and understanding and certainty. Its trunk is sincerity, its branches are deeds, and its fruit consists of the beneficial effects, praiseworthy qualities, pure character, upright bearing, and commendable conduct and demeanor produced by righteous deeds. These qualities indicate that this tree has been planted in the heart and is firmly rooted there.
When knowledge is sound and accords with the truth Allah revealed in His Book, belief accords with what He has said about Himself and what His messengers have said about Him, sincerity resides in the heart, deeds conform to His command, and conduct, demeanor, and bearing reflect these foundations and are consistent with them, one knows that the tree of faith in the heart has a firmly established root and branches reaching into heaven.
When the opposite is true, one knows that what stands in the heart is only the evil tree, uprooted from the surface of the earth, with no firm footing.
Another lesson is that a tree remains alive only through nourishment that waters it and makes it grow. If its water supply is cut off, it will soon wither. So it is with the tree of Islam in the heart: unless its owner tends it continually, watering it with beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds, nurturing reflection through remembrance and remembrance through reflection, it will soon wither.
In Imām Ahmad’s Musnad, Abū Hurayrah relates that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
“Faith wears out in the heart just as a garment wears out, so renew your faith.”
In short, unless its owner tends a planting, it will soon perish.
From this, you can understand how greatly people need the acts of worship Allah has commanded at recurring times. It is a manifestation of His immense mercy, His perfect favor, and His kindness toward His servants that He has prescribed these acts as regular duties and made them a source of nourishment for the planting of tawhīd that He has established in their hearts.
Another lesson is that Allah, glorified be He, has established the natural order such that beneficial plantings and crops inevitably become mixed with weeds and foreign growth unlike themselves. If their owner tends them, clears away this growth, and uproots it,