Messenger-ship (Risalat) & Prophet-hood (Nabuwat) & What is 'Iman'? - Extracted from the book - 'Falah e Darayn'

Messenger-ship (Risalat) & Prophet-hood (Nabuwat)

4. Sayyiduna Ubadah bin Samit  narrated that he heard the Beloved RasulAllah  saying: “The one who testifies that ‘There is no Deity but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah’, Allah will Prohibit the fire of Hell for him.” {Sahih Muslim, Kitab ul Iman}

5. Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah  narrated that the Beloved RasulAllah  said: “By Him in whose Power is the Life of Muhammad! The one who amongst the community of Jews and Christians hears about me, but does not Believe in My Prophet-hood and dies in such a state will be among the dwellers of Hell-fire.” {Sahih Muslim, Kitab ul Iman}

6. Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik  narrated that the Beloved RasulAllah  said: “None of you is a Believer {‘Mu’min’} till I am more Beloved to him than his father, his children and the whole humanity.” {Sahih Bukhari & Sahih Muslim}

Faith (Iman) & Islam

7. Sayyiduna Umar bin Khattab  said: “One day we were sitting in the company of RasulAllah  when there appeared before us a man dressed in extremely white clothes, his hair were extraordinarily black. There were no signs of of journey on him. None amongst us knew him. Then he sat near RasulAllah  and joined his knees with that of RasulAllah  and placed his palms on his thighs and said: “O Muhammad! Inform me about Islam.” The Prophet  replied: “Islam implies that you Testify that ‘There is no God but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah’, and you establish ‘Salah’ , pay ‘Zakah’ , observe the ‘Sawm’ of Ramazan, and perform ‘Hajj’ of the Sacred House if you are capable of doing so. On hearing this, he said: “You have told the Truth.” Umar bin Khattab said: “It was strange that he himself enquired and then he would himself acknowledge the Truth!” He then said: “Inform me about ‘Iman’ (Faith).” The Prophet  replied: “That you affirm Faith in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Prophets, in the Day of ‘Qiyamah’ {Judgement}, and in the Divine Decree of Good and Bad.” He said: “You have told the Truth.” He then said: “Inform me about ‘Ihsan’ .” The Prophet  replied: “That you worship Allah as if you are seeing Him, if you cannot do so; then, He, verily sees you.”” {Sahih Muslim, Kitab ul Iman}

8. Abu Hurayrah  narrated that the Beloved RasulAllah  said: “There are more than 70 branches of ‘Iman’ {Faith}, the highest amongst them is, saying ‘There is no God but Allah’ and the lowest amongst them is the removing of a Harmful object from the Pathway. And ‘Haya’ {Modesty} is a great / excellent branch of ‘Iman’ {Faith}.” {Sahih Bukhari, Kitab ul Iman}

Conclusion: It is not hard to deduce meanings from the above mentioned Hadiths that the most Fundamental Belief or Doctrine is the Doctrine of ‘Tawhid’ {Monotheism} i.e. Testifying that ‘There is no God but Allah’ with out which no person can be a believer. Certainly, the Doctrine of ‘Tawhid’ is the key to Paradise and the worst sin in Islam is ‘Shirk’ {Polytheism} which will never be forgiven. Allah Almighty has informed in the Holy Quran that He will not forgive the one who indulges in ‘Shirk’ on the Day of Judgement. ‘Shirk’ refers to believing a creature to be equal to or like Allah Almighty in ‘Essence’ or in ‘Attributes’.

The Beloved RasulAllah  is the last of Prophets and no Prophet will come after him. Therefore, every one should bring faith upon him for his ‘Shariah’ {Sacred Islamic Law} has abrogated all the past ‘Shariahs’. Now, Salvation is based upon following the ‘Shariah’ of the Beloved RasulAllah  only.

~ Extracted from 'Falah e Darayn' of Allama Mawlana Abdul Majid Usmani Quadri Badayuni; Translated by Basharath Ali Siddiqui Ashrafi ~