On Muslim for instance, Islam, what Islam is, it has been written so much and the competitive Islam, so it has been written about Iman, Iman Dunal Iman, Kufr Dunal Kufr, Islam Dunal Islam and the terminologies vary so much from situation to situation and that there is so much confusion has also been created. In what sense one is using one particular term? Your Islam is different and my Islam is different. If you say that, you may have a different thing in meaning, in mind, then people may take your statement to be.
So this is a very vast subject. It is said that there are 70 in 70 steps of Iman and this is said by no less a person than Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa sallallahu alaihi wa sallam himself. The 70 departments or 70 steps. So if the Iman is divided into 70 steps so should be the counterpart of it that is Kufr. The lack of each step of Iman should lead to another corresponding step of Kufr. So that would be the description of 140 different aspects. But to run the, to cut the story short Hazrat sallallahu alaihi wa sallam described the two ends and that was the most beautiful way about him. That he covered the whole thing in two ends and said in between you will be safe.
So he said la ilaha illallah to declare and to bear witness that Allah is just one and there is no partner beside Allah and that Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa sallallahu alaihi wa sallam is his slave and prophet, his prophet. That is the topmost elevation of Iman, the highest point of Iman and the lowest is that if you are going walking in a street and use something which could hurt human beings in any form and you remove it for the sake of doing some good to your fellow beings, that is the lowest step and that is also Iman. So from that you can imagine that in between these two extremes.
Now the beauty of this is that the whole of Islam, the whole of the teaching of the Holy Quran is covered with this because Islam is divided into two parts, two main branches. First is Haqooqullah and the second is Haqooqul Ibad. From the Haqooqullah he chose the highest thing, that is Kalam-e-Tauheed and from the Haqooqul Ibad he chose the lowest thing, that is to remove something or some trouble from the street. That is the lowest you could do to the humanity.
So in between the whole scope of human life is described, the concept of a life which should be the life of a Muslim. So that shows according to the Rasul-e-Akbar’s description or definition of Iman, both the Haqooqullah, that is the rights of Allah upon man, and Haqooqul Ibad, that is the rights of man upon man have been described in totality because nothing can be left out of it and all this is Iman. And if you consider this again you will come to realize that all goodness springs from the faith upon Allah. That is all lasting goodness springs from faith upon Allah.
Otherwise the apparent goodness is always transitory. In different circumstances under different pressures this thin veneer is wiped out and the hard core of beastliness in man becomes apparent. But if you truly believe in Allah, that faith creates a permanent goodness in you because the faith in Allah is permanent and Allah is a permanent thing, the only thing which is permanent. So this is why every goodness which you derive from the concept of Allah is also permanent. So that shows that even if you are apparently a man with service-mindedness and a great philanthropist, if that goodness springs from Allah according to this tradition, then it would be a lasting one worth the while. If it is because you want to show to others your goodness, you want to exhibit your greatness and grandeur, then at the time of stresses and crisis, you leave these habits for your own selfish end. Because you are doing this good not for Allah, which is an absolute value, but for your own self, which is a transit value. And ultimately you will be worshipping your own self and leaving the needs and requirements of mankind to go to hell as the sheikhs let them do.
So that sort of attitude is discouraged in Islam because all the goodness which is lasting and real, according to Islam, should spring from one’s faith. So in this very short tradition, Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa sallallahu alaihi wasallam has given us a world of wisdom covering everything from the highest to the lowest, also given the philosophy behind it. What is also defined goodness itself under the one title of Iman. So when you describe the in-between stages, you can imagine how long it will take one to go about it. And yet it will be only one part of your long question.
