Explanation of the statement of Imam al-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) regarding what he quoted: "... He said, 'So tell me about faith.' He said, 'That you believe in Allah...'"

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) stated, in what he quoted from the hadith of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding the story of Jibril when he asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about Islam and he informed him of it, that he said: Faith resides in the heart, while Islam resides in the limbs. Therefore, we say that Islam is an outward action and faith is an inward matter; it is in the heart. Faith is a person's belief in something with a firm conviction that admits no doubt or possibility, but rather one believes in it as one believes in the sun at midday, without any hesitation. It is a firm affirmation that is not accompanied by doubt, necessitating acceptance and submission to what has come in the Shari'ah of Allah, and complete submission to it. So faith... He said to him: These are the six pillars, which are the pillars of faith: That you believe that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) exists, is alive, is all-knowing, and is all-powerful; and that He (Glorified and Exalted is He) is the Lord of all the worlds, with no Lord other than Him; and that He has absolute sovereignty and absolute praise, and to Him all matters return; and that He (Glorified and Exalted is He) is the sole one worthy of worship, with no one else worthy of it; and that He is the one upon whom reliance is placed, and from whom victory and success come; and that He is described with all attributes of perfection in a manner that does not resemble the attributes of the created, for He (Glorified and Exalted is He) is not like anything. So you must believe in the existence of Allah, His lordship, His divinity, and His names and attributes. This is necessary.
Whoever denies the existence of Allah is a disbeliever, refuge sought in Allah, a disbeliever who will remain in the Fire forever. And whoever hesitates or doubts in that is a disbeliever, for it is necessary to have firm belief that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) is alive, all-knowing, all-powerful, and existent. And whoever doubts His lordship is a disbeliever. And whoever associates anyone with Him in His lordship is a disbeliever. Whoever says that the awliya (close friends of Allah) manage the universe and have control over the universe, and calls upon them, seeks their aid, and seeks their help, is a disbeliever, refuge sought in Allah, because he did not believe in Allah. And whoever directs any type of worship to other than Allah is a disbeliever, because he did not believe in His uniqueness in divinity. So whoever prostrates to the sun, or the moon, or a tree, or a river, or the sea, or the mountains, or a king, or a prophet from the prophets, or a wali (close friend of Allah) from the awliya (close friends of Allah), is a disbeliever with a disbelief that takes him out of the religion, because he associated others with Allah.
Likewise, whoever denies, in the manner of disbelief, anything by which Allah has described Himself is a disbeliever, because he has denied Allah and His Messenger. So if he denies one of the attributes of Allah in the manner of disbelief, he is a disbeliever for denying what came in the Book and the Sunnah. So if he says, for example: "Allah did not rise above the Throne, nor does He descend to the lowest heaven", he is a disbeliever.
And if he denies it in the manner of figurative interpretation, it is looked at to see if his interpretation is acceptable and can be a place for independent legal reasoning, or not. If it is acceptable, he is not declared a disbeliever, but he is an open sinner for departing from the methodology of the people of the Sunnah and the community.
As for if there is no justification for it, then denying an interpretation that has no justification is like denying in the manner of disbelief, so he is also a disbeliever, refuge sought in Allah.
This is faith in Allah. And if you believe in Allah in this manner, you will carry out His obedience, implementing His commands and avoiding His prohibitions. For the one who believes in Allah in the correct manner must have in his heart the exaltation of Allah absolutely, and must have in his heart the love of Allah absolutely. So if he loves Allah with an absolute love that no other love equals, and exalts Allah with an absolute exaltation that no other exaltation equals, then by that he carries out the commands of Allah and refrains from what Allah has prohibited.
Likewise, it is obligatory upon you, as part of faith in Allah, to believe that Allah the Exalted is above everything, above everything, having risen above His Throne, and the Throne is above all created things, and it is the greatest of the created things we know. For it came in the athar (report from a Companion or successor): Throw a ring from the rings of a helmet into a vast expanse of land and look at the proportion of this ring to the expanse. What do you say? You say, nothing. What is this ring in relation to the expanse? It is nothing. And in the rest of the athar: So the Footstool in relation to the Throne is like a ring thrown into a vast expanse of land. So look at the greatness of this Throne. For this reason, Allah described it with greatness, saying: And He said: in a recitation, so He described it with majesty and greatness, and also with generosity. So this is the Throne above which Allah the Exalted has risen. So Allah is above the Throne, and the Throne is above all created things, and the Footstool, which is small in relation to the Throne, encompasses the heavens and the earth, as Allah the Exalted said: It is obligatory upon you to believe that Allah the Exalted is above everything, and that all things are nothing in relation to Allah; they are nothing in relation to Allah. So Allah the Exalted is greater and more noble than for the mind or thought to encompass Him, or even for the eye, if it sees Allah. And Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) is seen by the believers in Paradise, but they cannot comprehend Him or encompass Him, as Allah the Exalted said: So the affair of Allah is the greatest affair and the most noble affair. So you must believe in Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) in this great manner, so that it necessitates for you to worship Him with true worship. And the rest of the speech on the pillars will come, if Allah wills.