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50chapter onethe universal furq§n. Everyone who claims that there are seventymajor sins, or even seven hundred, has been thoroughly misled. 44Faith and BelieversThe Term al-Êm§n (Faith) in the BookLet us come back to the main topic of this chapter, which exploresthe distinction between al-isl§m and al-Êm§n. So far we have definedal-isl§m and its fundamental pillars, so now we need to do the samewith al-Êm§n. The following list of characteristics of al-Êm§n has beenderived from our systematic search through the Book, in which weanalysed every single verse that is relevant to the topic. The outcomeof this analysis can be summarized as follows:1. Al-isl§m always takes precedence over al-Êm§n:Historically and conceptually al-Êm§n proceeds from al-isl§m or,to put it the other way, al-isl§m always (and necessarily) precedesal-Êm§n.The desert Arabs say, “We believe.” Say, “You have no faith; butyou (only) say, ‘We have submitted our wills to God [aslamn§]’, fornot yet has faith [ al-Êm§n] entered your hearts. ( Al-\ujur§t49:14)2. Al-isl§m and al-Êm§n mean two different types of faith:The first, al-isl§m, contains the tripartite belief in a) the existenceand oneness of God, b) the Hereafter, and c) God’s commandto ‘do what is righteous’. Al-isl§m commands and incorporatesall other types of faith, including al-Êm§n. It implies that anyform of particular religious faith must conform to these threegeneral pillars of belief. Verse 4:137 below states that a systemof faith that omits these pillars basically rejects beliefs and iscalled kufr.44The number of major sins or al-kab§"ir given in the ÈadÊths differ considerably.A popular ÈadÊth, reported by al-Bukh§rÊ, states seven major sins (MuÈammad Abå#Abd All§h al-Bukh§rÊ, al-J§mi# al-‘aÈÊÈ li’l-Bukh§rÊ (Beirut: D§r Ibn KathÊr, 1987),vol. 3, 1017) but Muslim fiqh scholars differed in classifying some of these sins asmajor sins, while others were included in this list of major sins (see #Abd al-RaÈm§nal-JazÊrÊ, al-Fiqh #al§ madh§hib al-arba#a (Cairo: Wiz§rat al-Awq§f, 1950), vol. 5, 223).It seems that MS refers to the popular work by al-DhahabÊ which classified the kab§"irinto seventy categories (see MuÈammad b. #Uthm§n al-DhahabÊ, al-Kab§"ir (Beirut:Nashr D§r al-Nadwat al-JadÊda, n.d.)).