The three degrees of religion: islam, iman and ihsan
Contents
The two sayings of the Prophet (upon him be grace and peace) cited in this article, drawn from the collection of forty-two hadiths of Imam Nawawi, are among those most often adduced to show the place of Sufism within islam. Note that they are transmitted by Muslim for the first and by Bukhari for the second, which means, for anyone who studies the science of hadith, that their authenticity is beyond doubt. This remark matters, for some, out of ignorance or bad faith, have tried to discredit Sufism by claiming it rests on unreliable or even fabricated hadiths.
The hadith of Jibril
The first saying is often called the “hadith of Jibril”, on account of the archangel’s presence. Its conclusion shows the sacred and central character of all that has just been said: “That was Gabriel, who came to you to teach you your religion.”
Thus the archangel, the messenger of God, appeared this time not only to the Prophet, as he often did, but to a whole group of companions. In sacred history this event is unique, and it should show us the value of what was exchanged.
Through his first three questions, the archangel teaches the community that spirituality can be lived at different degrees of depth, and he gives these degrees the names islam, iman and ihsan, which can be rendered as “submission”, “faith” and “excellence”.
Many masters have spoken of these three degrees, in Sufism and even in other traditions, and to explain how they relate to one another the image of a fruit or a nut is often used. Islam, as the simple application of the pillars or of the revealed Law (shari’a), can be compared to the husk that contains and protects the nut. Iman is the flesh of the nut, and a practice without faith is like an empty shell, good only for breaking your teeth on, with no hope of drawing the least nourishment from it. Ihsan would then be the oil that gives the flesh its savour: without that oil, the flesh becomes dry and tasteless.
The Prophet had the habit, and indeed the mission, of addressing men according to their degree of understanding, which explains why, in certain of his sayings, one has the feeling that the inner dimension remains veiled, hidden. If you cast only a quick and superficial glance at the Muslim religion, you risk perceiving it as no more than a set of rules, a sort of instruction manual of piety for getting into paradise. To think that would be like looking at a nut and deciding, going no further, that it is just an empty shell, because you may not know how to get through that shell and reach the flesh and the oil.
We must therefore learn to see forms and ritual practices as means of education, without losing sight of the aim of that education.
Islam: the pillars
“Islam is to bear witness that there is no other god than God and that Muhammad is the messenger of God, to perform the prayer, to pay the purification, to fast the month of Ramadan and to accomplish the pilgrimage if you have the means.”
These prescriptions were to be given the name of the pillars of islam, and they are like the cement welding together the community and the equality between brothers, for they are the same for all the Muslims of the world, without distinction of race, sex, wealth or social rank.
The modalities of applying these different rites are commented on and explained by the science of fiqh, but if there is one point common to all the schools, it is that the essential condition of their validity, the key that gives them their meaning, their value and their reality, is the intention in which they are accomplished. The Prophet made many allusions to this when he said: “There are those who will receive from their fasting only hunger and thirst…”, or again: “For some, the prayer will be nothing more than gymnastics…” Let us also cite this verse of the Qur’an: “They say with their tongues what is not in their hearts” (Qur’an XLVIII, 11).
So it is not the form of this or that act that counts, but the intention of which that act is the expression. And for the Sufis, that intention is to purify themselves so as to render God an ever more sincere worship.
Thus, to attest His oneness, at the most superficial level, is not to worship inert statues; but at the most essential level, it is to perceive no other reality than the divine Reality, for He is the Inward and the Outward, and there is no other inward nor other outward than Him.
To attest that Muhammad is the messenger of God is to attach oneself to his community, to consider him as the supreme guide towards God, and to remember his saying: “Your faith will not be complete so long as I am not dearer to your hearts than your goods, your kin and your own selves.”
To perform the prayer is to restore to time a sacred dimension, to remind oneself always that God is greater than everything I busy myself with and attach importance to; it is, says the hadith, like having a river of pure water flowing at one’s doorstep and going down to wash in it five times a day.
To pay the alms is to remember the necessary solidarity between all men, created equal before God for the sole purpose of adoring Him.
To fast is to learn to detach oneself from the pleasures of the world so as no longer to perceive them as ends in themselves, but as manifestations of the beauty and goodness of the All-Merciful, who grants each evening the breaking of the fast and a share of His grace.
To accomplish the pilgrimage, finally, is to go to Mecca if one has the means, but above all to live in this world as a passer-by, as an exile who comes from God and aspires only to return to Him.
Iman: faith
“Iman is to believe in God, in His angels, in His books, in His messengers, and that His decree prevails over all things.”
It is on the basis of this saying, which moreover takes up passages of the Qur’an, that the credo of Muslim faith is built. The science which then comments on this credo to expound the dogma is called kalam, or theology; but as we shall see further on, what matters is not so much to discourse upon iman as to make it penetrate the heart.
A theologian said one day to a Sufi: “I have just gathered in a work seventy irrefutable proofs of God’s existence.” The latter answered: “If you had known Him but once, you would never have needed the slightest proof.” Ibn ‘Ata’ Allah also said: “O you who seek to prove Him, were it not for His infinite Reality, neither you nor your proofs would exist.”
Ihsan: excellence
“Ihsan is that you worship God as though you saw Him, for if you do not see Him, truly He sees you.”
Excellence is thus not defined by an endless series of rules of conduct, but as a way of worshipping God that flows from an interior state. “As though you saw Him”, because one cannot see God, yet one cannot otherwise express what belongs to the order of experience.
The Prophet said of Abu Bakr, whom he regarded as the closest of his companions: “He did not surpass you by more fasts or prayers, but by something that took place in the depths of his heart.” And also that astonishing saying: “Whoever wishes to see a dead man walking, let him look at Abu Bakr.”
So we see that ihsan cannot be explained the way one explains a point of law or a point of doctrine. He who lives it can only evoke its reality by allusions, and testify, through right conduct, to what God has deposited in his heart.
There is moreover a subtlety of the Arabic text that translation cannot render: the formula “If you do not see Him, He sees you” is expressed by a construction proper to the Arabic language which, translated word for word, would give: “If you are not, you see Him, then He sees you.” This “if you are not” alludes to the initiatic death, to the extinction of the ego (fana’), which leads to contemplation, or what is called spiritual realisation, or sanctity, of which the second hadith speaks.
The hadith of the saint
What is often called the hadith of the saint (wali) is a hadith qudsi, that is, a saying in which God Himself speaks through the mouth of the Prophet. It is transmitted by Abu Hurayra, one of the “people of the bench”, the ahl al-suffa regarded as the first Sufis.
The latter was endowed with an exceptional memory, which allowed him to report a great many of the Prophet’s sayings, but he also said this astonishing thing: “I received two sciences from the messenger of God: the first I have transmitted to you, but if I spoke to you of the second, you would stone me.”
Indeed, certain truths can only be understood by those who live them, and he who attempts to express them exposes himself to sometimes grave misunderstandings, which are at the origin of all the integrist attitudes the Sufis have had to face. It is doubtless to warn the generality of believers against the risk of misinterpreting all that exceeds the frame of their understanding that God gives this warning: “Whoever shows hostility towards one of My walis, I declare war on him.”
Having thus indicated the existence of sanctity, and the favour and protection enjoyed by the one who has received it, Allah goes on to give the means that lead to this sanctity, and ends by describing its modalities.
“My servant does not draw near to Me by anything more pleasing to My eyes than by the accomplishment of what I have prescribed for him…”
It is the degree of islam, or of the shari’a, that is envisaged here as the first, unavoidable yet insufficient stage of the journey. By way of commentary one may recall Ibn ‘Ata’ Allah’s saying: “To chase after supererogatory works while neglecting what is obligatory is the sign that your soul is still dominated by pride and passion.” One might also say that the heart of the fruit cannot be reached without first passing through the husk.
“…and My servant never ceases to draw near to Me through supererogatory practices, until I love him.”
This is the degree of the tariqa, that is, of the Path, which is a continuous deepening of faith (iman). Indeed, if for the theologian faith consists in believing and adhering to an established dogma, for the Sufi disciple it is above all a matter of living a practice that will nourish his spiritual experience.
Thus, for example, faith in the angels does not grow by dint of discourses on angelology: it imposes itself as self-evident upon the one who has tasted the lights God deposits in hearts during the gatherings of invocation. The Book is no longer a mere text one would have a duty to regard as the Word of God: it becomes a travelling companion that unveils itself day after day to the one who seeks God with sincerity, and who guides him, supports him, illuminates him, encourages him, consoles him, reassures him, awakens him, calls him.
The prophets (upon them be peace) become like elder brothers who preceded and guided him in faith, and whose example and remembrance restore his impetus to face trials. The messenger of God, finally, is ever closer. Many Sufis have been able to recount the encounters they had with him in dreams or experiences of unveiling, and he himself said: “Whoever sees me has truly seen me, for Satan does not take my form.” And he even said this astonishing word to one of his companions:
“I long to meet my loved ones.”
“But, messenger of God, are we not your loved ones?”
“You,” he answered, “you are my companions.”
“Then who are your loved ones?”
“Those who will believe in me without ever having seen me.”
“And when I love him, I am his hearing by which he hears, his sight by which he sees, his hand by which he grasps, and his foot on which he walks; if he asks of Me, assuredly I will grant him; if he seeks refuge near Me, assuredly I will give it to him.”
These words evoke the station of love, that of Allah’s beloved, His friends. It is the station of ihsan, or of the haqiqa. One may note the parallel between the meaning hidden in the definition of ihsan (“If you are not, you see Him, truly He sees you”) and what is said here: the accomplished or realised saint is he who has been extinguished to himself (fana’) so as to subsist only through God (baqa’), that is, God alone subsists, and it is He who is the hearing, the sight, the hand or the foot of the saint. These terms fana’ and baqa’ are drawn from a verse of the Qur’an which says: “Verily, everything perishes (fana), only the Face of thy Lord subsists (baqa)” (Qur’an LV, 26-27).
The prophetic source
These two hadiths thus show that spirituality encompasses several degrees and that each person can find his own in them. But to speak of these degrees is not enough to live them: that requires more than words; it requires guidance.
We may return to the hadith of Jibril to observe the archangel’s attitude. As we mentioned earlier, he comes to the Prophet’s companions, a unique event, to teach them their religion. But although he could very well do so, he does not address them directly: he speaks only to the Prophet. He places his knees against his and his hands upon his thighs, to show the proximity there is between him and the Prophet, and between the latter and God; and all that he wants to tell them, he has him say to them, to show them that in him lies the answer to every question. In this sense one better understands that saying of the Prophet: “I am the city of knowledge, and my son-in-law ’Ali is its gate.”
Thus the Prophet is the source of all knowledge. He who aspires only to the first degree of religion must attach himself to him through the scholars of the shari’a, who from generation to generation have transmitted what he taught in that domain. The same holds for the one who wants to reach the degree of iman and who may be guided there by the theologians.
He, finally, who aspires to ihsan, and who wants to be educated so as to polish his heart, transform his conduct and taste the inexpressible secrets of the haqiqa, must find a being chosen by Allah to become a gate towards the Prophet: a being who is extinguished in Allah and subsists only through Him, a being of whom He is the hearing, the sight, the hand and the foot, a being whom He has elected, whom He loves and whom He protects. Such a being is a mercy for the worlds, as the Prophet himself was. I pray God to grant long life to such beings and to guide towards them all those He wishes to bring to Him.
Text of the hadith of Jibril
(Reported on the authority of the companion ’Umar.)
One day, as we were sitting with the Prophet, a man appeared before us. His garments gleamed white, his hair was of the darkest black. No sign of the fatigues of travel showed on him. None of us knew him. He went up to the Prophet and sat down in front of him, placing his knees against the Prophet’s knees. He also placed his hands on the Prophet’s thighs and asked: “O Muhammad, what is islam?” The Prophet answered: “Islam is to bear witness that there is no deity but Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, to perform the prayer, to give the alms, to fast during the month of Ramadan and to visit the house of Allah as a pilgrim, if one has the means.” The stranger said: “You have spoken the truth!” We were astounded that he should ask him a question and then tell him he was truthful! The stranger said: “O Muhammad, what is iman?” The Prophet answered: “Iman is to believe in Allah, in His angels, in His books, in His messengers, in the Day of Judgement, and to believe that His decree prevails over all things.” The stranger said: “You have spoken the truth!” Then he asked again: “What is ihsan?” The Prophet answered: “Ihsan is to worship Allah as though one saw Him, for if one does not see Him, He sees us.” The stranger said: “You have spoken the truth!” Then he asked at last: “And what of the Hour of Judgement?” The Prophet answered: “I know no more of it than the one who asks the question!” The stranger said: “Then tell me of its signs!” The Prophet answered: “The slave woman will give birth to her mistress, and the poor, the barefoot and the shepherds will vie in raising great buildings.” The stranger remained a long while before leaving. The Prophet then said to me: “’Umar, do you know who the person asking these questions was?” I answered that Allah and His messenger knew best. The Prophet said: “That was Jibril (the archangel Gabriel). He came to teach you your religion.”
Text of the hadith of the saint
(Reported by Bukhari.)
The Prophet said, in the hadith qudsi: “Allah said: ‘Whoever shows hostility towards one of My saints (wali), I declare war on him. My servant does not draw near to Me by anything more pleasing to My eyes than by the accomplishment of what I have prescribed for him. Then he never ceases to draw near to Me through supererogatory works, to the point that I love him. And when I love him, I am his hearing by which he hears, his sight by which he sees, his hand by which he grasps, and his foot with which he walks. If he asks of Me, assuredly I will grant him; if he seeks refuge near Me, assuredly I will give it to him.’”
