Thus, defining faith in this manner gives it the status of a technical, Sharʿī reality: the word īmān has been transferred from its original linguistic sense to its specialized legal sense.

Faith, then, comprises three elements:

1. Utterance with the tongue—one must verbalize and acknowledge the testimony.
2. Belief in the heart—what the tongue pronounces must be firmly held within the heart; otherwise the person resembles the hypocrites “who say with their tongues what is not in their hearts” (48:11).
3. Action with the limbs—mere speech and conviction are not enough; the servant must also act. He must perform the obligatory duties and avoid the prohibited matters, carrying out acts of obedience and steering clear of sins. All of this falls under faith. In this broad definition, faith encompasses the entire religion, though within the many acts and ordinances some form part of faith’s very essence, while others serve to perfect and complete it.

Faith has pillars and branches. The Messenger ﷺ explained its pillars in the ḥadīth of Gabriel, and he detailed its branches in the ḥadīth, “Faith consists of more than seventy branches.” This, God willing, will come later.

When īmān and islām are mentioned side by side, each term takes on its specific meaning. If only one of them is mentioned, it automatically includes the other; thus, when they are mentioned