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ÎMÂN AND ’IBÂDAT

Imâm Ahmad, al-Imâm ash-Shâfi’î, many scholars of hadîth and Ash’arîs (rahimahum-Allâhu ta’âlâ) and the Mu’tazîla said that ’ibâda was of îmân, and îmân would increase and decrease, and that if îmân and ’ibâda were separate from each other, the îmân of the prophets (’alaihimu ’s-salawâtu wa ’t-taslîmât) and that of sinners should be the same. They said that the âyat, “Their îmân increases when they hear My âyats,” and the hadîth, “Îmân, when it increases, takes its possessor to Paradise, and it takes him to Hell when it decreases,” meant that îmân would increase and decrease. Long before, al-Imâm al-a’zam (rahmat-Allâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih) had given information as an answer to them. He had said that the ’increase’ of îmân means its ’lasting, longevity.’ Imâm Mâlik (rahmat-Allâhi ta’âlâ ’alaih) also said so. Plentifulness of îmân means the increase of the number of the things to be believed. The as-Sahâbat al-kirâm, for instance, formerly had a few things to believe, and, as new orders descended, their îmân increased. The increase of îmân means the augmentation of nûr (spiritual light) in the heart. This brilliance increases by performing ’ibâdât and decreases by committing sins. Further information can be found in the book Sharh-i Mawâqif and Jawharat at-tawhîd