Discussion of the Narrations

Islam and the Various Ranks of Muslims’ Islam

Amīr al-Muʾminīn (a.s.) said: “I will describe Islam in a way that no one before me has described it, nor will anyone after me describe it except in a similar manner: Islam is submission, and submission is certainty, and certainty is affirmation, and affirmation is acknowledgment, and acknowledgment is action, and action is performance.”(302)

Abū ʿAbdullāh (a.s.) said: “Know that Islam is submission, and submission is Islam. So whoever submits has embraced Islam, and whoever does not submit has no Islam.”(303)

Abū ʿAbdullāh (a.s.) said: “Islam is a rank…, and faith is a rank above Islam…, and piety is a rank above faith…, and certainty is a rank above piety… People have been given nothing less than certainty, and you have only grasped the lowest level of Islam, so beware lest it slip from your hands.”(304)

One of our companions, Sirāj, who was a servant of Abū ʿAbdullāh (a.s.), said: … A group of people was mentioned, and I said [to Abū ʿAbdullāh]: “May I be sacrificed for you, we disassociate ourselves from them, for they do not say what we say.” He said: “They say and we do not say what you say, yet you disassociate from them?” I said: “Yes.” He said: “So we have what you do not have, should we then disassociate from you?” I said: “No, may I be sacrificed for you.” He said: “And God has what we do not have, do you think He has cast us aside?” I said: “No, by God, may I be sacrificed for you. What should we do?” He said: “Love them and do not disassociate from them: Among the Muslims are those who have one share, those who have two shares, those who have three shares, those who have four shares, those who have five shares, those who have six shares, and those who have seven shares. It is not appropriate for the one with one share to be burdened with what is upon the one with two shares, nor the one with two shares with what is upon the one with three, nor the one with three with what is upon the one with four, nor the one with four with what is upon the one with five, nor the one with five with what is upon the one with six, nor the one with six with what is upon the one with seven…”(305)

Note:

a) The interpretation of the perfect infallible human, except for the women of Amīr al-Muʾminīn, is the essence of the Qur’an and the Prophet’s family. Therefore, the most comprehensive lineage is the identity that His Holiness has drawn for Islam.

b) What has been stated in defining the identity of Islam from the perspective of the first infallible Imam includes both the theoretical and practical aspects of Islam, as it considers both the stages of scientific determination and the ranks of practical resolve in Islam. What has been explained by Imam al-Ṣādiq (a.s.) is a view of the definition of that very definition, which, like Islam itself, is exemplified and embodied, more manifest than the limited and defined (with a fatḥa), which is Islam in the sense of doctrinal, ethical, jurisprudential, and legal law.

c) Islam has levels, the minimum of which is sufficient for peaceful coexistence among fellow believers, and every Muslim should tolerate other Muslims with open-mindedness. This is the same as commendable social pluralism, unlike doctrinal and ideological pluralism, which is accompanied by blameworthy tolerance and ominous leniency.

The point is that Islam, whose source of knowledge includes both demonstrative reason and reliable transmission, is not more than one, because there are not multiple straight paths, and truth is not diverse, nor is reality relative. However, for mutual tolerance, a certain standard of Islam is necessary, and expecting more than that is an improper expectation. Otherwise, no Muslim should tolerate the average among them, just as the infallible Imams should not accept the elite like the special ones and live with them as a united Islamic community, while the conduct and tradition of those holy beings has been to tolerate everyone.