The lexicology of īmān and Islām has already been explained. Originally the word īmān signifies conviction of the heart , while the word Islām signifies submission and hence relates primarily to action. This difference in the original meaning finds expression both in the Holy Qur’ān and the Ḥadīth, though in ordinary use they both convey the same significance, and mu’min and Muslim are generally used interchangeably. An example of the distinction in their use in the Holy Qur’ān is afforded in 49:14: “The dwellers of the desert say, we believe (āmannā from īmān ); say, you believe not but say, We submit (aslamnā from islām); and faith has not yet entered into your hearts. And if you obey Allāh and His Messenger, He will not diminish aught of your deeds. Surely Allāh is Forgiving, Merciful.”9 This does not mean, of course, that they did not believe in the prophethood of Muḥammad. The significance of faith entering into the heart is made clear in the very next verse: “The believers are those only who believe in Allāh and His Messenger, then they doubt not and struggle hard with their wealth and their lives in the way of Allāh. Such are the truthful ones” (49:15). In fact, both the words, īmān and Islām, are used to signify two different stages in the spiritual growth of man. A man is said to have believed (āmana) when he simply declares his faith in the Unity of God and the prophethood of Muḥammad, which in fact is the first stage of belief, because it is only by declaration of the acceptance of a principle that one makes a start; and a man is also said to have believed (āmana) when he carries into practice to their utmost extent the principles in which he has declared his faith. Examples of both these uses have already been given: examples of the first are 2:62, 4:136; an example of the latter (49:15) has just been quoted above. The only difference is that in the first use, belief or īmān is in its first stage a confession of the tongue — a declaration of the principle; and in the second, īmān has been perfected and indicates the last stage of faith which has then entered into the depths of the heart, and brought about the change required. The same is the case with the use of the word Islām; in its first stage it is simply a willingness to submit, as in the verse quoted above (49:14); in its last it is entire submission, as in 2:112: “Nay, whoever submits
9 The use of īmān and Islām in Ḥadīth points occasionally to a similar distinction in use, though ordinarily they are used interchangeably. Thus in the Kitāb al-Īmān, Bukhārī relates the following from Abū Hurairah: “The Holy Prophet; may peace and the blessings of Allāh be upon him, was one day sitting outside among the people when a man came to him and asked: What is īmān ? He replied: Īmān is this that thou believe in Allāh and His angels and in the meeting with Him and His messengers, and that thou believe in life after death. He asked, What is Islām? He replied: Islām is this that thou worship Allāh and do not associate with Him aught, and keep up prayer and pay the obligatory alms (zakāt) and keep fast in Ramadān”. (Bu. 2:37). In another report narrated in the same book, it is stated how when a Companion of the Holy Prophet speaking of another repeatedly said that he thought him to be a believer (mu’min), the Holy Prophet every time said, Rather a Muslim (Bu. 2:19); thus, indicating that men could judge of each other only from outward acts. In the beginning of that book, however, a ḥadīth is narrated from Ibn ‘Umar showing that Islām also includes belief: “Islām is based on five fundamentals, the bearing of witness (shahādah) that there is no god but Allāh and that Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allāh, and the keeping up of prayer, and the giving of zakāt, and the pilgrimage, and fasting in the month of Ramadān” (Bu. 2:1). The word used here is, however, shahādah (or, the bearing of witness ), not ìmān or believing, and shahādah in this case, though requiring belief in the truth of what is stated, is still an outward act.