قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ: «الإِيمَانُ أَنْ تُؤْمِنَ بِاللَّهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ وَتُؤْمِنَ بِالْقَدَرِ خَيْرِهِ وَشَرِّهِ»
The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: "Faith (Iman) is to believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and to believe in the divine decree, its good and its bad."
(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 164)
1. Qur’an Evidence:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا آمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَالْكِتَابِ الَّذِي نَزَّلَ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ وَالْكِتَابِ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِاللَّهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا بَعِيدًا
"O you who have believed, believe in Allah and His Messenger and the Book that He sent down upon His Messenger and the Scripture which He sent down before. And whoever disbelieves in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day has certainly gone far astray." (Surah An-Nisa, 4:136)
Simple Meaning: Iman means believing in all these important things about Allah and His message. It means your heart trusts and accepts them.
2. Hadith Evidence:
قال رسول الله ﷺ: «الإيمان بضع وسبعون أو بضع وستون شعبة، أعلاها قول لا إله إلا الله، وأدناها إماطة الأذى عن الطريق، والحياء شعبة من الإيمان»
The Prophet ﷺ said: "Faith has over seventy branches, the highest of which is saying 'La ilaha illallah' (There is no god but Allah), and the lowest is removing harm from the road, and modesty is a branch of faith." (Sahih Muslim)
Simple Explanation: Iman is not just belief in the heart but also good actions and manners.
3. Scholars’ Explanation:
Imam al-Nawawi said that Iman includes belief in the heart, speech by the tongue, and actions by the limbs. This means we believe, say, and do good according to that belief.
4. Practical Takeaway:
Iman means you believe in Allah and all that He told us, and you try to live in a way that shows this belief by doing good deeds and avoiding bad ones.
Allah knows best.