The Grades of Deen: Islam, ‘Imān and Iḥsān
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Executive Summary
Presented here is a translated chapter from Part 1, Volume 1 of Kitāb al-Tawḥeed by Professor Muḥammad ibn Abdullah al-Massari.
The specific arrangement or ordering of words: ‘Islam, ‘Imān and Iḥsān’ is taken from the famous authentic ḥadith of the angel Jibreel (Gabriel). In this ḥadith he approached the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him during a public gathering and asked a series of questions. After asking each question, he affirmed the truth of the Prophet’s reply.
“The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: When you see the slave woman give birth to her mistress or master and you see the shepherds competing in the construction of lofty buildings and you see the barefoot, hungry dependents become prominent figures among the people – those are signs and portents of the hour. He said: O Messenger of Allah, who are the shepherds and the barefoot, hungry dependents? He said: The Arabs.” [Musnad Aḥmad]
However, when considering the entire corpus of evidence, the reported wording isn’t completely uniform and there are some important variations of wording that have been reported. That body of evidence is presented and evaluated, with very important conclusions drawn from the totality of that corpus.
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