What is faith for muslims?

[JPR]

I know that the first two pillars of Islam are that there is one God and that Muhammad is his prophet, and this profession of faith: "I confess that there is no God besides Allah, and Mohammed is His Prophet."

I'm sure there's more to it but anyone care to help me understand and explain what faith is to you?

Please, don't copy/paste some long text taken from a website, I just want your very own personal answers on what faith means for you.

Thanks!

[missy]

Salam,

Apart from obeying God Almighty's commands, to me true faith is to do everything solely for pleasing Him.

Here's an incident from the life of the Prophet, wherein he taught us the religion of Islam and what it means:

Narrated a Umar (ra), a companion of the Prophet (pbuh),
"While we were one day sitting with the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), there appeared before us a man dressed in extremely white clothes and with very black hair. No traces of journeying were visible on him, and none of us knew him.

He sat down close by the Prophet (pbuh), rested his knee against his thighs, and said, O Muhammad! Inform me about Islam." Said the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), "Islam is that you should testify that there is no deity save Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger, that you should perform salah (ritual prayer), pay the zakah (charity), fast during Ramadan, and perform Hajj (pilgrimage) to the House (the Ka'bah at Makkah), if you can find a way to it (or find the means for making the journey to it)." Said he (the man), "You have spoken truly."

We were astonished at his thus questioning him and telling him that he was right, but he went on to say, "Inform me about iman (faith)." He (the Messenger of Allah) answered, "It is that you believe in Allah and His angels and His Books and His Messengers and in the Last Day, and in fate (qadar), both in its good and in its evil aspects." He said, "You have spoken truly."

Then he (the man) said, "Inform me about Ihsan (perfection)." He (the Messenger of Allah) answered, " It is that you should serve Allah as though you could see Him, for though you cannot see Him yet He sees you." He said, "Inform me about the Hour." He (the Messenger of Allah) said, "About that the one questioned knows no more than the questioner." So he said, "Well, inform me about the signs thereof (i.e. of its coming)." Said he, "They are that the slave-girl will give birth to her mistress, that you will see the barefooted ones, the naked, the destitute, the herdsmen of the sheep (competing with each other) in raising lofty buildings." Thereupon the man went off.

I waited a while, and then he (the Messenger of Allah) said, "O 'Umar, do you know who that questioner was?" I replied, "Allah and His Messenger know better." He said, "That was Jibril (Angel Gabriel). He came to teach you your religion.""

I think that's not too long... :P
Peace.

[Fivesolas]

I always liked this Scripture:
James 2:19
You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! NKJV

In fact, a large part of this letter is concerning the difference between between true faith and false faith.

[Woodrow]

I see faith as trust that Allaah(swt) is the best of planners and that no matter what I face it is what is best for me. What I am commanded to believe is because it is what will lead me safely through this Dunya, The only belief's I am commanded to believe are the 5 Pillars:

Shahada

(affirmation)
The duty to recite the creed:
"There is no god but Allaah, Muhammad is the Messenger of God"


Salat

(prayer)
The duty to worship the One God
in prayer five times each day


Zakat

(almsgiving)
The duty to give away alms and to help the needy


Siyam

(fasting)
The duty to keep the Fast of Ramadan


Hajj

(pilgrimage)
The duty to make the pilgrimage to Mecca
at least once in a lifetime

Even those do not require blind faith and obedience without knowledge. I am Muslim because I came to believe them to be true. I believed first and at that point returned to Islam.

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[Ramadhan]

I always liked this Scripture: James 2:19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! NKJV

I still can't believe that christians quote this verse, and yet believe that God is the father, jesus, and spirit.

one is not three, and three is not one.
well, unless you are a christian of course.

[Fivesolas]

I still can't believe that christians quote this verse, and yet believe that God is the father, jesus, and spirit.

one is not three, and three is not one.
well, unless you are a christian of course.

If you think you can have a reasonable debate, without ad hom attacks and mockery, I challenge you, sir, to a debate.

[Sol Invictus]

I still can't believe that christians quote this verse, and yet believe that God is the father, jesus, and spirit.

one is not three, and three is not one.
well, unless you are a christian of course.

what i find even more astounding is the fact that if the contents of the trinity thread are to be believed then not a single individual on this board could level a logical attack against the notion of the oneness of god in christianity even after i had repeatedly asked for this and yet you would now make the above claim, naidamar. it strikes me as particularly odd that when you participated in a thread where muslims were specifically asked to show the inconsistency with the christian conception of oneness, there was an acute silence yet here you are propagating claims that you were wholly unable to demonstrate through reason. anyway, i don't want this thread to get sidetracked seeing as i too wish to know the fundamentals of islam as muslims themselves understand them.

[Ami]

The word Islam means submission to God and for me that is what faith is. Faith is all about discipline too because you need to pray on time, you fast, you do things Allah wants and avoid things Allah does not want. Faith for me is also a journey where you face obstacles but still put your trust in Allah.

[Ramadhan]

If you think you can have a reasonable debate, without ad hom attacks and mockery, I challenge you, sir, to a debate.

which part? are you debating 1 = 3 or 1+1+1 = 1?

[Ramadhan]

what i find even more astounding is the fact that if the contents of the trinity thread are to be believed then not a single individual on this board could level a logical attack against the notion of the oneness of god in christianity even after i had repeatedly asked for this and yet you would now make the above claim, naidamar. it strikes me as particularly odd that when you participated in a thread where muslims were specifically asked to show the inconsistency with the christian conception of oneness, there was an acute silence yet here you are propagating claims that you were wholly unable to demonstrate through reason. anyway, i don't want this thread to get sidetracked seeing as i too wish to know the fundamentals of islam as muslims themselves understand them.

what i find even more astounding is the fact that if the contents of the trinity thread are to be believed then not a single christian on this board could provide logical reasoning and gospel evidence for the notion of the 3-in-1 of god in christianity even after i had repeatedly asked for this and yet you would now make the above claim, Sol Invictus.

[Sol Invictus]

what i find even more astounding is the fact that if the contents of the trinity thread are to be believed then not a single christian on this board could provide logical reasoning and gospel evidence for the notion of the 3-in-1 of god in christianity even after i had repeatedly asked for this and yet you would now make the above claim, Sol Invictus.

naidamar, you do know that the thread is still there for everyone to see and i particularly remember citing bible passages for you, would you like to start up such a thread again? i would be more than happy to participate in a thread on this subject.

[peace_maker]

I dunno if this is coincidence but, I was going through this particular topic this evening. :)

I'm writing down the hadeeth I read from Sahih Muslim,

Abu Huraira reported: One day the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) appeared before the public that a man came to him and said: Prophet of Allah, what is Iman (faith)?
Upon this the Prophet (PBUH) replied: That you affirm your faith in Allah, His angels, His Books, His meeting (meeting with the Lord after Doom), His Messengers and that you affirm your faith in the Resurrection hereafter.

.... Well, this hadeeth goes a long way so, picked out the main part.

[Fivesolas]

which part? are you debating 1 = 3 or 1+1+1 = 1?

I was issuing a gentlemanly challenge to you to debate the doctrine of the Trinity. I am not sure, based on the rules of this forum, that we can have that debate here. If so, great. If not, I am open to any venue.

[Ghazalah]

Sol invcitus, naidamar and Fivesolas- Make your own thread don't derail this one.

To the OP-I echo the hadith posted by peace_maker, sums it nicely.

[Thinker]

Surely 'faith' is the same for anyone . . .

Faith - a strong or unshakeable belief in something without any evidence or proof that it exists or is true.

[Zafran]

Surely 'faith' is the same for anyone . . .

Faith - a strong or unshakeable belief in something without any evidence or proof that it exists or is true.

Depends on the definition of "proof" and "evidence" - For the muslims the Quran and the prophet Muhammad pbuh are enough of a proof.