Thus, in this hadith, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, used Islam to denote the outward deeds and faith to denote the inward belief. This does not mean that deeds are not part of faith, or that affirmation in the heart is not part of Islam. Rather, it is an elaboration of a whole whose parts are all one entity: namely, religion. For this reason, he said, “That was Gabriel; he came to teach you the matters of your religion.”

Evidence that deeds are part of faith is the report transmitted to us by Ahmad ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Salihi: Abu al-Qasim Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Shah informed us; Abu Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Quraysh ibn Sulayman narrated to us; Bishr ibn Musa narrated to us; Khalaf ibn al-Walid narrated to us, from Jarir al-Razi, from Sahl ibn Abi Salih, from ‘Abd Allah ibn Dinar, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Faith has seventy-odd branches. The highest of them is the statement, ‘There is no god but Allah,’ and the lowest of them is removing something harmful from the road. Modesty is a branch of faith.” (1)

It has also been said that faith is derived from security; thus, a believer is called a believer because he secures himself against Allah’s punishment. Allah Most High is the Giver of security because He grants His servants security from His punishment. (2)

Concerning His saying, “in the unseen”: The unseen is a verbal noun used in the sense of a noun; thus, an absent person may be called “the unseen,” just as a just person is called “justice” and a visitor “visitation.” The unseen is whatever is hidden from the eyes. Ibn ‘Abbas said: “Here, the unseen includes everything you are commanded to believe in that is hidden from your sight, such as the angels, resurrection, Paradise, Hell, the bridge, and the scale.” It was also said that the unseen here means Allah Most High; and it was said to mean the Quran. Al-Hasan said: it means the Hereafter. Zirr ibn Hubaysh and Ibn Jurayj said: it means revelation. A parallel is His saying: “Does he possess knowledge of the unseen?” (53:35). Ibn Kaysan said: it means divine decree.

‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid said: “We were with ‘Abd Allah ibn Mas‘ud, and we mentioned the Companions of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, [and that by which they had preceded us].” (3) ‘Abd Allah then said: “The affair of Muhammad was clear to whoever saw him. By Him besides Whom there is no god, no one has ever believed with a faith superior to faith in the unseen.” He then recited, “Alif-Lam-Mim. This is the Book,” up to His saying, “the successful.”

Abu Ja‘far, Abu ‘Amr, and Warsh recite the word translated “they believe” without pronouncing the hamzah. Abu Ja‘far likewise omits every unvowelled hamzah, except in anbi’hum (“inform them”), nabbi’hum (“tell them”), and nabbi’na (“tell us”). Abu ‘Amr omits all of them except when it marks the jussive, as in nabbi’hum, anbi’hum, tasu’hum (“it distresses them”), in nasha’ (“if We will”), nansa’ha (“We defer it”), and similar instances; or when its omission would entail a shift from one linguistic form to another, as in mu’sadah (“closed”) and ri’yan (“splendour”). Warsh omits every unvowelled hamzah that is the first root consonant of a verb, except in tu’wi (“you grant refuge”) and tu’wihi (“you grant him refuge”). Nor does he omit it when it is the second root consonant, except in ru’ya (“vision”) and words of that type—other than words in the pattern fi‘l, such as dhi’b (“wolf”). (4)

Concerning His saying, “and establish the prayer”: that is, they observe it continually and preserve it at its appointed times, with its proper limits, pillars, and prescribed forms.