It is to accept things as religion. Whoever believes, without following the Prophet, that a walī (friend of God) can bring a person to Allah, is one of the friends of Satan and a disbeliever (kāfir). The acts of Allah—creating His creatures, providing them sustenance, answering their dua (supplications), granting hudā (guidance) to their qalb (hearts), helping them against their enemies, giving what is beneficial, and removing what is harmful—are exclusive to Him alone. He fulfills these as He wills, through whatever means He chooses. The mediation of the Messengers is not included in these matters. (al-Furqān 25:17)
Since the friends of Allah are the God-conscious believers (muttaqī muʾmin), just as people differ in iman (faith) and taqwa (God-consciousness), so too do they differ in their closeness to Allah. Likewise, just as there are degrees of kufr (disbelief) and hypocrisy, so too are there degrees of enmity toward Allah. The essence of iman and taqwa is faith in the Messengers of Allah. All of this culminates in faith in the last of the Messengers, Muhammad. To have faith in him is to have faith in all of Allah’s books and Messengers. The essence of kufr and hypocrisy is to deny the Messengers and what they have brought from Allah. This is the kufr that, in the Hereafter, makes its possessor deserving of punishment. (al-Furqān 25:33)
Summary faith (īmān mujmal): Some people believe in all the prophets collectively; this is called mujmal (summary) iman. Detailed faith (īmān mufassal): If a person receives most, but not all, of what the prophets brought, he believes in what has reached him and does not know what has not. If it had reached him, he would certainly have believed in it as well. But he believes in what the prophets brought as a whole. Thus, if a person, even without evidence, acts with iman and taqwa because he knows Allah has commanded it, he is a walī (friend of God) of Allah. His iman and taqwa, in proportion to his nisba (spiritual connection), make him a possessor of Allah’s walāya (friendship). Since Allah has not made him responsible for knowing or practicing detailed iman, he is not punished for omitting it. However, to the extent that he omits it, he loses the degree of perfection (kamāl) in Allah’s walāya. Whoever knows what the Messenger brought and believes in it in detail and acts accordingly, his iman and friendship with Allah are more complete than one who does not know or act in detail. Yet both are friends of Allah. Paradise has degrees of great distinction and difference. Allah’s believing and God-conscious friends will attain these degrees according to their iman and taqwa. (al-Furqān 25:34)
To show ihsan (spiritual excellence) to the orphan without expecting anything in return and to endure hunger with sabr (patient endurance)—these are among the righteous deeds. (al-Furqān 25:111)
Ihsan is to realize servitude by witnessing the station of rubūbiyya (divine lordship) with the light of basīra (spiritual insight), that is, to see the Real (al-Ḥaqq) as qualified by His own attributes. This is not to see Him in reality, but with certainty. For this reason, the Prophet said: "Worship Allah as if you see Him." For in this ḥāl (spiritual state), He is seen through the manifestation of attribute after attribute behind the veil of attributes. His seeing is not like human seeing in its true sense. The quality of seeing is by His attribute of seeing. The servant’s seeing is below the station of witnessing (mushāhada) found in the station of the ruh (spirit)... (Kāshānī, 27; Jāmiʿ, 76)
Islam is submission. Submission to the prescribed acts is realized by performing them with the body. For iman is the most important part of Islam. Every iman is Islam, but not every Islam is iman. For this reason, the consensus and opinion of the majority has been nothing other than Islam. (Rawḍa, 248)
Hasan (al-Basrī) was asked: Is maʿrifatullāh (experiential knowledge of God) acquired or necessary (zarūrī)? He replied: Things are known in two ways: by sense for what is visible, and by evidence for what is not. Since Allah is not known by our attributes or senses, knowing Him is only possible through evidence, investigation, and inference. For we know the transcendent only by evidence, and the non-transcendent by sensation. If you want to know the place and rank of maʿrifa (gnosis) among the stations, know that maʿrifa is the first degree. This is to know the essence of bodies. The maʿrifa of those at this station is to acknowledge the existence of the Lord, that He is Creator and Worshipped. Their nearness to Allah is the nearness of reward. The second degree is the station of iman, which is the maʿrifa of the people of the nafs (lower self). Their maʿrifa is to declare their Worshipped free from defects.
The third degree is the station of ihsan. This is the maʿrifa of those possessing the sacred intellect. Their maʿrifa is to know all things they previously knew as separate as one, to hear one sound, to witness one description. (Rawḍa, 420)
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Ihsan is a name that expresses the entirety of ḥaqīqas (inner realities). The first subtlety of ihsan is ihsan in intention. This leads to knowledge, strengthens resolve, and purifies the ḥāl (spiritual state). The second is ihsan in states: this is to observe the states, make progress, travel the path, and truly rectify one’s state. The third is ihsan in time: this is realized by the uninterrupted continuation of witnessing, boundless effort (gayra), and continual migration to the Real. (Rawḍa, 487)
The beginning (bidāya) of the murīd (aspirant) is resolve, and the end is truthfulness (ṣidq). There are three types of murīds: the first seeks to observe the reality of his station of nearness to Allah; the second seeks to observe the reality of his qalb (heart) and the iman inscribed therein; the third seeks to observe the reality of his nafs (lower self) and thus come to know his Lord.
The murīd who strives unceasingly with righteous deeds to realize his goal (of salvation from punishment) is at the station of Islam; the murīd who seeks the fulfillment of promises related to the unseen (such as abundant blessings in the Hereafter, or that one who acts on what he knows will be taught what he does not) is at the station of iman; the murīd whose sought-after and intended goal is the Lord is at the station of ihsan. (Rawḍa, 616)
The beginning of the ʿābid (devotee) is awrād (litanies), and the end is breaths (anfas)—that is, the qalb (heart) being pacified, finding relief, or reaching the station of remembering the Real with every breath. The devotee must know these eight things: three relate to creed—what is necessary, possible, and impossible (muhāl) for the Worshipped; five relate to rulings—what is obligatory, recommended, forbidden, disliked, and permissible, such as what should be followed while sitting and walking (i.e., daily conduct). The murīd who knows these is at the station of Islam. If he then turns to affirming reward and punishment, he is at the station of iman. If he then moves to maʿrifat al-Rabb (gnosis of the Lord), he has ascended to the station of ihsan.
The beginning of the sālik (wayfarer) is Islam in knowledge, and the end is to realize the station of ihsan in action. When the sālik purifies his action from afflictions like ostentation (riyāʾ), acting solely for the One worthy of being acted for, he realizes the station of Islam. When he purifies his action from claims, he attains iman; when he is free from duality (i.e., when he sees his Lord and is absent from seeing himself), he attains the station of ihsan. (Rawḍa, 617)
The beginning of the dhākir (one who remembers God) is reward, and the end is presence. On their path, they use dhikr (remembrance of God) in an absolute sense. There are many types of dhikr: istiʿādha (seeking refuge), basmala, istighfār (seeking forgiveness), tasliya (sending blessings), taslīm (salutation), taqdīs (sanctification), tasbīḥ (glorification), and others such as: Subḥāna’Llāh, al-ḥamdu li’Llāh, wa lā ilāha illa’Llāh, wa’Llāhu akbar, wa lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illa bi’Llāh... These encompass all types of dhikr and are used as awrād (litanies) in the stations traversed by the murīd. These stations are: tawba (repentance), istiqāma (uprightness), taqwa, ikhlas (sincerity), ṣidq (truthfulness), tuma’nīna (serenity), murāqaba (vigilance), mushāhada (witnessing), and maʿrifa (gnosis). These stations themselves have five types of dhikr: istighfār, tasliya, tahlīl (affirmation of God’s oneness), tanzīh (declaring God’s transcendence), and ifrād (singling out God).
imān-islām-ihsān
When the dhākir is at the station of tawba, he begins with istighfār. The sign of this being realized is finding his nafs (lower self) involuntarily protected.
When at the station of istiqāma, he begins with tasliya (salawat). The sign of this station being realized is the constant awareness of the Muhammadan form.
The third station is taqwa. This is the result of the first two stations.
When he reaches the station of ikhlas, he begins with tahlīl. The sign of realizing this station is being freed from the bondage of all but Allah. When at the station of ṣidq, he begins with tasbīḥ. The sign of this station being realized is that all his outward and inward actions are at the same level.
When at the station of tuma’nīna—which is the result of the previous two stations—he then approaches the stations of murāqaba, mushāhada, maʿrifa, and ifrād. The sign of these is that the One remembered remembers.