#16 Islam, Iman, Ihsan: Practice, Belief and Faith

Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, understood his divine revelation to be a restatement of God’s one basic message, sent to human beings since the beginning of time. Yet as this message represented the final, most comprehensive restatement, it was accompanied by safeguards to protect its central tenets from future corruption and deviation.

The first safeguard was the protected status of the Quran, being revealed within a community that immediately preserved it in oral and written form. Other safeguards included clear guidelines for beliefs and practices, on both an individual and societal level.

These guidelines did not replace personal faith experience, but rather provided practical stability for faith to stay rooted in the everyday life of believers living in the world. These guidelines also provided the norms for structuring a balanced family life and the moral social environments necessary to protect and nurture individual faith. Finally, these religious guidelines aimed to protect Muslim society from the constant onslaught of self-centred, corrupt and/or materialistic social ideologies, and ensure that faith remained a community-based way of life, not simply a subjective, personal endeavour.

With this in mind, it is clear why Islam focuses not only on personal faith and what you believe, but also on what you do. Correct practice, along with correct belief, is necessary to support the growth of true faith.

In the books of tradition it is related that one day a man with very white clothing came to the Prophet (pbuh). No mark of travel was visible on him, and none of the Prophet’s companions had ever seen him before. Taking a seat near the Prophet (pbuh), the man said, “Tell me, Muhammad about Islam.” The Prophet (pbuh) replied, “Islam means that you should testify that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad (pbuh) is God’s messenger, that you should observe the prayer, pay the zakat [mandatory contribution to the poor], fast during [the month of] Ramadan, and make the pilgrimage to the House [the Kabah in Mecca] if you have the means to go.” The man in white replied, “You have spoken the truth.” This surprised the companions, as the man had first questioned the Prophet (pbuh) and then declared that his answer was correct.

The man continued, “Now tell me about Iman [Faith].” The Prophet (pbuh) answered, “It means that you should believe in God, His angels, His books, His prophets, and the last day, and that you should believe in the decreeing of both good and bad.” Again the man in white remarked that he had spoken the truth, and asked, “Now tell me about Ihsan.” The Prophet (pbuh) replied, “It means that you should worship God as though you saw Him, for He sees you though you do not see him.”

After the man departed the companions asked the Prophet (pbuh) about this man in white, to which he replied, “He was [the Angel] Gabriel who came to you to teach you your religion.”

This description of Islam, Iman, and Ihsan remains the most basic definition of Islamic practice, belief and faith experience. Taken together with the definition of “natural” Islam (trusting surrender to God, with the return gift of spiritual peace–‎salam), it provides a concise, yet comprehensive explanation of the Prophet’s message, and for Muslims, God’s final restatement of guidance to humankind. In the Quran, God says, “Today I have perfected for you your religion and I have completed My favour upon you and I have chosen for you Islam as your way of life.”(Quran 5:3)