is full of love, hope and awe.
• The level everyone can reach: even when your mind wanders, you remember that Allah sees you. That alone makes you slow down, and pray with more care.

Ihsan is not only for salah. Nabi ﷺ said: Allah has written ihsan on everything, and he gave the example of being gentle even when slaughtering an animal¹². So ihsan is in how you work, drive, speak to your parents and treat a stranger. Allah says: Allah loves those who do good¹³.

How the three levels fit together

Picture three circles, one inside the other:

• Islam is the big outer circle. It holds everyone who has entered the religion and does its outward acts.
• Iman is the middle circle. It holds those whose hearts truly believe. Every true believer is a Muslim. But not every Muslim has reached full iman yet.
• Ihsan is the small inner circle. It holds those who worship as if they see Allah. This is the highest level.

The Quran shows the difference between the first two. Some desert Arabs said: we believe. Allah told Nabi ﷺ to tell them: say instead, we have submitted, because iman has not yet entered your hearts¹⁴. They were Muslims, and their deeds still counted. But iman in the heart is a step higher.

When the words Islam and iman are used together, as in the hadith of Jibril, Islam means the outward deeds and iman means the inner belief. When either word is used alone, it usually means the whole religion, inside and out.

This is good news. Wherever you are now, there is always a next step to climb.

Iman is belief, words and deeds

Iman is more than an idea in the mind. The scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah (the main body of Muslims who follow the Sunnah) explain that iman has three parts:

• Belief in the heart: being sure that Allah is your Lord, and loving Him and His Messenger. Nabi ﷺ said none of you truly believes until he loves me more than his father, his children and all people¹⁵.
• Words on the tongue: saying the shahada, dhikr (remembering Allah) and reading Quran.
• Deeds of the body: salah, fasting, charity and good character.

Nabi ﷺ said: iman has seventy-some branches. The highest is saying la ilaha illallah, and the lowest is moving something harmful out of the road. And haya (modesty, a good sense of shame) is a branch of iman¹⁶. So even moving a stone off a path is part of your faith. He also said: none of you truly believes until he wants for his brother what he wants for himself¹⁷.

Iman goes up and down

Allah says that when His verses are recited to the believers, it increases them in iman¹⁸, and that He sends calm into their hearts so they add iman to their iman¹⁹. So iman grows with good deeds and remembering Allah, and gets weaker with sins and forgetting Him. Feeling low does not mean you have lost your iman. It means it needs care. The chapter Iman rises and falls covers this in full.

Where scholars word it differently

Most of Ahl al-Sunnah, including the Athari scholars and most Ash'aris, define iman as belief, words and deeds, and say it rises and falls. Imam Abu Hanifa and the Maturidi scholars define iman as belief in the heart and saying it with the tongue. They count deeds as the fruit of iman, required and very important, but not part of its definition. All of them agree on what matters in practice: deeds are a duty, sins harm a person, the believer must work to grow, and a Muslim who sins is still a Muslim. Many scholars said the difference is mostly in wording. Learn the details from a teacher you trust.

Who is a Muslim?

A person enters Islam by saying the shahada and meaning it. When Nabi ﷺ sent Mu'adh to Yemen, he told him to call people first to bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that he is the Messenger of Allah²⁰.

• We judge by what people show. Nabi ﷺ said whoever prays like us, faces our qibla (the direction of prayer) and eats what we slaughter is a Muslim, under the protection of Allah and His Messenger²¹.
• We do not search hearts. In a battle, Usamah ibn Zayd killed a man after he said la ilaha illallah, thinking he only said it out of fear. Nabi ﷺ asked him: did you cut open his heart to see? He kept repeating it, and Usamah wished he had only become Muslim that day²².
• Do not call a Muslim a kafir (disbeliever). Nabi ﷺ said: when a man calls his brother a kafir, it comes back to one of them²³. Judging whether a person has left Islam is only for qualified scholars and courts, never for us.
• A sin does not take a Muslim out of Islam. Ahl al-Sunnah agree that a Muslim who commits a big sin is still a Muslim, with weaker iman. Nabi ﷺ said that whoever said la ilaha illallah and had even a grain of good in his heart will be taken out of the Fire²⁴.
• A new Muslim starts clean. Nabi ﷺ told Amr ibn al-As: Islam wipes away what came before it²⁵.

Nabi ﷺ also described the Muslim by his character: a Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hand other Muslims are safe²⁶.

The shahada: what it means

The shahada is two sentences:

Ash-hadu an la ilaha illallah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan rasulullah.
I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.

The first half: la ilaha illallah

It has two parts:

• "La ilaha": no god. You say no to everything that is worshipped other than Allah.
• "Illallah": except Allah. You say yes to Allah alone, as the only One who deserves worship.

So it does not only mean "Allah exists" or "Allah is the Creator". It means only Allah is worshipped: only He is prayed to, bowed to, called on in dua and loved above all. Allah says: whoever rejects false gods and believes in Allah has grabbed the firmest handhold, which never breaks²⁷.

The second half: Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah

This means you believe he was sent by Allah, and so you:

• believe what he told us,
• follow what he taught, and stay away from what he forbade,
• and worship Allah the way he showed us, not in ways people made up.

He was a man and a servant of Allah, not a god. He was also the last messenger, and the best of them. The chapter Muhammad ﷺ, the final messenger covers this in full.

The conditions of the shahada

Nabi ﷺ promised great reward for the shahada. Whoever dies knowing that there is no god but Allah will enter Jannah²⁸. But the shahada is not a magic word. It is a promise. Scholars looked at the Quran and hadith and listed what makes a shahada real. Do not worry: these are not a test you must pass in words. They simply describe a sincere believer.

• Knowledge. Know what you are saying. Allah says: know that there is no god but Allah²⁹.
• Certainty. Be sure, without doubt. Nabi ﷺ said whoever meets Allah with these two words, not doubting them, will enter Jannah³⁰. Passing whispers are not doubt (see Common questions).
• Sincerity. Say it for Allah, not to show off or for gain. The happiest person with the intercession of Nabi ﷺ is the one who said la ilaha illallah sincerely from his heart³¹.
• Truthfulness. Mean it. Do not say it with the tongue while the heart denies it. Allah will save from the Fire whoever bears witness to it truly from his heart³².
• Love. Love Allah, His Messenger and this word. Those who believe love Allah most of all³³.
• Accepting and submitting. Accept what it means, and live by it. Whoever gives himself fully to Allah while doing good has grabbed the firmest handhold³⁴.
• Rejecting false gods. Say no to all worship of anything besides Allah³⁵³⁶.

Nabi ﷺ said: he has tasted the sweetness of iman who is pleased with Allah as his Lord, Islam as his religion and Muhammad as his messenger³⁷. That is the shahada lived from the heart.

Common questions

I was born Muslim. Do I need to say the shahada again?

No. You are already Muslim. But saying la ilaha illallah often is one of the best kinds of dhikr, and it renews your iman. Think about its meaning when you say it.

A friend wants to become Muslim. What do they need to do?

Say the shahada, meaning it. That is all that is needed to enter Islam. It is good to say it in front of Muslims, at a masjid if possible, but it is not a condition. Then they can learn step by step, starting with salah. Our new Muslim guide can help.

Sometimes bad thoughts about Allah come into my mind. Has my iman gone?

No. Some Companions told Nabi ﷺ they had thoughts they would hate to even say out loud. He said: that is clear iman³⁸. Hating such thoughts is a sign of faith. Seek refuge in Allah and move on.

I believe, but I am weak in salah. Am I still a Muslim?

Do not lose hope. Scholars treat leaving salah very seriously, and some say it takes a person out of Islam. So please start with the very next prayer. See Why salah matters.

Someone I know does many wrong things. Can I say he is not a Muslim?

No. Sins weaken iman, but they do not take a person out of Islam. Calling a Muslim a kafir is very serious³⁹. Make dua for him and, if you can, advise him kindly.

Is ihsan only for very pious people?

No. Its first step is open to everyone: remember that Allah sees you. Every time you pray with a little more care, or do your job a little more honestly because Allah sees, that is ihsan.

What is the difference between a Muslim and a mu'min?

A Muslim is someone who has submitted and does the outward acts. A mu'min (believer) is someone whose heart is full of iman. Every mu'min is a Muslim. We hope every Muslim is a mu'min, and we keep working to become one⁴⁰.