Why are acts of the heart part of faith and worship?
2026-09-19
T02 · Ibn Taymiyyah
Ibn Taymiyyah
شيخ الإسلام أحمد بن تيمية
Selected explanation · Selected continuous excerpt — fully translated
The question above is editorial, not a question recorded as having been put to Ibn Taymiyyah. The quotation is one continuous excerpt, beginning at “أما بعد” on page 5 and ending at “مثقال ذرة من إيمان” on page 7. It is not the whole treatise. The English translates every displayed Arabic paragraph; this selection is not the complete surrounding work. Square brackets identify translator-supplied clarification.
النص العربي
المقتطف
أما بعد: فهذه كلمات مختصرات في أعمال القلوب — التي قد تسمى «المقامات والأحوال» — وهي من أصول الإيمان، وقواعد الدين؛ مثل محبة الله ورسوله، والتوكل على الله، وإخلاص الدين له، والشكر له، والصبر على حكمه، والخوف منه، والرجاء له، وما يتبع ذلك. اقتضى ذلك بعض من أوجب الله حقه من أهل الإيمان، واستكتبها وكل منا عجلان.
فأقول: هذه الأعمال جميعها واجبة على جميع الخلق — المأمورين في الأصل — باتفاق أئمة الدين، والناس فيها على «ثلاث درجات» كما هم في أعمال الأبدان على «ثلاث درجات»: ظالم لنفسه، ومقتصد، وسابق بالخيرات.
فالظالم لنفسه: العاصي بترك مأمور أو فعل محظور.
والمقتصد: المؤدي الواجبات والتارك المحرمات.
والسابق بالخيرات: المتقرب بما يقدر عليه من فعل واجب ومستحب والتارك للمحرم والمكروه. وإن كان كل من المقتصد والسابق قد يكون له ذنوب تمحى عنه: إما بتوبة — والله يحب التوابين ويحب المتطهرين — وإما بحسنات ماحية، وإما بمصائب مكفرة، وإما بغير ذلك.
وكل من الصنفين المقتصدين والسابقين من أولياء الله الذين ذكرهم في كتابه بقوله: ﴿ألا إن أولياء الله لا خوف عليهم ولا هم يحزنون﴾ ﴿الذين آمنوا وكانوا يتقون﴾ فحد أولياء الله: هم المؤمنون المتقون، ولكن ذلك ينقسم: إلى «عام» وهم المقتصدون و«خاص» وهم السابقون، وإن كان السابقون هم أعلى درجات، كالأنبياء والصديقين.
وقد ذكر النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم «القسمين» في الحديث الذي رواه البخاري في صحيحه عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه عن النبي صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم أنه قال: «يقول الله: من عادى لي وليا فقد بارزني بالمحاربة، وما تقرب إلي عبدي بمثل أداء ما افترضت عليه، ولا يزال عبدي يتقرب إلي بالنوافل حتى أحبه، فإذا أحببته كنت سمعه الذي يسمع به، وبصره الذي يبصر به، ويده التي يبطش بها، ورجله التي يمشي بها، فبي يسمع وبي يبصر وبي يبطش وبي يمشي؛ ولئن سألني لأعطينه، ولئن استعاذني لأعيذنه. وما ترددت عن شيء أنا فاعله ترددي عن قبض نفس عبدي المؤمن، يكره الموت وأكره مساءته ولا بد له منه».
وأما الظالم لنفسه من أهل الإيمان: فمعه من ولاية الله بقدر إيمانه وتقواه، كما معه من ضد ذلك بقدر فجوره؛ إذ الشخص الواحد قد يجتمع فيه الحسنات المقتضية للثواب والسيئات المقتضية للعقاب، حتى يمكن أن يثاب ويعاقب، وهذا قول جميع أصحاب رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم، وأئمة الإسلام، وأهل السنة والجماعة الذين يقولون: إنه لا يخلد في النار من في قلبه مثقال ذرة من إيمان.
English translation
English translation reviewed against the displayed Arabic by SalafAlSalih editorial preparation (AI-assisted); explanatory additions appear in square brackets or separate notes.
Selected explanation
To proceed: these are brief remarks on the deeds of the heart—which are sometimes called “stations and states.” They are among the foundations of faith and the fundamental principles of the religion: such as love of Allah and His Messenger, reliance upon Allah, sincerely devoting the religion to Him, gratitude to Him, patience with His judgment, fear of Him, hope in Him, and what follows from these. One of the believers whose right Allah has made binding requested this and asked that it be written, while each of us was in haste.
I say: all these deeds are obligatory, as a basic principle, upon all those of creation who are subject to [Allah’s] commands, by agreement of the imams of the religion. People are at “three levels” in them, just as they are at “three levels” in bodily deeds: one who wrongs himself, one who takes a middle course, and one who is foremost in good deeds.
The one who wrongs himself is the disobedient person who leaves something commanded or does something prohibited.
The one who takes a middle course performs the obligations and leaves the prohibitions.
The one who is foremost in good deeds draws near [to Allah] through whatever obligatory and recommended deeds he is able to perform, and leaves what is prohibited and disliked. Nevertheless, both the one who takes a middle course and the one who is foremost may have sins that are erased: either through repentance—and Allah loves those who repent and loves those who purify themselves—or through good deeds that erase sins, or afflictions that expiate them, or something else.
Both groups—those who take a middle course and those who are foremost—are among the allies of Allah whom He mentions in His Book with His words: “Indeed, the allies of Allah shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve: those who believed and were mindful of Him.” [Yūnus 10:62–63]. Thus, the defining description of Allah’s allies is that they are believers who are mindful of Him. But this is divided into a “general” category, comprising those who take a middle course, and a “special” category, comprising those who are foremost. Those who are foremost are higher in rank, such as the prophets and the steadfast affirmers of truth.
The Prophet, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him and his family, mentioned “the two groups” in the hadith that al-Bukhārī narrated in his Ṣaḥīḥ from Abū Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him and his family, that he said: “Allah says: Whoever shows hostility to an ally of Mine has openly challenged Me to war. My servant does not draw near to Me with anything like performing what I have made obligatory upon him. My servant continues to draw near to Me through voluntary deeds until I love him. When I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears, his sight with which he sees, his hand with which he grasps, and his foot with which he walks. Through Me he hears, through Me he sees, through Me he grasps, and through Me he walks. If he asks Me, I will certainly give to him; and if he seeks refuge in Me, I will certainly grant him refuge. I do not hesitate concerning anything I am to do as I hesitate concerning taking the soul of My believing servant: he dislikes death, and I dislike causing him distress, but it is unavoidable for him.”
As for the one among the believers who wrongs himself, he has a share in being an ally of Allah in proportion to his faith and fear of Him, just as he has a share of the opposite in proportion to his wickedness. A single person may combine good deeds that entail reward and evil deeds that entail punishment, such that he may be rewarded and punished. This is the position of all the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him and his family, and of the imams of Islam and Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamāʿah, who say that no one with an atom’s weight of faith in his heart will remain in the Fire forever.
Source and editorial notes
Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā, 10/5–7
التحفة العراقية في الأعمال القلبية
The Iraqi Treatise on the Deeds of the Heart
Arabic passage checked against the cited edition and location. English reviewed against every displayed Arabic paragraph on 14 October 2026.