Basic Articles of Faith

Iman in Islamic theology denotes a believer's faith in the metaphysical aspects of Islam, has been delineated in both the Quran as well as the Hadith of Gabriel. In a hadith, Muhammad defined faith (Iman) as "a knowledge in the heart, a voicing with the tongue, and an activity with the limbs." Though faith is knowing, saying and doing. Iman can be stated as acknowledging God with full sincerity of heart while accepting all his attributes and their obvious corollaries.

Muslims have six main beliefs:

1.      Belief in Allah as the one and only God.

2.      Belief in angels.

3.      Belief in the holy books.

4.      Belief in the Prophets.

5.      Belief in the Day of Judgement.

6.      Belief in Predestination.

The Quran states that faith can grow with remembrance of God. Muhammad is reported to have said that he gained sweetness of faith who was pleased to accept God as Lord, Islam as religion and Muhammad as prophet. Iman is also the subject of a supplication uttered by Muhammad to God:

O God! I have resigned myself to You and I have consigned my matter to you and have taken support from You fearing Your grandeur and moving towards You in anticipation. There is no refuge and shelter after running away from You, and if there is, it is with You. Lord! I have professed faith in your Book which You have revealed and have professed faith in the Prophet you have sent as a Messenger.

The 77 Branches of Faith is a collection compiled by Imam Al-Bayhaqi in his work Shu`ab al-Iman. In it, he explains the essential virtues that reflect true faith through related Qur'anic verses and prophetic sayings.

This is based on the following Hadith ascribed to Muhammad:

Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet said: "Iman has more than 70 branches. The most excellent among these branches is the saying of "Laa ilaaha ill Allah" (there is no God but Allah), and the smallest branch is to remove an obstacle from the wayside. And Haya (modesty) is an important branch of Iman."

In Islam, it is essential that there exist harmony and concord between faith and deeds. Righteous deeds are mentioned in the Qur’ān right after faith in the capacity of an explanation ... In the case of faith, the need for its explanation is obvious: the place of faith is the heart and the intellect. Since words can be untrue, hence a person who only professes faith through words is not regarded as a mu’min and it was deemed essential that a person's deeds also testify to his faith.