Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 1 of 2

'Ali ibn Abi Tiilib 425
attributes combined, when it says at the end, "It is they who are the
believers in buth." The physical actions referred to here are
establishing prayer and spending for the sake of Allah (3g).366
The Messenger of Allah (B) said: "Faith has seventy-odd
branches; the best of them is saying La^ ilriha illa-Allih (none has the
right to be worshipped but Allah), and the least of them is removing a
harmful thing from the road. And modesty is one of the branches of
faith,n367
Saying Lci iliha illa-Allrih refers to words, removing a
harmful thing from the road is an action, and modesty is an attitude
and behaviour. Making each of these three a part of faith is iudicative
of the essence of faith, and most of the branches of faith are physical
deeds.368 Imam Bukhari said in his Saheeh: "It is words and deeds,
and it increases and decreases. Loving and hating for the sake of
Allah are part of faith." 'Umar ibn 'Abdul-'Azeez said: "Faith
contains obligations, prescriptions, limits and sunnahs. Whoever
acquires all of them has acquired perfect faith, and whoever does not
acquire all of them has not acquired perfect faith. If I live, I shall
explain it to you so that you might act upon it, but if I die, then I am
not eager to stay with
When Amir al-Mu'mineen 'Ali (&) was asked about faith, be
said: "Faith is based on four pillars: patience, certainty, justice and
striving. Patience is based on four things: longing, fear, asceticism
and expecting death. The one who longs for paradise will he able to
turn away from physical desires, the one who fears hellfire will avoid
harh things, the one who bas no interest in worldly gains will not be
distressed by calamities, and the one who expects death will hasten to
do good things. Certainty is based on four things: deep insight,
wisdom, leaming lessons from others and the ways of those who
came before. Whoever has deep insight will have wisdom, and
whoever has wisdom will learn the lesson; the one who learns the
lesson will be as if he was among those who came before. Justice is