Foundations of Deen- Emaan as per Quran
The root word of “EMAAN” is a-m-n which means: to be calm and quiet (in one’s heart); to be protected from fear; trustworthiness, and with complete truthfulness. Emaan also means to accept truthfully, to be convinced with strong conviction, and to verify something, to rely upon or have confidence in something. In a nutshell the Word EMAAN as per Quran means to have strong faith on, to trust, to submit to, to declare something being confirmed truth, to guarantee, to obey and to have strong conviction on something.
As per Quran, the five Fundamentals of Emaan are;
1- Emaan on Allah
2- Emaan on Allah’s Messengers & Prophets
3- Emaan on Mala’ik (Angels)
4- Emaan on Book of Revelation
5- Emaan on the Day of Judgment
[Quran 04:136] O you who have believed, believe in Allah and His Messenger and the Book that He sent down upon His Messenger and the book which He sent down before. And whoever disbelieves in Allah, His angels, His book, His messengers, and the Day of Judgement has certainly gone far astray.
EMAAN is usually translated as faith or belief without proof or argument, without references or reasoning or using intellect or knowledge. However as per Qur’an, Emaan is a conviction based on reasoning and knowledge; a conviction that results from full mental acceptance and intellectual satisfaction; the kind of conviction which gives us a feeling of inner peace, contentment and satisfaction of heart and mind. Emaan is not just some word utterance from our tongue to accept it, but to accept it with the pure heart and mind i.e. with full conviction. Refer surah Baqra 2:8-9.
(2:8-9) “And of the people are some who say, “We believe in Allah and the Last Day,” but they are not believers. They deceive Allah and those who believe, but they deceive not except themselves and perceive not.”
Quran is against blind faith. Blind faith as the definition of Emaan is NOT supported by Quran. In fact Quran places the importance on reason and utilization of all our faculties as the foundation of Deen. Refer to the following ayah
[8:21-22] (21) And do not be like those who say, “We have heard,” while they do not hear. (22) Indeed, the worst of living creatures in the sight of Allah are the deaf and dumb who do not use Aql (Reasoning and Intellect).
Basically, the message from above Ayahs is that we have to focus and understand Ayaat of Allah not just read it or see it. In the eyes of Allah, the worst of all the creatures are the ones who do not use their intellect and reasoning to understand GOD’S message. For those who do not use their intellect and reasoning, all their GOD given faculties of 6 senses which they are blessed with, are of no use to them. These humans are, thus, worst then all the other creations of Allah, even animals.
[7:179] “And We have certainly created for Hell many of the jinn and mankind. They have hearts with which they do not understand, they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear. Those are like livestock; rather, they are more astray. It is they who are the heedless.”
It is clear from these verses that Allah puts an extraordinary emphasis on us to use our intellect and reasoning. Without using our Aqal, we would be worse than even animals in the sight of Allah. The revelation from Allah is meant to be used with intellect, reasoning and understanding in order to enlighten our minds and hearts, we can not follow anything or anyone blindly. Blind Faith is discouraged as per Quran.
[25:73] And those who, when reminded of the Ayahs of their Lord, do not fall upon them deaf and blind.
Therefore, Emaan has to be acquired with firm conviction by utilizing all our faculties of senses and our faculty of intellect and reasoning so that Emaan can enter into our hearts and minds. Emaan is not a blind faith without any rational thinking and reasoning. There is a clear, explicit, and objective definition of Emaan given in the Qur’an and Allah has Himself explained the process of how to acquire EMAAN in various verses related to this topic- some highlighted above. Allah commands every one of us (as humans) to use our intellect, reasoning and up-to-date knowledge in order to understand and explore the meanings of His revelations (verse 25:73). This requirement is for each and every one of us, for each and every generations, and for all times to come. MAY ALLAH GIVE US HIDAYAH AND EMAAN. AMEEN