himself (aslama) entirely to Allāh, and he is the doer of good (to others), he has his reward from his Lord, and there is no fear for such nor shall they grieve.” Thus both īmān and Islām are the same in their first and last stage — from a simple declaration they have developed into perfection — and cover all the intermediate stages. They have both a starting point and a goal; and the man who is at the starting point, the mere novice, and the man who has attained the goal, in spite of all the differences between them, are both called mu’min or Muslim, as are also those who are on their way at different stages of the journey.

No dogmas in Islām

The above discussion leads us also to the conclusion that there are no dogmas in Islām, no mere beliefs forced upon a man for his alleged salvation. Belief, according to Islām, is not only a conviction of the truth of a given proposition, but it is essentially the acceptance of a proposition as a basis for action. The Holy Qur’an definitely upholds this view, for, according to it, while the proposition of the existence of devils is as true as that of the existence of angels, a belief in angels is again and again mentioned as part of a Muslim’s faith whereas a disbelief in devils is clearly mentioned as necessary: “So whoever disbelieves (yakfur) in the devil and believes (yu’min) in Allāh, he indeed has laid hold on the firmest handle” (2:256). The words used here for believing in God and disbelieving in devils are, respectively, īmān and kufr. If īmān meant simply a belief in the existence of a thing, and kufr the denial of its existence, a disbelief in devils could not have been spoken of as necessary along with a belief in God. God exists, the angels exist, the devil exists;but while we must believe in God and His angels, we must disbelieve in the devil. This is because the angel, according to the Holy Qur’ān, is the being that prompts the doing of good, and the devil is the being that prompts the doing of evil, so that a belief in angels means really acting upon the promptings to do good, and a disbelief in the devil means refusing to entertain evil promptings. Thus īmān (belief) really signifies the acceptance of a principle as a basis for action, and every doctrine of Islām answers to this description. There are no dogmas, no mysteries, no faith which does not require action; for every article of faith means a principle to