Iman (Faith)
Belief in Allah's oneness, His angels, books, messengers, the Day of Judgment, and divine predestination.
Iman (faith) is the inner foundation of all Islamic worship, including prayer. In Sunni Islam, iman is traditionally defined as believing with the heart, professing with the tongue, and acting with the limbs. The Prophet (peace be upon him) defined iman in the famous Jibril hadith: "That you believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and divine predestination — its good and its evil" (Sahih Muslim).
Imam Abu Hanifah authored "al-Fiqh al-Akbar" (The Greatest Understanding), one of the earliest Sunni theological works that systematically defines the articles of iman. Iman is closely connected with prayer — the Quran calls prayer "iman": "And Allah would not let your iman (i.e., prayers) be lost" (2:143).
Sunni scholars discuss whether iman increases and decreases. The majority, including Imam al-Shafi'i and Imam Ahmad, hold that iman rises with obedience and falls with sin, while the Hanafi school traditionally considers the core of iman to be unchangeable. All, however, agree that prayer is the most important manifestation of iman after the declaration of faith.
Related terms
Taqlid (Following a School of Law)
The practice of following a qualified scholar's legal opinions without necessarily knowing the evidence.
Salat al-Ayat (Prayer of the Signs)
An obligatory prayer performed during natural phenomena such as solar and lunar eclipses.
Usul al-Fiqh (Principles of Jurisprudence)
Islamic legal theory that defines the methods for deriving legal rules from the sacred sources.
Sujud al-Sahw (Prostration of Forgetfulness)
Two extra prostrations performed to compensate for errors in prayer.
Nafilah (Voluntary Prayer)
Voluntary extra prayers beyond the five obligatory daily prayers.
Qalb Salim (The Pure Heart)
The pure, sincere heart — the ultimate goal of prayer and worship.