The Different Levels In The Religion Of Islam: Islam, Iman and Ihsan

Islam

Islam means to surrender to Allah with Tawhid, to submit to Him with obedience and purity from Shirk (associating partners with Allah) and from its adherents. For one to be Muslim, one must have the following three:

1. He believes that Allah is the One, and that He has no partner and that none has the right to be worshipped except Him.
2. He submits to Allah Almighty with obedience to Him; he executes those orders that the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad ﷺ, came with, meaning that he believes him in what he says, obeys him in what he commands, and stays away from that which he forbids — as Allah Almighty says: (59:07)
   
   Whatever the Messenger gives you, take it. And whatever he forbids you from, leave it.
3. He purifies his heart from all forms and kinds of Shirk. One becomes a Muslim when he utters the two testimonies of faith, and when he applies the rest of the pillars of Islam.

The Pillars Of Islam Are Five

1. To bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
2. To establish the prayer (Salat).
3. To give Zakat (the obligatory charity).
4. To fast the month of Ramadan.
5. To make pilgrimage (Hajj) to the Sacred House (Ka'bah), for whoever is able to do so.

The First Pillar: The Two Testimonies

The Meaning Of The Two Testimonies

1. Laa Ilaha Illallah: “None has the right to be worshipped” negates all that is worshipped other than Allah, and "except Allah" establishes that worship is for Allah alone and that He has no partner in worship, just as He has no partner in His dominion. Hence there is none that deserves to be worshipped except Allah - and how perfect is He!
2. “And that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah”: i.e., I believe that he ﷺ is the Messenger of Allah, and so I obey him in what he commands, believe him in what he informs, and abstain from that which he prohibits or warns against; and I worship Allah only according to the way that he ﷺ legislated.

Iman (Faith)

Iman, upon which success in this world and the next depends, is composed of the following three elements: 

1. Acknowledgement with one's tongue.
2. Faith in one's heart.
3. And action with one's limbs.

Iman increases with obedience, decreases with disobedience. One must have in him the preceding three elements for him to be a believer (Mu'min). But what do those elements mean?

Acknowledgement With One's Tongue

This means that one acknowledges with his tongue and bears witness to the fact that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah and that Muhammad ﷺ is the Messenger of Allah.

Faith In One's Heart

This means that one believes with his heart in that which he uttered with his tongue, so that he is saved from being among the hypocrites, about whom Allah Almighty says: (02:08)

And of mankind, there are some (hypocrites) who say: "We believe in Allah and the Last Day" while in fact they believe not.

Action With One's Limbs

This means to apply the pillars of Islam and its obligatory duties – prayer, Zakat, fasting Ramadan, Hajj to Allah's Sacred House (i.e., Ka'bah), for whoever is able to do so. From the completeness of action is for one to be dutiful to his parents, to join ties with relations, to be kind and generous to the creation, for all of these are proofs that establish the veracity of the Iman in his heart.

Iman, then, is not merely a word that is uttered by the tongue; moreover, the heart must believe it and then action must follow. It has been related that Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, "Iman does not come with adornment or wishful thinking, but it is something that settles in the heart and is witnessed by action."

The Pillars Of Iman Are Six

1. Belief in Allah.
2. Belief in the angels.
3. Belief in the Divine Books that Allah revealed to His Messengers.
4. Belief in all of the Messengers.
5. Belief in the Last Day, when Allah will resurrect all of creation from their graves and then judge them for their deeds. Allah Almighty says: (99:7-8) 
   

   

   
   
   
   
6. Belief in Al-Qadar (Divine Preordainment) — both the good and bad of it, the sweet and bitter of it. This means that the Muslim believes that, before Allah created the creation, He had knowledge of all that was to occur; he believes that whatever Allah wills happens and that Allah has complete power; and he believes that only that which Allah wills takes place in the universe: what He wills happens, what He doesn't will, doesn't happen. When one of Allah's worshippers has Iman in Al-Qadar, he is greatly influenced in many ways - for example, the following:

i) He has patience when faced with hardship:
(57:22)

ii) He is satisfied and calm because he knows that Allah decreed his provision, his life span, and all of the matters that he wants and achieves.

The Prophet said:

Then He sends the angel who blows into him the Ruh (spirit). And He orders him (the angel) to write four matters: his provision, his time of death, his deeds... 

And the proof for the six pillars is this verse:

(2:177) 

It is not Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, and each and every act of obedience to Allâah, etc.) that you turn your faces towards east and (or) west (in prayers); but Al-Birr is (the quality of) the one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the Angels, the Book, the Prophets

– Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali & Muhammad Muhsin Khan

And the proof for Al-Qadar is the following verse: (54:49)

Verily, We have created all things with Qadar (Divine Preordainments of all things before their creation as written in the Book of Decrees Al-Lauh Al-Mahfûz).

– Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali & Muhammad Muhsin Khan

In the famous Hadith of Jibril, ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “One day, as we were sitting with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, a man appeared before us: he had on a garment that was pure white and his hair was pure black; though no sign of travel was upon him, not one of us knew him. He sat directly in front of the Prophet ﷺ, making his knees touch those of the Prophet ﷺ, and placing his hands on the Prophet's thighs. He said, ‘O Muhammad! Inform me about Islam. The Messenger of Allah said,

‘Islam is to bear witness that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; to establish the prayer; to give Zakat; to fast Ramadan, to make pilgrimage to the House (Ka'bah), for whoever is able to do so.

The man said, ‘You have spoken the truth.’ ” “Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “We were amazed at him because he first asked a question and then affirmed the veracity of the answer. He then said, ‘Inform me about Iman.’ The Prophet said,

‘To believe in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, the Last Day, and to believe in Divine Preordainment, the good of it and the bad of it.’ ”

One cannot reach the level of Iman unless he is first a Muslim.

Al-Ihsan

Literally, it means doing something proficiently and with sincerity; what it means in the Shari‘ah is for you to worship Allah Almighty as if you see Him, though you don't see him, He certainly sees you. The following verse is a proof for lhsan: (16:128)

One cannot reach the level of Ihsan unless he is first a Muslim and a believer (Mu'min).