Advice of Scholars - WHAT IS ÎMÂN ?

Hadrat Imâm-i Rabbânî says in the 17th letter of the third volume of his Maktûbât:

ÎMÂN (FAITH): It is called îmân to believe through the heart the facts that are known to be of Islam, and to express one’s îmân with one’s tongue. The facts that must be believed are: To believe the existence of Allâhu ta’âlâ, His Oneness, His Books and Pages, and His Prophets and Angels. To believe in the Hashr (Allâhu ta’âlâ’s making people rise and assemble for judgment) and Neshr (dispersal after judgment), the next world, the eternal blessings in Paradise, the eternal torment in Hell, the cracking of the skies, the dispersing of the stars, and the breaking of the earth into pieces. To believe that it is fard to perform the prayer of namâz five times daily, to believe in the numbers of rak’ats in these prayers, to believe that it is fard to pay the zakât of one’s property (see first chapter of fifth fascicle), to fast every day in the month of Ramadân and, for those who qualify, to go to the city of Mecca and perform the hajj. It is necessary to believe that it is harâm to drink wine, to eat pork, to kill a person unjustly, to disobey one’s parents, to steal, to commit fornication, to appropriate an orphan’s property, to charge or pay interest when lending or borrowing money, [for women to go out without covering themselves properly or naked, and to gamble.] If a person with îmân commits a grave sin, his îmân does not go away, nor does he become a kâfir. A person who says halâl about a sin, that is, about a harâm, becomes a kâfir. He who commits a harâm becomes fâsiq (sinful). One should say, “I am certainly a Mu’min.” One should say that one has îmân. One should not say inshâ-Allah (if Allah wills) while saying that one is a Believer. It may imply doubt. Yes, it may be permissible to say inshâ-Allah about one’s last breath, yet it is still better not to say so.