Eeman is beliefs, statements, and actions. But are actions only a condition of its perfection?
Al-'Allaamah Saaleh ibn Fawzaan al-Fawzaan
Question 2:
There are some who say: 'Eeman is beliefs, statements, and actions. But actions are only a condition of its perfection.'
And they also say: 'Kufr (disbelief) cannot occur except by beliefs.'
Are these statements from Ahlus-Sunnah (The People of the Sunnah)?
Answer:
Whoever says this , he does not understand what is �Eeman , neither does he know the (correct) aqeedah .
And this applies to what we have mentioned in the introduction ; �that it is a must to study the aqeedah through the people of knowledge ; and to acquire it from the correct sources.
Then he will know the answer to this question.
And it is known that a condition is something that is out of the main thing ; which it is a condition for.
And it is known that with Ahlus Sunnah ; actions are a part of eeman.(not a condition).
So if the actions are removed from it ; then this nullifies eeman.
Therefore this person (in the question) wants to combine between the statements of the Salaf and those who came after [opposing them] . And he doesn't know the nullifiers.
He does not understand the statements of the Salaf , and he doesn't know the reality of those who came after (opposing them). Thus he wants to mix them up.
(So you should know) Eeman is beliefs, statements, and actions. And actions are part of Eeman.
And it is not a 'condition among the conditions of the correctness of eeman', and nor is it a 'condition of perfection of eeman'; or any of these statements they come up with.
Eeman is belief in the heart, statements of the tongue, and actions of the limbs. And Eeman increases with obedience to Allaah and decreases with disobedience.
And this is the belief of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama'ah ; from past to present. Contradictory to what the Murjiah [1] are upon.
Question 3:
Are actions a pillar and a part of Eeman, or are they just a condition for its completeness?
Answer:
This is like the question which has just preceeded.
And the questioner does not understand the reality of what �Eeman is . That is why you are repeating ; 'Are actions a part of Eeman, or just a condition for it?'
And this is because they didn't take [study] the 'aqeedah (the creed) ; from its (correct) sources , and they didn�t establish it from its scholars.
And as we have said : 'there is no actions without Eeman , and there is no Eeman without actions'; and this is the reality of Eeman.
Actions are a part of Eeman, and statements are a part of Eeman, and belief is a part of Eeman. Together with believing in His books , and prophets , and the last day , and belief in Qadar (pre-decree) ; and what it encompasses of the good and bad; all of this together is Eeman.
Shaykh Saaleh Ibn Fawzaan
Footnotes:
[1] The Murjiah are a deviant sect ; who have deviated from the straight path in regards to matters of eeman (belief). A beneficial and clear description of the Murjiah can be found here InshaAllaah :
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The Murjiah By Imaam Asbahani
And here for a detailed one :
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The Murjiah of The Era by Shaykh al-Anbaree
Source: Masaail fil-eeman
Translation by: Aboo Waheeda as-Salafee