What is the difference between Islam and faith?
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The questioner : What is the difference between Islam and faith?
The Shaykh : ... We must distinguish ... between faith and Islam. Faith pertains to what is settled in the heart, while Islam pertains to the limbs. Faith pertains to creed, and Islam pertains to deeds. It is possible to imagine a person who is truly a believer but does not act upon his Islam; however, his faith is deficient and weak, and he is to be feared that it will collapse at the slightest trial he faces. This is the believer who is not a Muslim in the sense of not acting upon his Islam.
The believer, in terms of creed, is presumed to be a believer in everything that Islam has brought. For example, Islam came with prayer, it came with zakah—"Establish prayer and give zakah"—it came with fasting, it came with Hajj, and so on. So when the questioner says he is a believer, we should keep in mind a person who believes in everything that came in the Shari'ah regarding matters of the unseen, but who does not act upon them; that is, he does not perform Islam. This Islam came with pillars, so if he abandons them, his faith is deficient but not nonexistent. If he dies in this state, being a true believer, he will be saved on the Day of Resurrection from eternal abode in the Fire, because the Fire on the Day of Resurrection is two fires: an eternal fire and a temporary fire, if that expression is correct. The eternal fire is the recompense for the disbelievers who are stubborn, to whom the message was conveyed and the proof was established, yet they denied it and their souls were certain of it. As for the temporary fire, it is the fire of the transgressing believers, and each of them has a proportion of punishment that corresponds to his neglect of Islam in action or intention. I mean, there are obligations that he must fulfill, and he neglected them; there are prohibitions that he must abstain from, and he did not abstain but rather committed them. So each of these people has his share of punishment in the Hereafter, and then his testimony that there is no god but Allah and his belief that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah save him, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sahih al-Bukhari 5401. So whoever is a true believer—and the word "truly" means he has no doubt or hesitation about everything that Islam has brought, like the explanation we just gave regarding the punishment—whoever believes that there is punishment in the Fire even for the people of tawhid (the oneness of Allah) because of their sins and disobedience, is as if he is conditioning himself to enter this Fire and be patient with its heat, rather than being patient with the heat of his disobedience to the desires of his soul. For our Lord says "Pray," and he does not pray, while his soul says "Do not pray..." and he knows that there is punishment in the Hereafter, so he ... is content with the Fire, satisfied with the mere fact that this faith has not manifested its effect on his limbs and his body.
In summary, if the creed, faith, and tawhid (the oneness of Allah) are correct in the heart of the believer, he is saved from eternal abode in the punishment, unlike the disbelievers. But this does not mean that he is absolutely not punished, because there are matters that the Shari'ah has commanded or prohibited, and the Muslim must fulfill them, otherwise he will face the punishment he deserves. This is what we have in our answer; there is nothing else.
The Shaykh : ... We must distinguish ... between faith and Islam. Faith pertains to what is settled in the heart, while Islam pertains to the limbs. Faith pertains to creed, and Islam pertains to deeds. It is possible to imagine a person who is truly a believer but does not act upon his Islam; however, his faith is deficient and weak, and he is to be feared that it will collapse at the slightest trial he faces. This is the believer who is not a Muslim in the sense of not acting upon his Islam.
The believer, in terms of creed, is presumed to be a believer in everything that Islam has brought. For example, Islam came with prayer, it came with zakah—"Establish prayer and give zakah"—it came with fasting, it came with Hajj, and so on. So when the questioner says he is a believer, we should keep in mind a person who believes in everything that came in the Shari'ah regarding matters of the unseen, but who does not act upon them; that is, he does not perform Islam. This Islam came with pillars, so if he abandons them, his faith is deficient but not nonexistent. If he dies in this state, being a true believer, he will be saved on the Day of Resurrection from eternal abode in the Fire, because the Fire on the Day of Resurrection is two fires: an eternal fire and a temporary fire, if that expression is correct. The eternal fire is the recompense for the disbelievers who are stubborn, to whom the message was conveyed and the proof was established, yet they denied it and their souls were certain of it. As for the temporary fire, it is the fire of the transgressing believers, and each of them has a proportion of punishment that corresponds to his neglect of Islam in action or intention. I mean, there are obligations that he must fulfill, and he neglected them; there are prohibitions that he must abstain from, and he did not abstain but rather committed them. So each of these people has his share of punishment in the Hereafter, and then his testimony that there is no god but Allah and his belief that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah save him, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Narrated 'Urban bin Malik: who attended the Badr battle and was from the Ansar, that he came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, "O Allah's Apostle! I have lost my eyesight and I lead my people in the prayer (as an Imam). When it rains, the valley which is between me and my people, flows with water, and then I cannot go to their mosque to lead them in the prayer. O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! I wish that you could come and pray in my house so that I may take it as a praying place. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah willing, I will do that." The next morning, soon after the sun had risen, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) came with Abu Bakr. The Prophet (ﷺ) asked for the permission to enter and I admitted him. The Prophet (ﷺ) had not sat till he had entered the house and said to me, "Where do you like me to pray in your house?" I pointed at a place in my house whereupon he stood and said, "Allahu Akbar." We lined behind him and he prayed two rak`at and finished it with Taslim. We then requested him to stay for a special meal of Khazira which we had prepared. A large number of men from the adjoining area gathered in the house. One of them said, "Where is Malik bin Ad-Dukhshun?" Another man said, "He is a hypocrite and does not love Allah and His Apostle." The Prophet said, "Do not say so. Do you not think that he has said: "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah," seeking Allah's pleasure? The man said, "Allah and His Apostle know better, but we have always seen him mixing with hypocrites and giving them advice." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah has forbidden the (Hell) Fire for those who testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, seeking Allah's pleasure. "
من قال لا إله إلا الله نفعته يوماً من دهرهIn summary, if the creed, faith, and tawhid (the oneness of Allah) are correct in the heart of the believer, he is saved from eternal abode in the punishment, unlike the disbelievers. But this does not mean that he is absolutely not punished, because there are matters that the Shari'ah has commanded or prohibited, and the Muslim must fulfill them, otherwise he will face the punishment he deserves. This is what we have in our answer; there is nothing else.