Levels of Islam

Islam, in the sense of religion, not as a mental or physical act of a person, is the essence of religion; not something separate from it: “Indeed, the religion in the sight of God is Islam”(59). Religion has levels such as the outer, inner, and the innermost. These longitudinal degrees are also conceivable, even realized, for Islam.

Islam, in the sense of a person’s internal and external actions, has levels, the lowest of which is acknowledging and confessing to monotheism, resurrection, and prophethood. The jurisprudential effects of Islam, such as the sanctity of life and property, permissibility of marriage, outward purity, and the like, are based on this level. At this stage, Islam may not have yet penetrated the heart and soul of the Muslim individual to be called faith, as God Almighty says: “The Bedouins say, ‘We have believed.’ Say, ‘You have not [yet] believed; but say [instead], ’We have submitted,’ for faith has not yet entered your hearts’”(60).

The highest level of Islam is the station of complete submission and obedience, and between this lowest and highest, multiple stages can be conceived. True Islam and faith are one: “And whoever desires other than Islam as religion_—_never will it be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers”(61). The unity of these two can be inferred from the combination of these two verses: “And We evacuated therefrom of the believers. But We found not within them other than a [single] house of Muslims”(62). When Muslims were the same as believers, then Islam is the same as faith.

Certainly, the Islam that Abraham and Ishmael desired in this prayer is not the lower level of Islam, nor was the second level, which is faith, their intention. This is because these two great prophets were themselves preachers and teachers of faith. Similarly, Abraham, in the early stages of his call, after arguing with the people, said: “Indeed, I have turned my face toward He who created the heavens and the earth, inclining toward truth, and I am not of those who associate others with God”(63).

The Islam that Abraham and Ishmael requested for themselves and some of their descendants from the Gracious God was the high level of servitude and submission(64), and complete surrender and obedience. The word “to You” which indicates exclusivity, also points to this intended meaning. The station of submission (taslīm) refers to the absolute obedience and surrender of the righteous wayfarer before God Almighty, his complete detachment from anything other than God, and placing nothing in his heart except the remembrance and love of Him. Considering this meaning, one can say that requesting the station of submission is, in fact, asking for a sound heart (qalb salīm), because a sound heart means a submissive, obedient, and compliant heart, with the characteristic that nothing enters it except the remembrance and love of the Truth. The possessor of such a heart moves in harmony with all beings in the created world: “While to Him submit all those in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly”(65).

The request for the submission of the heart is because the heart is the central element of all human actions, and the believer’s heart, which is between two fingers of the fingers of God_—who is free from having hands and fingers—_is subject to change at every moment(66). Therefore, asking for the submission of the heart from God Almighty is the best supplication.

Based on the aforementioned points, the noble verse “When he came to his Lord with a sound heart”(67) is evidence of the acceptance of Abraham’s prayer. The effect of the acceptance of that prayer became apparent in the extremely difficult test of sacrificing Ishmael, as both father and son, demonstrating their complete readiness, submitted to God’s command and became utterly obedient to His order: “He said, ‘O my son! I see in a dream that I am sacrificing you. See what you think.’ He said, ‘O my father! Do what you have been commanded. You will find me, God willing, to be among the patient ones.’ When they both submitted and he laid him down on his forehead, We called out to him, ‘O Abraham! You have indeed fulfilled the vision.’ Thus do We reward the virtuous. This was indeed a manifest test”(68). For one who has attained the lofty station of submission and possesses a sound heart, such tests are pleasurable, not painful or distressing, because all things and persons are the true property of God, and God has real ownership and sovereignty over them. The wayfarer who has reached this state both understands and sees this, consequently perceiving himself as God’s trustee, striving to preserve the trust, and deriving pleasure from it.