Articles
Islam and Iman (faith)
‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “While we were sitting with the Messenger of Allah (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) and one day a man came up to us whose clothes were extremely white, whose hair was extremely black, upon whom traces of travelling could not be seen, and whom none of us knew, until he sat down close to the Prophet (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him), so that he rested his knees upon his knees and placed his two hands upon his thighs and said, ‘Muhammad, tell me about Islam’. The Messenger of Allah, (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said:
He said, ‘You have told the truth,’ and we were amazed at him asking him and [then] telling him that he told the truth. He said, ‘Tell me about iman (faith). ‘ He said,
He said, ‘You have told the truth’. He said, ‘Tell me about ihsan’ (perfection in worship). He said,
He said, ‘Tell me about the Hour.’ He said, ‘The one asked about it knows no more than the one asking’. He said, ‘Then tell me about its signs’. He said, ‘That the female slave should give birth to her mistress, and you see poor, naked, barefoot shepherds of sheep and goats competing in making tall buildings’. He went away, and I remained some time. Then the Prophet (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) asked, ‘Umar, do you know who the questioner was?’ I said, ‘Allah and His Messenger know best’. He said, ‘He was Jibril who came to you to teach you your deen’.” Narrated by Muslim.
The Qur’an
The Qur’an literally means “a reading or reciting” however the term “Qur’an” has been historically used to refer to the book that was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him).
The Sunnah
The Sunnah is the way of the Prophet Muhammad (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) and the Hadith are the transmitted narrations concerning his speech, actions, appearance and approvals. Hundreds of thousands of these narrations have been carefully preserved through an authentic chain of transmission. The Hadith form the text of the Sunnah and are an important source of jurisprudence second to the Qur’an.
Knowledge
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