With regard to his words—may Allah have mercy on him—“such as Islam, faith, and excellence”: these three are the greatest categories of worship—Islam, faith, and excellence. Their detailed explanation will appear, Allah willing, when the Shaykh—may Allah have mercy on him—discusses the second foundational principle. He mentions them here because they are forms of worship.

Islam, with its five pillars—(1) the two testimonies of faith, (2) establishing the prayer, (3) giving the zakah, (4) fasting Ramadan, and (5) making pilgrimage to the Sacred House—is composed of acts of devotion involving both wealth and body. Faith, with its six pillars, is an act of the heart: to believe in Allah, His angels, His scriptures, His messengers, the Last Day, and to believe in destiny, its good and its evil; this is inward worship.

Excellence, for its part, has a single pillar: that you worship Allah as though you see Him; and if you cannot achieve that, then know that He sees you. This is the highest form of worship, for excellence represents the loftiest level of devotion.

These three are called the levels of the religion, for taken together they constitute the religion itself. When Gabriel questioned the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—in the presence of his Companions, and the Prophet answered him about Islam, faith, and excellence, he said, “That was Gabriel; he came to teach you your religion.” Thus the Prophet designated these three as the religion.