I b n T a y m iy y a h K I T A B A L - I M A N BOOK OF FAITH Translated by Salman Hassan Al-Ani Shadia Ahmad Tel % KITAB AL-IMAN Ibn Taymiyyah K I T A B A L - I M A N BOOK OF FAITH Translated and edited with introduction and notes by Salman Hassan Al-Ani Shadia Ahmad Tel IBT Islamic Book Trust Kuala Lumpur Copyright © 2009 Iman Publishing House All rights reserved. Wo part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. First published 1993 Iman Publishing House, Indiana, L'.S.A. This Malaysian edition 2009 Islamic Book Trust 607 Mutiara Majestic Jalan Othman 46000 Petaling Java Selangor, Malaysia ii’U’W’.ibtbooks.i.tirn Perpustakaan Wegara Malaysia Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Ibn Taymiyyah, Ahmad ibn ‘Abd. al-IIalim, 1263-1328. Book of Faith : kitab al-lman / by Ibn Taymiyyah; translated and edited with introduction and notes by Salman Ilassan Al-Ani. Shadia Ahmad Tel. ISBN 978-967-5062-28-5 ISBN 978-967-5062-29-2 (pbk.) Includes index Bibliography: p. 444 I, Paith (Islam)—Early works to 1800. 1. Salman blassan Al-Ani. II. Shadia Ahmad Tel. 111. Title. 297.22 This edition is not for sale in the United States of America, Printed in Mulaysia by Vinlin Press Sdn Bhd 2, Jalan Meranti Permai 1 Mcranti Permai Industrial Park 47100 Puchong, Selangor, To the Memory of Our Beloved Parents CONTENTS Acknowledgments............................................................................................ xii Introduction: Ibn Taymiyyah and Kitab Al-lman............................................ 1 lbn Taymiyyah: His Life and Character.................................................... 1 The Mihan, Trials, of Ibn Taymiyyah ...................................................... 4 The Objectives of Kitab Al-lman ............................................................ 7 Major Concepts and Themes of Kitab Al-lman ...................................... 9 The Concepts of Iman, Islam, and Ihsan ............................................ 9 Iman Is Both Saying and Work ........................................................ 10 The Increase and Decrease of Iman .................................................. 11 Literal and Figurative Meanings........................................................ 12 The Semantic Theory of Absolute and Conditioned ....................... 14 The Concept of Exception................................................................... 14 Editions of Kitab Al-lman ....................................................................... 15 Chapter One: The Difference Between Iman, Islam, and Ihsan................... 18 The Three Ranks of Religion: Islam, Iman and Ihsan....................... 20 Explicit Deeds Are Part of Iman ........................................................ 23 Iman and Islam as Cited in the Qur’an .............................................. 27 Chapter Two: Adherence to the Words of Allah and His Messenger ........ 48 Dispute Concerning the Authenticity of Certain Hadiths................. 48 The Consensus of the Believers Is Used as a Proof ......................... 53 Connotation of the Book, the Sunnah and Ijmac as One................... 54 Some of the Signs of Iman ................................................................. 55 The Relationship Between Obedience and Disobedience With Regard to Iman ..................................................................... 56 Chapter Three: The Meanings of The Terms Unbelief, Hypocrisy and Polytheism ............................................................................................ 65 viii CONTENTS Chapter Four: The Meanings of the Terms Righteous, the Witness and the Sincere ........................................................................................... 70 Chapter Five: The Meanings of Disobedience, Sin and Unbelief................. 72 Chapter Six: Wrong: its’Kind and Meaning ................................................ 75 Chapter Seven: The Meanings of the Terms Righteousness and Corruption ........................................................................................... 94 Chapter Eight: Literal Meaning and Figurative Meaning............................. 98 Chapter Nine: The AslTarites’ and Other Sects’ Opinion of Iman and a Refutation by the Author ..................................................................... 132 The Ash'arites’ Opinion of lman as Stated by Al-BaqillanI ........ 133 The Reply of Orthodox Muslims to the Ash'arites......................... 134 Ibn Taymiyyah’s Refutation of the Ash'arites’ Opinion................. 135 Chapter Ten: The Opinion of Al-Baqillan! On Iman and Islam ................. 165 Chapter Eleven: Absolute Iman Requires Works........................................ 170 Chapter Twelve: The Meaning of Conditioned Iman When Associated with Other Terms ..................................................................................... 172 Chapter Thirteen: Association of Words and Phrases ............................... 182 Chapter Fourteen: Connotations of Absolute Iman .................................... 189 Chapter Fifteen: Attributes and Terms With Specific Connotations ........ 195 The Invalidity of the Idea That Iman Is Mere Assent And Knowledge of the Heart ........................................................ 198 The Two Basic Errors of the Murji’ites.............................................. 200 The Murji’ites Opinion of Iman............................................................ 203 The Murjrites Errors in Understanding Iman .................................... 204 CONTENTS IX Chapter Sixteen: The Murjrites’ Views on Iman, Works and Religion ... 213 The Murjrites’ Views on Works: Are They Part of Iman or Religion? .............................................. 216 Judgement Concerning the Hypocrite Who Conceals His Atheism .......................................................... 219 Chapter Seventeen: Iman Either Increases or Diminishes ......................... 230 Chapter Eighteen: Aspects of Increasing Iman............................................ 239 Chapter Nineteen: Iman and Islam and the Difference Between Them . . . 244 Chapter Twenty: Understanding Iman and Islam: Interpreted by the Messenger As the Ultimate Authority................... 286 Chapter Twenty-One: The Difference Between the Five Pillars of Islam and Other Duties................................................................................... 312 Chapter Twenty-Two: The Concept of Iman and Related Issues ............... 315 The Association of Belief with Work................................................ 315 Unbelief in Allah’s Grace and the Unbelief of Polytheism ............. 321 The Two Kinds of Wrong................................................................... 325 The Two Kinds of Sin......................................................................... 326 The Opinion of Abu Talib Al-MakkI on Islam and Iman ............... 329 The Response to Abu Talib Al-Makk! for Not Making a Clear Distinction Between Iman and Islam .......................................... 333 Ranking People with Regard to Iman and All Acts of Obedience . . 336 Response to the View of Abu Talib Al-Makk! ............................... 340 Further Differences Between Islam and Iman ................................. 343 Further Aspects That Differentiate Between Islam and Iman ........ 345 Can an Individual Have Both Iman and Hypocrisy? ....................... 347 The Necessity of Going Back to the Book and the Sunnah To Clarify the Meanings of Iman and Islam ............................... 350 The Opinion of Ibn Salah Concerning Iman and Islam ................... 353 The Opinion of the Author Concerning the Statement Of Ibn Salah ................................................................................. 354 X CONTENTS Al-MarwazI Does Not Differentiate Between Islam and Iman .... 355 Explaining the View of Al-MarwazT and Responding to It ............. 356 People’s Levels With Respect to Iman and Islam ........................... 358 Abu 'Abd Allah Ibn Hamid Explains the Views of Muslim Scholars Concerning Iman and Islam ........................................................ 359 The Reply to Those Who Do Not Differentiate Between Iman and Islam ............................................................................. 365 Discussion of Predestination ............................................................. 370 The Opinion of Abu Thawr on Iman ................................................ 376 The Response to the Views of Abu Thawr Concerning Iman ........ 377 The Letter of Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal to Al-JuzjanI On the Question of Iman ............................................................... 378 The Views of the MurjPites, the Kullabites and the Karramites On Iman and the Response to Them ............................................ 381 Chapter Twenty-Three: Exception in Iman ................................................ 413 Excessive Usage of Exception ........................................................... 416 The Ash 'arites’ Opinion on the State of Belief at the Time Of One’s Death and the Response to it ........................................ 420 The Concept of‘Exception’According to Ahmad Ibn Hanbal .... 429 The Desirable Aspects of Exception and the Response To Those Who Disagree................................................................. 435 Selected Bibliography ................................................................................... 444 Index of Qur’anic Citations........................................................................... 447 Index of Personal Names............................................................................... 457 Index of Arabic Terms................................................................................... 467 Index of English Terms ................................................................................. 473 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS It is with pleasure and gratitude to acknowledge those who rendered assistance throughout the lengthy process of translating Kitab al-lman. The first draft was completed when Dr. Shadia A. Tel spent the 1992/1993 academic year at Indiana University as a visiting Fulbright scholar. Since then several revisions have been made. Indiana University encouraged and supported this project through small grants from the Departments of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, Middle Eastern Studies, and the Research University Graduate School. We are deeply grateful to many of the people who assisted with this translation. Atika Ahmad al-Tel and Nawaf Obeidat from Irbid, Jordan who helped with the first draft; Dr. Sherman Jackson who read part of the manuscript and provided some materials on Kitab al-lman; Dr. Abdulrahman al-Shamrani who read a portion of the translation and made valuable comments; Fahd bin Salmeh and Said al-Ghailani who both supplied copies of Kitab al-lman; Dr. Janet Powell Yedes, Lynne Thornton and John Erickson for editing and offering important improvements and suggestions. We are especially indebted to Nancy R. Roberts for the inestimable time she spent working on revision, editing, and rendering a translation of certain portions of the manuscript. It is noted here that the translators assume full responsibility for the material in this translation. A special thanks goes to Umm Dawud who labored faithfully for many long months typing, editing and correcting the manuscript. Two of the largest and most time consuming tasks were formulating the camera-ready copy and the indices. These tasks were handled skillfully and professionally by Abu Abdullah (Salim S. Al-Ani).