Maariful Quran - Mufti Shafi Usmani RA - Vol - 1 - Page

Surah Al-Baqarah 2 : 1 - 5 104necessary. So, the question arises as to why the Holy Qur'an should becontent to choose for mention only two - namely, performing Sal& andspending in the way of Allah. In answering this question, one couldsay that all the good deeds which are obligatory or necessary for manpertain either to his person and his body or to his possessions. Amongthe personal and bodily forms of 'Ibzdat (acts of worship), the mostimportant is the Salah. Hence the Holy Qur'an mentions only thisform in the present passage. As for the different forms of 'Ibadatpertaining to possessions, the word Infaq (spending) covers all of them.Thus, in mentionirsg only two good deeds,'the Holy Qur'an has byimplication included all the forms of worship and all good deeds. Thewhole verse, then, comes to mean that the God-fearing are those whoare perfect in their faith and in their deeds both, and that Islam is t,hesum of faith and practice. In other words, while providing a completedefinition of 'Imzn (Faith), the verse indicates the meaning of Islam aswell. So, let us find out how 'Im& and Islam are distinct from eachother.The distinction between 'Irnzn and IslamLexically, '.TmZn signifies the acceptance and confirmation ofsomething with one's heart, while Islam signifies obedience andsubmission. 'Imzn pertains to the heart; so does Islam, but it is relatedto all the other parts of the human body as well. From the point ofview of the Shari'ah, however, 'lmgn is not valid without Islam, norIslam without 'Imgn. In other words, it is not enough to have faith inAllah and the Holy Prophet +, + JJI & in one's heart unless thetongue expresses the faith and also affirms one's allegiance andsubmission. Similarly, an oral declaration of faith and allegiance is notvalid unless one has faith in one's heart.In short, 'Imgn, and Islam have different connotations from thelexical point of view. It is on the basis of this lexical distinction thatthe Holy Qur'Kn and Hadith refer to a difference between the two.From the point of view of the Sharfah, however, the two areinextricably linked together, and one cannot be valid without the other- as is borne out by the Holy Qur'an itself.When Islam, or an external declaration of allegiance, is not