Biography of the Author
He is Abu Ubaid al-Qasim bin Sallam al-Baghdadi, the Imam, the Mujtahid, the Ocean of knowledge, the Linguist and the Legal Jurist.
He was born in Harraa in about the year 158 and his father was a Roman slave to some of the people of Harraa.
He heard (learnt) from a group of the trustworthy Imams, like Sufyan bin Uyaynah, Ismaa’eel bin Ulayyah, Yazeed bin Haaroon, Yahya bin Sa’eed al-Qattan, Abdur-Rahman bin Mahdi, Hammad bin Salma and others.
Imam ad-Darimi, Abu Bakr bin Abi ad-Dunya, Ali bin Abdul-Aziz al-Baghawi, Muhammad bin Yahya al-Marwazee and others narrate from him.
Imam Ishaq bin Rahawayyah said: Allah loves the truth, Abu Ubaid is more knowledgeable and has deeper understanding then me
He also said: we are dependant upon Abu Ubaid, and Abu Ubaid is not dependant upon us.
Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal said: Abu Ubaid is a teacher (Ustaadh) and every day he increases in good.
And Yahya bin Ma’een was asked about him to which he replied that people should ask Abu Ubaid about him!
Abu Daawood said: trustworthy, reliable.
Al-Hafidh adh-Dhahabi said: whosoever looks into the books of Abu Ubaid will know his high rank in memorisation and knowledge, he was a hafidh of hadith and it’s defects. Knowledgeable of fiqh and the difference of opinions, a pillar in the Language, an Imam in recitation and he had books concerning them. I have come across his books, ‘Kitab al-Amwaal’ and ‘Kitab an-Nasikh wal Mansookh’.
Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi said: he was possessing nobility, religion, excellent manners, a good madhab and excellent books sought after in every land. And the narrators from him are famous and trustworthy. Deserving of mention and excellence, and his book concerning ‘al-Amwaal’ is one of the best books written on fiqh.
I say: despite these virtues and excellent qualities the Six Imams (of the famous six books on hadith) did not report any of his hadith, and this is from the many evidences that they reported from only some of the trustworthy narrators of hadith. So there is nothing strange, after knowing this that Imam Bukhari did not narrate from some of the trustworthy narrators from the Ahlul Bait may Allah be pleased with them.
From the words of Abu Ubaid, may Allah have mercy upon him, are: the follower of the Sunnah is like one holding onto hot stones, and in this day he is more excellent in my eyes then the one who raises the sword in the Way of Allah.
I say: this was in his time, so what would be said about our times?
He, may Allah have mercy upon him, stayed in Baghdad for a time, then he became the Qadi in Turtoos, then after that he moved to Mecca and he lived there until he died in the year 224.
Chapter 1: the Characteristics of faith concerning it’s completion and it’s levels
Indeed have you asked me about faith, and the difference of the nation concerning it’s completion and it’s increasing and decreasing, and you mentioned that you would like to know the position of Ahlus Sunnah with regards to this, and the proof of those who differ from them on this. So indeed, may Allah have mercy upon you, know that this subject was discussed by the Salaf at the beginning of this ummah and by those that followed them (tabi`een) and those who followed them till this day of ours. I have written to you a short explanation of what I know concerning this.
Know, may Allah have mercy upon you, that the People of Knowledge and Concern for the religion have split into two groups over this issue.
One of them says: Faith is sincerity in the heart to Allah, and testimony of the tongue, and action of the limbs.
The other says: Rather faith is in the heart and upon the tongue, and as for actions then they are from taqwaa (God-consciousness) and birr (piety) and are not included in faith.
And we looked into the difference of opinion of these two groups, and we found that the Book and the Sunnah affirmed the truth of the group that made Faith intention, saying and action together, and negated the opinion of the other group.
And the basis of this, which is our proof, is following what the Quran has spoken of, for indeed Allah has said in the unequivocal verse of His Book,
"So if you differ amongst yourselves on anything then refer it back to Allah and the Messenger if you believe in Allah and the Last Day, that is better and more suitable for final determination." (4:59)
We referred the matter to that which Allah sent His Messenger (SAW) with and revealed in His Book. So we found that He made the commencement of faith to be the testimony that none has the right to be worshipped except for Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger (SAW). And the Prophet (SAW) remained in Mecca after his Prophethood for ten years or ten odd years calling to this testification only, and at that time nothing else was prescribed to be part of faith, so the one who responded to this call was a believer and it was not necessary to call him anything else but a believer, and zakah or fasting or the other regulations of the religion were not obligatory upon him. The scholars have explained this by saying that this leniency at that time was a Mercy and Kindness from Allah to His Servants, because they had just come out of the Jahiliyyah and it’s harshness and had He charged them with all of the obligations then their hearts would have become averse to the revelation and their bodies would have felt burdened. So He made the faith that was obligatory upon them at that time affirmation with the tongues only, and this is what made them to be believers during the whole of the Meccan period and ten odd months in Madinah after the Hijrah.
Then, when the people had returned to Islam and their desire for it became good and proper, Allah increased for them in their faith that they change the prayer direction to the Kabah after they had been praying to Bail al-Maqdis, saying,
"Verily We have seen the turning of your face towards the heaven. Surely, We shall give you a Qiblah that you are pleased with, so turn your face in the direction of the Holy Mosque. And wheresoever you people are, turn your faces (in prayer) in that direction." [2:144].
Then He addressed them, when they were in Madinah, by the appellation of faith that had previously been given them whenever He ordered them with something or forbade them from something. So He said, while commanding,
"O you who believe! Bow and prostrate" [22:77],
"O you who believe! When you intend to offer prayer, wash your faces, and your arms upto the elbows." [5:6].
He said, while prohibiting,
"O you who believe! Do not devour usury doubled and multiplied." [3:130].
"O you who believe! Kill not game while you are in a state of ihram" [5:95].
So in every address that was directed to them after the hijrah containing a command or prohibition, He named them with this name (believers) due to their affirming the shahadah alone - since at that time nothing else had been made obligatory for them. But afterwards, when the religious laws were revealed, these were made obligatory upon them in exactly the same way as the first obligation (of testifying to the shahadah) was, this because they were all from Allah (sent) by His Command and Obligation. So if they had refused to turn to the direction of the Ka`bah in their prayer and stuck to that faith [they had in the beginning of Islam] whose appellation they were ascribed to, and they had stuck to the qiblah that they used to pray towards, then this would not have helped them at all, and they would have violated their affirmation of the shahadah. This because the first obedience was not more deserving of the appellation of ‘faith’ then the second, so therefore when they responded to Allah and His Messenger and accepted the (obligation of) prayer just as they had responded by affirming (the shahadah) then all of this would now be included in the appellation ‘faith’ - due to the prayer being added to the affirmation.
And the proof that the prayer is a part of faith is the saying of Allah, Azza wa Jall,
"And Allah would never make your faith to be lost. Truly Allah is full of Kindness, the Most Merciful towards mankind" [2:143]
This verse was revealed concerning some of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (SAW) who turned towards the Qiblah while they were praying in the direction of Bait al-Maqdis, so the Messenger of Allah (SAW) was asked about this and then this verse was revealed So what proof is needed after this to show that prayer is part of faith?
So they remained like this for a period of time and when they started going to prayer eagerly and their hearts found it easy, Allah revealed the obligation of zakah in their faith in addition to what had preceded, saying,
"Establish the prayer, and give the zakah" [2:83, 110].
"Take sadaqah from their wealth in order to purify them and sanctify them with it." [9:103].
So if they affirmed the shahadah with their tongues and established the prayers but they refused to give the zakah then this would have effaced all that came before this obligation and would have violated their affirmation (of the shahadah) that had preceded just as their aversion to the prayer would have violated their affirmation that preceded. And the testifier to the truth of this was the Jihad that Abu Bakr fought alongwith the Muhajiroon and the Ansar against those Arabs that refused to pay the zakah, just as the Messenger of Allah (SAW) made Jihad against the People of Shirk. There is no difference between these two Jihads with regards to shedding blood, taking children as captives, and taking the spoils of war. And all the Arabs did was to refuse to give zakah, not reject its institution.
Then all of the laws of Islam became like this, each time a law was revealed it became joined to the laws that had preceded, and all of them were included under the appellation of ‘faith’, and those who followed them were named believers.
This is the place in which those who held that faith was merely saying erred that when they heard Allah calling them believers they attributed complete faith to them. And likewise they erred in their explanation of the hadith of the Prophet (SAW) when he was asked as to what faith was to which he replied, "that you believe in Allah …." And their explanation of the hadith in which he (SAW) was asked by the one who had a believing slave-girl about freeing her so he ordered that she be free and he called her a believer. These are to be taken to mean, as I have explained to you, their entering faith and their acceptance and belief in what had been revealed from it at that time. And indeed it was revealed in stages, just as the Quran was revealed in stages.
And the witness and evidence for what we say is the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (SAW). So from the Book of Allah is His Saying,
"And whenever there comes down a chapter (of the Quran) some of them (the hypocrites) say: ‘Which of you has had his faith increased by it?’ As for those that believe, it has increased their faith, and they rejoice." [9:124]
"The believers are those who, when Allah is mentioned, feel a fear in their hearts and when His verses are recited unto them, they increase their faith, and they put their trust in their Lord." [8:2]
And other places in the Quran similar to this.
Do you not see that Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, did not reveal faith as one entity, just as he did not reveal the Quran as one entity? So this is the proof from the Book - that if faith were complete with the affirmation of the shahadah, then there would be no meaning to ‘increasing faith’ and no need to mention this.
As for the proof from the Sunnah and narrations then they are mutawatir giving this meaning of increase in the tenants of faith. So in the following hadith four (articles of faith) are mentioned, in the next five, in the third nine, and in the fourth even more.
1. As for the hadith in which four are mentioned is the hadith of ibn Abbas from the Prophet (SAW) that an envoy from Abd al-Qais came to him and said, "O Messenger of Allah indeed we are tribe from Rabiah and between us and you are the unbelievers of Madr who prevent us from coming to you, so we are unable to come to you except in the Sanctified Month, so command us with something that we may perform and call those that we have left behind to." So he said, "I command you with 4, and I forbid you from 4. Faith - then he explained this for them - to testify that none has the right to be worshipped except for Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, to establish the prayer, to give the zakah, and that you give a fifth of the war-booty. I forbid you from 4:…"
2. As for the hadith in which five are mentioned then it is the hadith of ibn Umar that he heard the Messenger of Allah (SAW) saying, "Islam is built upon 5 (pillars): the testimony that none had the right to be worshipped except Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, establishing the prayer, giving the zakah, fasting in Ramadan, and making pilgrimage to the House."
3. As for the hadith in which nine are mentioned then it is the hadith of Abu Hurayrah from the Prophet (SAW) that he said, "indeed Islam has landmarks and lights as does a road. From them are: that you believe in Allah and do not commit shirk with him, establish the prayer, give the zakah, fast in Ramadan, make pilgrimage to the House, enjoin the good, forbid the evil, that you give the salaam to your family when you enter amongst them, and that you give salaam to the people as you pass by them. So the one who leaves any of this [then he has left a portion of Islam, and the one who leaves all of them] has thrown Islam behind his back."
4. So the ignorant people thought that all these ahadith were self contradicting due to the variation of numbers in them, but they are, and all praise is due to Allah, by His Mercy far from contradiction. For their difference lies in the fact that the obligations of Faith were revealed in stages. So each time Allah revealed a new obligation of faith, it increased the number (of tenants of faith) until they reached seventy tenants as occurs in the hadith that is established from him (SAW) that he said, "faith is seventy and odd branches, it’s most excellent is the testimony that none has the right to be worshipped except for Allah, and it’s lowest is removing the harmful thing from the road."
So even if the number mentioned is greater they still do not contradict those ahadith that came before it for those refer to the foundations of faith whereas these refer to the branches of faith.
So we believe, and Allah knows best, that this is the last statement with which the Messenger of Allah (SAW) depicted Faith because the number finished at this, and with it the characteristics of faith were completed as is testified to by the saying of Allah
"This day have I completed your religion for you, and perfected my favour upon you" (5:3).
5. Tariq bin Shihab reported that, "the Jews said to Umar binul-Khattab, may Allah have mercy upon him, ‘indeed you recite a verse which had it been revealed amongst us we would have taken that day as an Eed,’ and this verse was mentioned. So Umar said, ‘indeed I know when it was revealed and on what day it was revealed. [It was revealed] on the Day of Arafah and the Messenger (SAW) was standing on Arafah’". Sufyan said, "I do not know whether he said ‘on the Day of Jumu`ah’ or not"
6. From ibn Abi Ammar who said, "ibn Abbas recited this verse while there was a Jew in his presence. So the Jew said, ‘if this verse had been revealed amongst us we would have taken that day as an Eed.’ Ibn Abbas replied, ‘it was revealed on the day of Eed, the day of Jumuah, the day of Arafah.’"
7. From Sha`bee who said, "it was revealed upon him (SAW) while he was standing on Arafah when shirk had vanished, and the sign posts of the Jahiliyyah had been destroyed, and not a statute remained hanging in the house"
8. So Allah, Exalted is He, mentioned the completion of the religion in this verse, and it was revealed eighty one days before the death of the Prophet (SAW) as is reported from ibn Juraij.
So if faith was complete by mere affirmation while the Messenger (SAW) was in Mecca as stated by these people then there would be no meaning to completion (of the religion), for how can something be completed that is already complete and come in its final form?!
Abu Ubaid (the author) said: so if someone were to ask you, 'so what are these seventy branches branches?' It would be said to him: these have not been named for us collectively so that we may mention them, but knowledge does allow us to say that they are from the actions of obedience to Allah and taqwa But even though they may not have been mentioned in any specific hadith, if you were to scrutinise the various narrations you would find them dispersed throughout them, did you not hear his saying concerning removing the harmful thing and that it was a branch of faith? And likewise his saying in another hadith, "modesty is a branch of faith" , and in a third, "shame is branch of faith" , and in a fourth, "ascetism is from faith" , and in a fifth, "fulfilling contracts/promises is from faith" So all of these are from the branches of faith, and from them is the hadith of Ammar, "three (characteristics) are from faith: giving in charity freely, being just even at the expense of yourself, and spreading the salaam amongst the people"
Then there are the well-known ahadith mentioning the completeness of faith wherein he (SAW) asked, "which creation is the greatest with respect to faith?" It was said: the Angels. Then it was said: us O Messenger of Allah. So he said, "rather a nation that will come after you" and he mentioned their characteristics. And from these is his saying, "indeed the believer with the most complete faith is the best of them in character." And likewise his saying, "a man will not have complete faith until he leaves lying in jest, and arguing even if he be in the truth." And a similar hadith is reported from Umar bin al-Khattab and ibn Umar. And more clear than this is the hadith of the Prophet (SAW) pertaining to the intercession wherein he said, "so the one whose heart contains a barley grains weight, and a wheat grains weight, and an atoms weight of faith will be removed from Hell." And from them is the hadith when he was asked about whispering, to which he replied, "that is the pure and unadulterated faith." And likewise the hadith of Ali (AS), "indeed faith starts as a white spot in the heart, so each time faith increases, the white spot increases in magnitude."
There are a great number of narrations concerning this whose mention will lengthen the discussion that serve to clarify to you the correlation of faith in the heart with actions, and all of them, or most of them, stress that righteous actions are from faith. So how is it possible to oppose these by way of falsification or rejection?!
And from those things that testify to the truth of it's correlation with actions is the saying of Allah,
"The believers are only those whose hearts tremble when Allah is mentioned, and when His verses are recited they increase them in faith, and upon their Lord they put their trust" (6:2) to his saying, "they are in truth the believers." (6:3)
So Allah did not give faith a reality except with action upon these conditions (mentioned in the verse). And the one who thinks that merely a saying makes one a true and complete believer even if there is no action (accompanying the saying) is one who is opposing the Book of Allah and the Sunnah.
And from those things that clarify the differing levels of faith in the heart is His saying,
"O you who believe! When the believing women come to you as fugitives, test them. Allah Knows best their faith, then if you ascertain that they are true believers." (60:10)
Do you not see that here there is a level less than the complete level [in that Allah has addressed the believers to test other believers] And likewise His saying,
"O you who believe! Believe in Allah and His Messenger." (4:136)
So if this was not a command to increase in ones faith then there would be no meaning in ordering the believers to believe in Allah and His Messenger. Then He also says,
"Alif Laam Meem. Do people think that they will be left alone because they say: 'we believe' and will not be tested? And We tested those who were before them. And Allah will certainly make it known (the truth of) those who are true, and will certainly make it known (the falsehood of) those who are liars." (29:1-3)
"Of mankind there are some who say: 'we believe in Allah' but if they are made to suffer for the sake of Allah they consider the trial of mankind as Allah's Punishment." (29:10)
"And that Allah may test (or purify) the believers (from sins) and destroy the disbelievers." (3:141)
So do you not see Allah trying the believers to attest their saying with action and not being Pleased with their merely affirming (the shahadah) without accompanying it with action? So what is there to be followed after the Book of Allah, the Sunnah of His Messenger (SAW), and the guidance of the Salaf after him - those who are our role-models and Imams?!
So what have the scholars stated about this matter which we have declared to be the Sunnah
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