Key Terms:

Iman = A Believer
Kufr = To Disbelieve
Shirk
Nifaq

Who is a Muslim or Mu'min?

What is the definition of Iman according to the Qur'an and Sunnah?
Linguistically Aman has two primary meanings:
1) To grant Protection and safely and to remove fear
2) To Believe
Aya 04 in Surah Quraysh (106)
And provided them protection against fear
Iman means to protect against fear.
When we have Iman, it gives us a level of protection, it saves us from punishment.
2nd meaning of Iman to believe or to have faith in (in Arabic Tasdeeq) so to believe
in something you have Iman in that thing.
Points 1 & 2 is the meaning of Iman Linguistically But from a religious or Islamic
point of view things are added to it.
To have certain types of beliefs in the heart and statements on the tongue and
actions on the limbs. So, you have to believe and do and say certain things.
Some classic scholars said Iman is define by what is in the heart, what is said on
the tongue and what the actions do, and Iman increases with the good and
decreases with bad.
Imam Al-Bukhari (Famous Scholar of Hadith) has said the above.
Definition:
1. Belief in the heart
(Important point: Belief is not equivalent to knowledge. Iman is not the same as
knowing. Iman in knowing and then acting upon that faith. Classic example is
Iblees: Does Iblees know that Allah exist? Does Iblees know that Allah is the
creator? Does Iblees know the Angels exist? Answer of course he does. He's seen the
Angels. That knowledge in itself is not enough to make Ibless a believer. Because
belief is not equivalent to knowledge. There are plenty of people who know that
Allah exists, but they don't do anything. Example the people who know the seerah
of the Prophet PBUH. Certain members of the Qurayish rejected Islam even as they
knew it was to be true. They rejected it for pride, arrogance, for tribal reasons,
regardless of the reasons. They rejected it even though their knowledge was that
Islam is the correct faith. So, Faith and Knowledge are not the same. Faith is more
than knowledge. You have to have knowledge. You can't have faith without
knowledge, but knowledge in itself is not enough to have faith. Faith is more than
just knowledge.
So, Belief in the heart means:
You Know, and You Affirm and You Act Upon it from the heart, ALL of it is there.
So, to know
Allah is there
Allah is your Creator
Allah is worthy of worship
Then Affirm it from your heart (Yes, I believe in this)
Then have certain actions of the heart that will come based upon that knowledge.
So, at some level every Muslim MUST have a love for Allah every Muslim MUST
have a level of fear level of hope. Even if it is weak, even if the pulse is bare, but it's
gotta be there, this level HAS to be there. And if you look at Iblees, he does not have
the actions of the heart that comes based upon that knowledge.
So, belief in the heart is not just knowing it is to have emotions that come with that.
That's the first point.
2nd Stating with the tongue (admitting with the tongue)
It is essential that as Muslims our relationship with the Qur'an is verbalized. You
have to SAY the Shahada. If a person is not a Muslim, at some point they have to
verbalize there is no deity worth of worship except Allah and Muhammad PBUH is
the last and final messenger of Allah. Saying this is a necessary part of being a
Muslim. You are not a Muslim until you verbalize this. Of course, Muslim repeat
this multiple time throughout their prayers. So, you have to verbalize the Kalimah
it is an essential requirement of Islam. Allah says in the Qur'an Aya 84 in Surah Ali
'Imran (03) Say. We have believed in Allah. Of course, along with the Shahada we
have to verbalize the Qur'an, like when we pray we recite thus we are verbalizing.
3rd Actions of the limbs. Acting upon this knowledge with the limbs. Iman is faith
in the heart, Believe in the heart, Statements on the tongue and Actions of the
limbs.
Actions of the limbs mean:
What actions are necessary to be a believer?
Is it enough for a Muslim to say I am a Muslim and that's it nothing is done after
that? Or should someone follow that statement up with actions? For example, one
claims to be a Muslim, but they dismiss the prayers/fasting/recitation/hajj they have
none of the rituals. Is this person a Muslim?
There is a bit of a controversy... some theologians are strict, and some are lax, and it
is permissible to hold either opinions. YQ finds more legitimacy (i.e. he's leaning
towards) there is a minimal action required, there must be some type of prayer,
salah, sajdah required. There has to be a bare minimum commitment of praying
even if it's occasionally, because our prophet PBUH explicitly said the treaty that I
have with the Muslims, the covenant that I have is the salah. Whoever leaves the
salah as committed kufr. So, he PBUH explicitly made the salah a condition to be a
Muslim, and there are many other evidences as well. (I do not agree with his
opinion and Allah azza wa jal knows best.) There are other theologians who believe
that as long as a person has said their shahada and has verbalized the kalimah has
become a Muslim, even if nothing else is done, they will be treated like a Muslim.
And their affairs are with Allah AWJ.
Point is:
1. The belief in the heart (statements of)
2. Stating with the tongue (should be followed)
3. Actions of the limbs (that is what Iman is we also said Iman goes up and down)
4. Good and bad deeds
Iman is not stagnant (stable) it's not a straight line.
The Qur'an explicitly mentions in so many ayat "We incressed their Iman." As for
those who believed it (The Qur'an) has increased them in faith. Aya 124 in Surah
At-Tawbah (09)
Allah in many places explicitly mention the increasing of Iman. So, something that
increases also decreases. What goes up must come down. So, without really giving
examples, we as individuals already experience this in our own daily lives. In the
month of Ramadan what happens to our Iman? When we go to Hajj or Umrah?
When we read the Qur'an, do a good deed? What happens? Our Iman is renewed.
While in reverse, when we spend time far away from the masjid, we don't get
involved with the Muslims, we live separate lives, what happens? Our Iman kinda
sorta weakens. Thus, faith goes up and down. And the goal is to continue to strive to

make faith higher and higher. How does Iman go up? ( )

The more good deeds you do the higher your Iman’s going to do the more bad
deeds/sins that you do the lesser your Iman will become. Your actions and the faith
of the heart are proportionally correlated. You cannot have strong faith in the heart
and zero or no actions. It doesn’t work like that. If your faith is strong inside of you
it will be manifested outside of you. When you truly love Allah and you want Allah's
mercy, that will be demonstrated in your actions. You will see that faith in your
rituals and how you treat other people. In your daily life it will show. On the
contrary to that when the faith is weak it will lead to a lifestyle of committing sins.
So, the one who commits sins regularly has demonstrated that the faith in the heart
is indeed weak. Faith becomes weaker and weaker until it crosses the redline. And
that's when you leave Islam and you become a Kafr. Faith goes up and down, but
we must prevent it from ever reaching to the point of crossing that redline that you
are no longer a Muslim (May Allah protect us all from that.)
At what stage does a person leave the fold of Islam.
This is done when a person commits what is called a negation of Iman.
What negates faith?
There are certain deeds or actions that cannot come from the heart of a believer. No
believer can commit those types of actions. They are actions of:
1. Worship of false gods (Intentionally)
You don't bow your head to an idol (you don't mind worshiping an idol) No Muslim
can do that!
2. Making fun of Allah and his messengers (Ma a'da Allah) That cannot come from a
heart that loves Allah and believes in Allah
3. Intentionally disrespect the Qur'an (accidently if the Qur'an is dropped, it is not
done on purpose.) You are indicating that you have no faith in your heart
whatsoever.
These are deeds essentially of kufr and they are not possible for a heart of Iman to
ever do them. And if somebody does them and they are sane not insane (one who is
insane is excused from this) Point is a Muslim CANNOT do these types of things or
else they demostrate that there is no Islam in a person's heart. And these types of
sins are essentially the worst category of sins imaginable.
Kufr is like Iman in this sense:
Kufr is defined as
1. The absence of Iman (definition) It's simple, either you have Iman, or you don't,
it's one or the other. If you have Iman = believer if you don't = disbeliever.
Important Note!
Kufr itself has many sub-categories.
There are many types of Kafr
Kafr type one Ahl al-Kitab: Jews and Christians
Kafr type two Mushrik: Pagans and idol worshippers
Kafr type three an unbeliever who does not believe in any type of deity. They just
live their life they do not think about religion at all.
This last type is not a kufr of rejecting, it's a kufr or not caring.
There are many types of kufr and each one has its own sin. Not all kufr is the same,
some kufr is worse than other.
The kufr of rejecting Allah while knowing Him fully, is the worst type of kufr. And
that is the kufr of Iblees. Iblees knowingly rejects Allah.
This is also the kufr of Nifaq or hypocrisy, which is amongst the worst categories as
well. Nifaq or Munafiq is a type of kafr.
What is a Munafiq?
1. Only a Muslim externally (Someone who pretends to be Muslim but, in his heart,
he doesn't believe in Islam. In his heart he is not a believer but claims to be by his
tongue. The worst type of kufr as well. Qur'an mentions munafiq quite a bit, in fact
there is a surah dedicated to them.