Al-Kafi · Hadith 1

The Book of Belief and Disbelief · Another Chapter on the Same Issue That Islam Is Before Belief · Volume 2, book 1, chapter 16, Hadith 1

Original Arabic text

1ـ عَلِيُّ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَنِ الْعَبَّاسِ بْنِ مَعْرُوفٍ عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ أَبِي نَجْرَانَ عَنْ حَمَّادِ بْنِ عُثْمَانَ عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحِيمِ الْقَصِيرِ قَالَ كَتَبْتُ مَعَ عَبْدِ الْمَلِكِ بْنِ أَعْيَنَ إِلَى أَبِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) أَسْأَلُهُ عَنِ الإيمَانِ مَا هُوَ فَكَتَبَ إِلَيَّ مَعَ عَبْدِ الْمَلِكِ بْنِ أَعْيَنَ سَأَلْتَ رَحِمَكَ الله عَنِ الإيمَانِ وَالإيمَانُ هُوَ الإقْرَارُ بِاللِّسَانِ وَعَقْدٌ فِي الْقَلْبِ وَعَمَلٌ بِالأرْكَانِ وَالإيمَانُ بَعْضُهُ مِنْ بَعْضٍ وَهُوَ دَارٌ وَكَذَلِكَ الإسْلامُ دَارٌ وَالْكُفْرُ دَارٌ فَقَدْ يَكُونُ الْعَبْدُ مُسْلِماً قَبْلَ أَنْ يَكُونَ مُؤْمِناً وَلا يَكُونُ مُؤْمِناً حَتَّى يَكُونَ مُسْلِماً فَالإسْلامُ قَبْلَ الإيمَانِ وَهُوَ يُشَارِكُ الإيمَانَ فَإِذَا أَتَى الْعَبْدُ كَبِيرَةً مِنْ كَبَائِرِ الْمَعَاصِي أَوْ صَغِيرَةً مِنْ صَغَائِرِ الْمَعَاصِي الَّتِي نَهَى الله عَزَّ وَجَلَّ عَنْهَا كَانَ خَارِجاً مِنَ الإيمَانِ سَاقِطاً عَنْهُ اسْمُ الإيمَانِ وَثَابِتاً عَلَيْهِ اسْمُ الإسْلامِ فَإِنْ تَابَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ عَادَ إِلَى دَارِ الإيمَانِ وَلا يُخْرِجُهُ إِلَى الْكُفْرِ إِلا الْجُحُودُ وَالإسْتِحْلالُ أَنْ يَقُولَ لِلْحَلالِ هَذَا حَرَامٌ وَلِلْحَرَامِ هَذَا حَلالٌ وَدَانَ بِذَلِكَ فَعِنْدَهَا يَكُونُ خَارِجاً مِنَ الإسْلامِ وَالإيمَانِ دَاخِلاً فِي الْكُفْرِ وَكَانَ بِمَنْزِلَةِ مَنْ دَخَلَ الْحَرَمَ ثُمَّ دَخَلَ الْكَعْبَةَ وَأَحْدَثَ فِي الْكَعْبَةِ حَدَثاً فَأُخْرِجَ عَنِ الْكَعْبَةِ وَعَنِ الْحَرَمِ فَضُرِبَتْ عُنُقُهُ وَصَارَ إِلَى النَّارِ.

Published English translation

1. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from ‘Abbas ibn al-Ma’ruf from ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn abu Najaran from Hammad ibn ‘Uthman from ‘Abd al-Rahim al-Qusayr who has said the following: “Abd al-Malik ibn A’yan and I wrote to Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) asking him, ‘What is belief?’ He then wrote to us. ‘You, may Allah grant you favors, have asked about belief. Belief is affirmation, with the tongue, that is established in the heart and by the deeds of the body. Beliefs are from each other. Belief is a house. So also, Islam is a house. Rejection (of Islam) is a house. Sometimes a servant (of Allah) is a Muslim before he becomes a believer but he cannot become a believer before becoming a Muslim. Therefore, Islam is before belief and it shares belief. Whenever a servant (of Allah) commits one of the major sins or one of the minor sins that Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, has prohibited he is out of belief and belief falls off of him but the name ‘Muslim’ still applies to him. When he repents and asks forgiveness he returns to the house of belief. Nothing takes him out to rejection but rejection of what is lawful, such as saying to what is lawful, ‘It is unlawful’ or saying lawful to what is unlawful and living thereby (such attitude) as a religion. In such a case one is out of Islam and belief and is in rejection. It is like one’s entering the Sacred Mosque then the Holy Ka’ba wherein he invents an act of heresy. He then is taken out of the Holy Ka’ba and the Sacred precinct and is decapitated and that turns him to hell (for his act of defiant and treachery).”’

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: مجهول

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (7/159)

Assessment transcribed from the source's named scholar and reference. No new grading or consensus is asserted; differing entries remain separate.

Shaykh Baqir al-Behbudi: صحيح

Ṣaḥīḥ al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 70

Assessment transcribed from the source's named scholar and reference. No new grading or consensus is asserted; differing entries remain separate.

Source, rights, and attribution

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edition: Al-Kafi, volume 2, Thaqalayn digital edition / Muhammad Sarwar translation
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translator: Muhammad Sarwar
source Revision: becbad600b693ce23735d7403c4126ce7c896d34
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