joy, sweetness, and delight (1) in the heart; whoever does not experience this is either bereft of faith (2) or has only a deficient share of it. He belongs to the category (3) about whom Allah, Exalted is He, has said: “The Bedouins say, ‘We believe.’ Say, ‘You have not believed; rather say, ‘We have submitted,’ for faith has not yet entered your hearts.” (4)

Such people—according to the soundest of the two scholarly opinions—are Muslims, not hypocrites, yet they are not believers (5), because faith has not penetrated their hearts so that its reality might touch them (6).

Allah (7), mighty and majestic, has gathered the traits of birr in His words: “Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west. Rather, righteousness is whoever believes in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets; who, out of love for Him, gives wealth to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask, and for freeing slaves; who establishes prayer and pays the alms; who fulfill their covenants when they pledge; and who are patient in hardship, adversity, and during battle—such are the ones who are truthful, and such are the God-fearing.” ⦗177⦘ (8)

Thus He, glorified be He, has declared that birr is to believe in Him (9), in His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day. These are the five foundations of faith (10) without which faith cannot stand.