Category: Branches of Islam

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

23. To be pleased with whatever is decreed from Allah: understanding decree from Allah is to accept all situations we are put in. We will certainly be tested with good and bad throughout our lives – being grateful is the key to success.

“Every soul will taste death. And We test you with evil and with good as trial; and to Us you will be returned.” [21:35]

24. To place your trust in Allah: placing trust in Allah is done in the heart and not merely through speech.

“Say, “Never will we be struck except by what Allah has decreed for us; He is our protector.” And upon Allah let the believers put their trust.” [9:51]

25. Not to boast or brag over any quality that you possess: to show off kills good character; it adjusts one’s ego in a way that makes one assume they are higher than others.

The prophet (ﷺ) said: “The worst of my nation are the excessive talkers, those who brag, and the pompous. The best of my nation are those with the best character.” [al-adab al-mufrad authenticated by al-Albaani]

26. Not to have malice or hatred towards anybody.

The prophet (ﷺ) said, “By the one in whose hand is my soul, you will not enter Paradise until you submit to Allah and you will not submit until you love one another. Spread peace and you will love one another. Beware of hatred for it is the razor. I do not say that it shaves hair, but rather it shaves away the religion.” [al-adab al-mufrad authenticated by al-Albaani]

27. Not to be envious of anyone: the prophet prohibited jealousy and envy except for two situations and even those are with pure intent. Envy can corrupt families and whole societies.

The prophet (ﷺ) said, “Beware of envy, for it consumes good deeds just as fire consumes wood or grass.” [Abu Dawud]

The prophet (ﷺ) said, “There is no envy except in two: a person whom Allah has given wealth and he spends it in the right way, and a person whom Allah has given wisdom (i.e. religious knowledge) and he gives his decisions accordingly and teaches it to the others.” [Bukhari]

28. Not to become angry.

“Who spend [in the cause of Allah ] during ease and hardship and who restrain anger and who pardon the people – and Allah loves the doers of good” [3:134]

Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “The strong is not the one who overcomes the people by his strength, but the strong is the one who controls himself while in anger.” [Bukhari]

Allah knows best.

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

17. To be modest: This essential attribute of a true believe ranges from how we dress to how we act with other people. We must not show off in any form; we must practice being humble in every aspect of our lives.

The prophet (ﷺ) said: “Modesty comes from imane, and imane leads to paradise.” [Bukhari] and “Modesty is a branch of faith.” [Bukhari]

18. To express gratitude over a bounty or favour: One of our foremost duties is to be grateful to Allah for all of His blessings. We can describe three levels of thankfulness:

• To realise and appreciate all blessings within the heart.
• To say thanks with the tongue.
• To express gratitude by doing righteous deeds.

“And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, ‘If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favor]; but if you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.'” [14:7]

“What would Allah do with your punishment if you are grateful and believe? And ever is Allah Appreciative and Knowing.” [4:147]

19. To fulfil promises: One must make sure that promises and covenants are kept. Fulfilling promises is a means of attaining security in this world and preventing bloodshed, and of protecting the rights of people, both Muslims and non-Muslims.

“Those who fulfill the covenant of Allah and do not break the contract” [13:20]

20. To exercise patience (sabr): Patience has great status in the sight of Allah Almighty and in Islam. Patience is of the best from deeds and has great reward attached to it. This should be practiced in all aspects of life, from fulfilling our religious duties such as prayer, to staying patient through difficult times.

“And obey Allah and His Messenger, and do not dispute and [thus] lose courage and [then] your strength would depart; and be patient. Indeed, Allah is with the patient.” [8:46]

21. To consider yourself lower than others: We must never consider ourselves above others in any way. Whether this is worldly status or religious stature; righteousness is the only form of status with Allah and only He will judge who is above the other. We in this world are all equal.

The prophet (ﷺ) said: “No one is better than anyone else except by religion or good deeds. It is enough evil for a man to be profane, vulgar, greedy, or cowardly.” [Shu’aib authenticated by al-Albaani]

22. To have mercy on the creation: The creation of Allah is sacred. Whether we are talking about Muslims, non-Muslims or any animal – Allah created us all for a purpose. We have no right to harm even an animal without reason i.e. in danger or for food (following Allah’s commandments for slaughter).

The prophet (ﷺ) said: “Those who are merciful will be shown mercy by the Most Merciful. Be merciful to those on the earth and the One in the heavens will have mercy upon you.” [Tirmidhi]

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

12. To love or hate someone solely because of Allah: the love and hate for the sake of Allah maintains the connection between people in the Ummah. It ensures that the ties of friendship and harmony among people are attained, so that they love one another, visit one another, are sincere towards one another, intermarry, enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, thus attaining true Islamic brotherhood.

The prophet (ﷺ) said: “Indeed the strongest bond of faith is to love for the sake of Allah and hate for the sake of Allah.” [Musnad authenticated by al-Albaani] 

13. To execute all actions with the intention of deen (sincerity to Allah ) alone: actions with one’s own wills and desires such as to show off to other people are not considered part of Islam. It is by placing Allah in all that we do that validates the action and places His blessing in it.

“Allah does not impose blame upon you for what is unintentional in your oaths, but He imposes blame upon you for what your hearts intend. And Allah is Forgiving and Forbearing.” 2:225

14. To regret and express remorse when a sin is committed: sincere and regret is part of what validates true repentance. The fact that one feels guilty for a sin shows belief in Allah.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “Regret is part of repentance.” [Ibn Majah authenticated by al-Albaani]

15. To fear Allah: our relationship with Allah consists of many factors, one of which is fear. To fear Allah’s power and punishment is extremely important in strengthening imane.

“O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared and do not die except as Muslims [in submission to Him].” 3:102

16. To hope for the mercy of Allah:  having hope and belief that Allah will have mercy on us is also part of belief in Allah Himself. Without believing in Allah’s mercy, we are invalidating His own decree upon Himself.

“And when those come to you who believe in Our verses, say, ‘Peace be upon you. Your Lord has decreed upon Himself mercy: that any of you who does wrong out of ignorance and then repents after that and corrects himself – indeed, He is Forgiving and Merciful.'” 6:54

“Say, ‘O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah . Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.'” 39:53

Allah knows best.

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

6. To believe that Allah has knowledge of everything and that only that which He sanctions or wishes will occur: this is believing in Allah’s knowledge before time was even created and also in His decree as mentioned in a previous post.

“[He is] Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, the Grand, the Exalted.” 13:9

“And you do not will except that Allah wills – Lord of the worlds.” 81:29

7. To believe that Qiyamah (day of Resurrection) will definitely occur: having the belief that we will have to stand in front of Allah after we pass from this life contrary to many modern beliefs that do not agree that there is an afterlife.

“And fear a Day when no soul will suffice for another soul at all, and no compensation will be accepted from it, nor will any intercession benefit it, nor will they be aided.” 2:123

8. To believe in the existence of Jannah (Paradise): to understand that there is a huge reward for the true believer in the afterlife.

“Allah has promised the believing men and believing women gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally, and pleasant dwellings in gardens of perpetual residence; but approval from Allah is greater. It is that which is the great attainment.” 9:72

9. To believe in the existence of Jahanam (Hellfire): to acknowledge that there is a huge torment awaiting those who disobey Allah.

“And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger and transgresses His limits – He will put him into the Fire to abide eternally therein, and he will have a humiliating punishment.” 4:14

10. To have love for Allah: to Love our creator is to understand Him, to follow His commands, and know that any trial we go through in this life is a means of us getting closer to Him – it is Allah making excuses for us to turn back to Him so He can forgive our wrongdoings. Knowing this, and acting upon it in this world by obeying His commands putting aside the desire of the dunya is what real Love for Allah means.

“And [yet], among the people are those who take other than Allah as equals [to Him]. They love them as they [should] love Allah . But those who believe are stronger in love for Allah..” 2:165

11. To have love for the prophet (ﷺ): since we have not seen the prophet (ﷺ), our love for him will be to look at his history, study his life and follow his teachings. Understand how he dealt with people around, how he handled situations, what he advised us to do and not to do and to follow these commands from Allah’s beloved messenger Muhammad.

“Say, [O Muhammad], ‘If you should love Allah, then follow me, [so] Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.'” 3:31

The prophet (ﷺ) said, “I wish I could meet my brothers [and sisters].” The Prophet’s companions said, “Are we not your brothers?” The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “You are my companions, but my brothers [and sisters] are those who have faith in me although they never saw me.” [Ahmad, authenticated by al-Albaani]

Allah knows best.

The prophet (ﷺ) said: “Faith consists of sixty to seventy odd branches, the best of which is to declare there is no God but Allah and the least of which is to remove something harmful from the road, and modesty is a branch of faith.” [Bukhari]

Imam al Bayhaqi (a renowned scholar of hadith) compiled a list of 77 branches of imane – let us explore this list.

We must first distinguish between a Muslim and a believer. Imane is more inclusive than Islam; so every believer is a Muslim, but not every Muslim is a believer. Imane is more specific with regards to its people. It is broken down as:

Speech of the tongue, belief of the heart, and action of the limbs. It increases with obedience, and it decreases through sin.

1. Belief in Allah: This is the core of true imane – to testify that there is no entity worthy of worship except Allah. This is done through speech, belief in the heart and actions – without these, one is not a true believer.

“Indeed this, your religion, is one religion, and I am your Lord (Allah), so worship Me.” 21:92

2. To believe that everything other than ALLAH was non-existent. Thereafter, Allah created these things and subsequently they came into existence: A true believer understands that the universe was not always here. It did not form itself. It was not a matter of chance that everything fell into place. It was designed and curated in every slight detail by Allah the almighty.

“And [in] the alternation of night and day and [in] what Allah sends down from the sky of provision and gives life thereby to the earth after its lifelessness and [in His] directing of the winds are signs for a people who reason.” 45:5

“It is Allah who made for you the earth a place of settlement and the sky a ceiling and formed you and perfected your forms and provided you with good things. That is Allah, your Lord; then blessed is Allah, Lord of the worlds.” 40:64

3. To believe in the existence of angels (Mala’ikah): True believers believe in the existence of angels; not as they are portrayed in modern society, but as a creation of Allah that do not have the free will that humans and jinn possess. They follow the commands of Allah without their own will.

4. To believe that the books sent to the prophets were true. However all the books are now invalid apart from the Qur’an: The various holy books sent by Allah to His prophets throughout history were valid in their time. They came with the same message as the Qur’an, but through the times they were slowly changed through various methods by the corrupted people until the basis of the word of Allah was no longer there. The Qur’an is the last remaining unchanged word of Allah.

5. To believe that all the prophets are true, but as the prophet Muhammad’s (ﷺ) ummah we are commanded to follow him alone: Allah Himself does not compare between His prophets. They were all His beloved creations who were sent with the same core message to the people which is to worship none other than Allah. We as believers must understand that they were all true prophets of Allah; we take lessons from their stories mentioned in the Qur’an but as an ummah we must follow the teachings of His last prophet Muhammad (ﷺ).

“The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and [so have] the believers. All of them have believed in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers, [saying], “We make no distinction between any of His messengers.” And they say, “We hear and we obey. [We seek] Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the [final] destination.” 2:285

“And verily, We have sent among every Ummah (community, nation) a Messenger (proclaiming): “Worship Allah (Alone), and avoid (or keep away from) all false deities” Then of them were some whom Allah guided and of them were some upon whom the straying justified. So travel through the land and see what the end of those who denied (the truth) was.” 16:36

Allah knows best.