1. The Meaning of Iman in Islam:
The Views of Islamic Sects
A presentation by:
Nabil Bello
7th August, 2012

2. Contents
 Introduction
 Literal Meaning of Iman
 Iman According to the Quran and
the Hadith
 Views of Sects on the Meaning of
Imaan
 Implications of the Views
 Conclusion

3. Introduction
 Discussions
on the concept of Imaan, its
meanings, divisions and rulings is very important
because the enjoyment in this world and the
hereafter lies solely on the attainment of
Imaan, which leads to peace of mind, happiness and
securing a place in the heaven. Allah says in the
Glorious Quran:
"Those who believe, and whose hearts find
satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah. For
without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do
hearts find satisfaction. "For those who believe
and work righteousness, is (every)
blessedness, and a beautiful place of (final)

4.  The definition of Imaan was not clearly mentioned in




the Quran or the Hadith
But the definition has been a point of dispute among
theologians
This is one of the reasons for the emergence of
some sects in Islam.
Two extremes emerged. The Khawarijites and others
from one side and the Murji‟ites and others from
another side.
This paper aims at:
 Highlighting the Quranic approach to the concept
of Imaan based on the Aqidah of Ahl As-Sunnah
Wal Jama‟a.
 Presenting the various views of such sects and try

5. Literal Meaning of Iman
 The word Iman is an Arabic word from the verb
“A-mi-na”, which has various meanings. The
origin (masdar) is
“Amn” means safety.
They who believe and do not mix their belief
with injustice - those will have security, and
they are [rightly] guided.

Imaan means
agreeing, believe, certify.
But you would not believe us, even if we were
truthful.

6.  It should be noted that the literal meaning
given above has been dominated by the
shariah meaning
. This can be
observed from the definition given by Ibn
Manzhur, an authority Arabic in language where
he says:
“And Iman is showing humbleness to and
acceptance of the Shariah and what the
Prophet has come with (SAWS) and agreeing
with it in the heart, whoever has this attribute
is a Mu’min and at the same time a Muslim
who has no uncertainty or doubt. He is the
one who perceives the observance of
obligatory acts as mandatory upon him.”

7. Iman According to the Quran and the
Hadith
 The word Imaan has been mentioned several
places in the Qur‟an.
 The word Imaan was mentioned only thirteen
times.
 The derivatives of the word have been mentioned
many times. Other derivatives of the term, like
and others appeared more
than 400 times.
 Mostly these verses are tell us about the
attributes of believers (Mu’minun) or the attributes
that do not belong to the believers.

8.  Examples are as follows:
It can be noticed that from the above
verses, Mu‟minun have been described with various
attributes based on the act of righteousness they
observe. Allah the Most High stated some acts that
have to do with the heart, like khushu‟, which means
humbleness, and also some that have to do with the
limbs like prayer and others. All these acts according

9.  Narrated Anas: The Prophet said "None of you
will have faith till he loves me more than his
father, his children and all mankind."
 The above hadith mentioned another act of the
heart, which is also considered an act of Imaan.
 Umar ibn al-Khattab: The Holy Prophet said:
“Imaan is that you affirm your faith in Allah, in
His angels, in His Books, in His Apostles, in
the Day of Judgment, and you affirm your
faith in the Divine Decree about good and
evil.”
 This is most clear authority that shows the six
pillars of Imaan. The Prophet mentioned these
pillars showing that they are the continuum of
Imaan.

10.  From the verses of the Quran and the hadith
of the Prophet (SAWS) we can observe the
meanings given to Imaan as follows:
 That Imaan consists of its literal meaning
which connotes agreeing, belief, approval
and certifying. This can be seen from the
hadith of Jibril
 Imaan consists of righteous acts as it can be
seen from the first verses of Suratul
Mu‟minun and other verses mentioned
above
 Imaan also consists of one‟s abstinence
from sins and prohibited acts
 That Imaan consists of six pillars
 Imaan consists of more sixty branches

11. Views of Sects on the Meaning of
Imaan:
 Their views were majorly based on meanings
understood based the Quran and authentic
Hadith of the Prophet.
 Variation in the understanding of the Quran and
Hadith made their definitions to vary
 These heavy disputes on the issue of the
meaning of Imaan were influenced by the Islamic
sects
 The approaches in their discourses were not
based on the types of practices that fall under the
meaning of Iman as it was the approach the
Quran rather the definitions were based on the
aspects where disagreement arose among the
scholars.

12.  To all sects Imaan consists agreeing/certifying
as given in the literal meaning of Iman.
 Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani defined Imaan as follows:
 “Imaan literally means agree/belief/certify. While
in Shariah context it means belief in what the
Messenger of Allah has come with from his Lord.”
 He added that this level of its definition is a
consensus of all the Ummah, then a
disagreements arose, that whether actions should
be included in the definition of Imaan or not.

13.  Ibn Hazm in his book “Al-Usool wal-Furoo‟ ” gave
a summary of the different views of Islamic sects
on the definition of Imaan.
 To some, Imaan is belief in Allah in the
heart, even if the person says with his
tongue that „I am a Jew or a Christian‟. This
is the view of Jahm bin Safwan.
 Another group said Imaan is testifying with
the tongue only and that there is no need to
belief in the heart.
 The next group defined Imaan as belief in
the heart and testimony with the tongue, and
that actions are not part of Imaan, but they
are manifestations for Imaan.”
 To some others Imaan entails sayings of the

14.  According to Sa‟di, the various definitions given
concerning the meaning of Imaan could be
broadly classified into two.
 The first group that says, Iman is saying and
action. This is the view of all the salafis just as
Abu Hatim Al-Razi claims a consensus on this.
 Some others gave the same definition but with
variations in the intended meanings. This is the
view of the Wa‟idiyya which refers to
Khawarij, Mu‟tazilites, Zaidiyya and Ibadhiyya.
The major difference between the salafis and
the wa‟idiyya is that the salafis see action as
part of the meaning of Imaan but refusing to
perfom an obligatory act or performing a
prohibited act does not negate the whole
Imaan. To the Wa‟idiyya they do not consider a

15.  The second category is the category of those who
claim that Imaan is merely the sayings without
considering the action
. This is the
view of the Murji‟ites and all their divisions. Going
by the definitions of the Murji‟ites, their views can
further be classified into three based on their
different opinions on what constitute the sayings to
make it true Imaan:
 That Imaan was nothing but the saying of the
heart and saying of the tongue. Saying of the
tongue means belief in the heart. This is the view
of the
the Muji‟ah of Jurists, most
prominent is Abu Hanifa and Attahawi.
 That Imaan is merely the saying of the tongue.
This is the view of Al-Karramiyya.
 That Imaan is the saying of the heart. The
Jahmiyya held to this view which to them means

16. Implications of these Views
 The implications of the various views of Islamic
sects on the meanings of Imaan could be
summarized in the following points:
 Murji‟ah say that Imaan is only the utterances of the
heart
 This mean equating the Imaan of a person with
highest Imaan and the one with the lowest Imaan.
Some of them were even so bold to say that the
Imaan of Abubakar (RA) was the same as every
other Muslim.
 Some of the Murji‟ah who said that Imaan was just
the knowledge of the heart were more far away
from the meaning because this will mean that
Fir‟aun and Iblees were all Mu‟min since they knew

17.  The Karramiyya from the Murji‟ite group that say
Imaan was all about the saying of the tongue are
the most far away from the meaning of Imaan
because their definition will mean that the
Munafiqun were Mu‟minin.
 From the other side, the Khawarijite point of view
is also wrong. They held that Imaan was belief
and action.
 To them, you cannot combine Imaan with sin, or
Imaan with kufr. Commiting a kabirah will
necessitate ones abode in hell forever because
they consider him a kafir
 Mu‟tazilites also have a similar view under what
they called manzila bainal manzilatain, even
though they do not consider him a kafir but they
confirmed that he is going to stay in the hell fire

18. Conclusion
 The views of the two extremes are wrong
considering the verses of the Quran and the
Hadith of the Prophet
 The approach of the Quran to Imaan is the best
approach to discuss on what constitute Imaan
based on the Quran and Hadith