Imaan is beyond five pillars
Anas ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
لَا يَسْتَقِيمُ الْإِيمَانُ إِلَّا بِالْقَوْلِ، وَلَا يَسْتَقِيمُ الْإِيمَانُ وَالْقَوْلُ إِلَّا بِالْعَمَلِ، وَلَا يَسْتَقِيمُ الْإِيمَانُ وَالْقَوْلُ وَالْعَمَلُ إِلَّا بِنِيَّةٍ مُوَافِقَةٍ لِلسُّنَّةِ
“A servant’s faith will not be upright until his heart is sound, and his heart will not be sound until his tongue is sound. And a man will not enter Paradise if his neighbour is not safe from his harm.” (Ahmad)
In this hadith, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ connects imaan directly with action. If you want to perfect your imaan, you have to have control over your heart and you need to have control over your tongue and he finished the hadith by saying you must not cause harm to others.
Yet very often we separate imaan into acts of worship from our day to day conduct. We compartmentalise our actions and think that if we have ticked the boxes of the five pillars then that is sufficient. We tend to reduce imaan to praying and fasting, and reciting the Quran and making dua. Of course, all of these are essential. But alongside doing your daily wird from the Quran, have you done your wird to your parents by being good to them? And what about your wife and children, or neighbour or employees, or people on the tube?
It’s all very saying, “Alhamdulillah, I have prayed my salah. I have done my morning adhkar. I have read my daily portion of Quran and made my duas,” but what about your dealings with other people, your businesses, investments and everyday interactions? These may be lacking. Someone may pray, dhikr, go for umrah, but not think twice about dealing with riba. Our essence of faith is action- faith must be visible through our actions, not just during acts of worship.
Faith is words and deeds
Imam Bukhari said:
الإِيمَانُ قَوْلٌ وَعَمَلٌ، يَزِيدُ وَيَنْقُصُ
“Imaan consists of words and deeds; it increases and decreases.” (Bukhari)
And:
السُّنَّةُ أَنْ تَقُولَ: الإِيمَانُ قَوْلٌ وَعَمَلٌ، يَزِيدُ وَيَنْقُصُ
“The Sunnah is to say that imaan consists of words and deeds; it increases and decreases.”
Imaan, therefore, is not just something we profess with our tongue or something hidden away in the heart. It has to affect the way we live. If our actions are completely untouched by our imaan, then something is missing. The theory has become disconnected from practice.
This is why the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sometimes used powerful expressions such as, “By Allah, he does not believe,” when speaking about certain forms of bad behaviour. This does not necessarily mean that the person has left Islam. If someone is bad to their neighbour, it does not mean he has become a disbeliever. Rather, it means there is a deficiency in his imaan. His faith has not produced the behaviour it is supposed to produce.
The aim of imaan to make us people who enact goodness; translate imaan into action. Imaan has degrees of completeness. It increases through obedience and decreases through disobedience, and our actions either strengthen it or expose its weaknesses.
Imaan is a complete package
Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) expressed this beautifully when he wrote:
إِنَّ لِلْإِيمَانِ فَرَائِضَ وَشَرَائِعَ وَحُدُودًا وَسُنَنًا، فَمَنِ اسْتَكْمَلَهَا اسْتَكْمَلَ الْإِيمَانَ، وَمَنْ لَمْ يَسْتَكْمِلْهَا لَمْ يَسْتَكْمِلِ الْإِيمَانَ
“Faith has obligations, prescribed teachings, limits and Sunnahs. Whoever fulfils them completely has perfected his faith, and whoever does not fulfil them completely has not perfected his faith.” (Bukhari)
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (may Allah have mercy on him), commenting on these words, explained that the fara’id are the deeds Allah has made obligatory. The shara’i‘ refer here to the beliefs of the religion. The hudud are the boundaries Allah has set, including the prohibitions we must avoid, while the sunan are reflected in etiquettes, words, kindness and character. So imaan is a complete package. It includes what you believe and what you do. It includes the obligations you fulfil and the limits you do not cross.
We cannot cherry-pick our imaan. We cannot say, “I am satisfied with my dhikr and my salah,” while ignoring everything else. Salah and dhikr are at the heart of our relationship with Allah, but that relationship is supposed to transform the way we behave.
Al-Awza‘i (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
لَا يَسْتَقِيمُ الْإِيمَانُ إِلَّا بِالْقَوْلِ، وَلَا يَسْتَقِيمُ الْإِيمَانُ وَالْقَوْلُ إِلَّا بِالْعَمَلِ، وَلَا يَسْتَقِيمُ الْإِيمَانُ وَالْقَوْلُ وَالْعَمَلُ إِلَّا بِنِيَّةٍ مُوَافِقَةٍ لِلسُّنَّةِ
“Faith cannot be sound without words, and faith and words cannot be sound without deeds. Nor can faith, words and deeds be sound without an intention that conforms to the Sunnah.”
The early generations did not separate faith from life. If we want to boost our imaan, we have to improve our character.
The real test of imaan
During Rabi al-Awwal in particular, people tend to remember the Messenger of Allah ﷺ more than at other times of the year. Of course, we should remember him throughout the year, but if the season encourages us to read more about him, then we should benefit from that opportunity.
Read about his character. Look at how he translated imaan into action. Look at how he dealt with his family, his Companions, his neighbours and even those who opposed him. The true test of imaan is not just inside the mosque, but also on the street. In many ways, the real test begins when you leave the mosque.
You are tested in the office when somebody irritates you; at home with your parents,; in the way you speak to your husband or wife. It appears in your relationship with your children and neighbours. It is easy to display good character when nothing is challenging us. The real test comes when we are under pressure. This is where we need to activate our imaan.
You may be subscribed to Islam, but you may not have activated it. The code for activating our imaan is following in the footsteps of the Prophet ﷺ.
Many of us are very keen to boost our finances, improve our careers or increase our achievements. We should be just as keen to boost our imaan. And the Prophet ﷺ has shown us how: control the heart, control the tongue and control your actions.
Improve your relationship with Allah, but also improve your relationship with the people around you. We cannot choose one and abandon the other. Our relationship with Allah is the core, but the effect of that relationship should spread into every branch of our lives.
Showing our love for the Prophet ﷺ
Allah gave humanity an immense blessing when He sent our master Muhammad ﷺ. It is the greatest favour Allah bestowed on us, after our imaan – He sent the best of creation to help humanity improve belief, character and conduct. All prophets and messengers came with the common aim of connecting people with God and rectifying belief and character.
Therefore, we should learn about him Prophet ﷺ. We should read about his life and study his character, but above all we should try to implement his Sunnah in our own lives. This shows our love for him. Not just singing nasheeds, though they are expressions of love. What is greater is proving our love through our actions.
Be a person of good character. Let your imaan appear in the way you speak. Let it appear in the way you treat your family. Let it govern your business dealings and your behaviour towards your neighbours. Let people experience something of the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ through the way you deal with them.
We ask Allah Almighty to enable us to follow in the footsteps of His Messenger ﷺ, to improve our character, strengthen our imaan and make our actions a true reflection of the Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ. Ameen.
Based on the Khutbah of Shaykh Haytham Tamim on 21st August 2026