DHUL-HIJJAH

Dhul Hijjah is the final month of the Islamic calendar. Hazrat Abu Sa’eed Khudri (RA) relates that Rasool Allah (SAW) said: “The month of all the months is Ramadan and the month with the most honors is Dhul-Hijjah.
The month gets its name from the fact that the blessed pilgrimage of Hajj occurs in this month and because the Hijjah (Islamic word for year) ends with this month as well. The fifth pillar of Islam, Hajj, is performed in this sacred month.

Significance of First 10 Days of Dhul Hijjah
Allah Ta’ala says in the Holy Quran: Wal Fajar. Wa Layaalin ‘ashr. Suratul Fajr, Verses 1 and 2 translation: By the dawn; By the ten nights (i.e. the first ten days of the month of Dhul-Hîjjah).
Hazrat Abu Huraira (RA) narrates that Rasoolullah (sallahu alayhi wassalaam) said:
“On no days is the worship of Allah desired more than in the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah. The fast of each of these days is equal to the fast of a whole year, and the Ibaadat of each of these nights is equal to the Ibaadat of Laylatul Qadr.”(Tirmidhi and Ibn-e- Maajah)

Day of Arafat (9th Day of Dhul Hijjah)
Sayyiduna Qatada (radhiyallahu anhu) reports from Rasoolullah (sallallahu alayhi wassalaam):
“A person that fasts on the Day of Arafat, Rasoolullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) says he has great hope that this would be a compensation for the person’s past and future sins.” (Muslim)
By past and future sins are meant minor sins. Therefore, it is extremely important that one fast on this day.
Rasoolullah (sallahu alayhi wasallam) has said: “The most acceptable dua is that which is made on the day of Arafat, and the best dua which the Prophets before me and I have said is:
لا الہ الا اللہ وحدہ لا شریک لہ لہ الملک و لہ الحمد و ہو علی کل شئی قدیر

Increase the Rememberance (Zikr) of Allah (SWT) During First 10 days of Dhul Hijjah
Sayyidina Ibn Abbas (radhiyallahu anhu) relates fromRasoolullah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam):
There are no greater days of Ibaadat and actions besides the 10 days of Dhul-Hijjah according to Allah Ta’ala. Therefore engage yourself during these days with remembering Allah by doing
tasbeeh, tahleel, takbeer and tahmeed.
So increase the recitation of these 4 things:
Tasbeeh: سبحان اللہ Tahleel: لا إله إلا الله Takbeer: الله أكبر Tahmeed: الحمد لله

The Days of Tashreek
9th of Dhul Hijjah (Fajr time) until 13th of Dhul Hijjah (Asr time)

اللھ اکبراللھ اکبر لا الھ الا اللھ و اللھ اکبر اللھ اکبر و للھ الحمد
The above takbeer is known as Takbiraat of Tashreek.
It is waajib for every adult Muslim (male and female) to recite the Takbiraaat of Tashreek after every fardh salaah during this period. Males should recite it loudly and females should recite it softly.

Sunnats of Eid-ul-Adha
• Wake up earlier than usual
• Brush the teeth with miswaak
• Have a Ghusal (bath)
• Be well dressed in an Islamic manner
• Dress in one’s best clothes, not necessarily new
• Use Itr
• Avoid eating before Eid Salaat — it is best on Eid ul Adha that the first thing eaten should be the animal that the person has slaughtered. However, if slaughtering is not being done at home, then one should just wait until after the Eid Salaah to eat anything in order to get the reward of the Sunnah Insha Allah.
• Perform Eid Salaat at the Eidgaah (men)
• Go to the place of Salaat early
• Walk to the place of Eid salaat (if possible)
• Recite the Takbeeraat (of Tashreeq) aloud on the way to the place of Eid Salaat
• Use different routes to and from the place of Eid Salaat

~*~*~ On a side note we would like to add that once the moon is sighted for the month of Dhul Hijjah until the sacrifice is done of the animal (whether that be on the 10th, 11th or 12th) it is MAKROOH for the one on whom it is obligatory to sacrifice an animal to either cut nails or hair — by any means. So girls this means manicures, pedicures, waxing, shaving, plucking etc. And for the men it includes cutting nails, shaving etc. It comes in a Hadith of Saheeh Muslim narrated by Umme Salmah (RA) that the Messenger of Allah (SAW) has said: “When the 1st – 10th days of Dhul Hijjah start, one who intends to offer a sacrifice (of an animal) should not have his/ her hair/ nails trimmed until he/ she has offered his/ her sacrifice”…

And Allah knows best! 

note to self:

“If we can just let go and trust in the process of our advancement, we can appreciate the miracle of the flow of life. If, during our turbulent periods, we keep ourselves dynamically balanced like a skilled surfer, the waves of our experience will guide us smoothly to the shore. We may fear that the waves will drown us, but it is actually the waves that move us.”

Paradox of life...

You can close your eyes to things you do not want to see, but you can’t close your heart to things you do not want to feel…

Isn't it really ironic…when you’re a kid you can’t wait to grow up and be an adult, and when you’re grown up, you wish you were a kid again. How is it that life seems to throw increasingly painful moments at you? Why is it that the more happiness and joy you expect from your supposedly independent and autonomous life, the more disappointed you become? And when can you sit back and relax without forging a fake smile on your face?
Oh wait…

“Did ye think that you would enter Heaven without Allah testing those of you who strive hard and remained steadfast?” (3: 142)

Jummah Mubarak everyone.

Love of Dunya...

I was one to get attached.

Ever since I was a child, this temperament was clear. While other children that were baby-sat could easily recover once their parents left, I could not. My tears, once set in motion, did not stop easily. As a result, my dad used to have me sleep in his car while he worked. As I grew up, I learned to become attached to everything around me. From the time I was in first grade, I needed a best friend. As I got older, any fall-out with a friend shattered me. I couldn’t let go of anything. People, places, events, photographs, moments—even outcomes became objects of strong attachment. If things didn’t work out the way I wanted or imagined they should, I was devastated. And disappointment for me wasn’t an ordinary emotion. It was catastrophic. Once let down, I never fully recovered. I could never forget, and the break never mended. Like a glass vase that you place on the edge of a table, once broken, the pieces never quite fit again.

But the problem wasn’t with the vase. Or even that the vases kept breaking. The problem was that I kept putting them on the edge of tables. Through my attachments, I was dependent on my relationships to fulfill my needs. I allowed those relationships to define my happiness or my sadness, my fulfillment or my emptiness, my security, and even my self-worth. And so, like the vase placed where it will inevitably fall, through those dependencies I set myself up for disappointment. I set myself up to be broken. And that’s exactly what I found: one disappointment, one break after another.

But the people who broke me were not to blame any more than gravity can be blamed for breaking the vase. We can’t blame the laws of physics when a twig snaps because we leaned on it for support. The twig was never created to carry us.

Our weight was only meant to be carried by Allah. We are told in the Quran: “…whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy handhold, that never breaks. And Allah hears and knows all things.” (Qur’an 2: 256)

There is a crucial lesson in this verse: that there is only one handhold that never breaks. There is only one place where we can lay our dependencies. There is only one relationship that should define our self-worth and only one source from which to seek our ultimate happiness, fulfillment, and security. That place is Allah.

But this world is all about seeking those things everywhere else. Some of us seek it in our careers, some seek it in wealth, some in status. Some, like me, seek it in our relationships. In her book, Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert describes her own quest for happiness. She describes moving in and out of relationships, and even traveling the globe in search of this fulfillment. She seeks that fulfillment—unsuccessfully—in her relationships, in meditation, even in food.

And that’s exactly where I spent much of my own life: seeking a way to fill my inner void. It was a question about loss, about disappointment. It was a question about being let down. A question about seeking something and coming back empty handed. It was about what happens when you try to dig in concrete with your bare hands: not only do you come back with nothing—you break your fingers in the process. And I learned this not by reading it, not by hearing it from a wise sage. I learned it by trying it again, and again, and again.

Ultimately, the question was about the nature of the dunya as a place of fleeting moments and temporary attachments. As a place where people are with you today, and leave or die tomorrow. But this reality hurts our very being because it goes against our nature. We, as humans, are made to seek, love, and strive for what is perfect and what is permanent. We are made to seek what’s eternal. We seek this because we were not made for this life. Our first and true home was Paradise: a land that is both perfect and eternal. So the yearning for that type of life is a part of our being. The problem is that we try to find that here. And so we create ageless creams and cosmetic surgery in a desperate attempt to hold on—in an attempt to mold this world into what it is not, and will never be.

And that’s why if we live in dunya with our hearts, it breaks us. That’s why this dunya hurts. It is because the definition of dunya, as something temporary and imperfect, goes against everything we are made to yearn for. Allah put a yearning in us that can only be fulfilled by what is eternal and perfect. By trying to find fulfillment in what is fleeting, we are running after a hologram…a mirage. We are digging into concrete with our bare hands. Seeking to turn what is by its very nature temporary into something eternal is like trying to extract from fire, water. You just get burned. Only when we stop putting our hopes in dunya, only when we stop trying to make the dunya into what it is not—and was never meant to be (jannah)—will this life finally stop breaking our hearts.

We must also realize that nothing happens without a purpose. Nothing. Not even broken hearts. Not even pain. That broken heart and that pain are lessons and signs for us. They are warnings that something is wrong. They are warnings that we need to make a change. Just like the pain of being burned is what warns us to remove our hand from the fire, emotional pain warns us that we need to make an internal change. That we need to detach. Pain is a form of forced detachment. Like the loved one who hurts you again and again and again, the more dunya hurts us, the more we inevitably detach from it. The more we inevitably stop loving it.

And pain is a pointer to our attachments. That which makes us cry, that which causes us most pain is where our false attachments lie. And it is those things which we are attached to as we should only be attached to Allah which become barriers on our path to our Rabb. But the pain itself is what makes the false attachment evident. The pain creates a condition in our life that we seek to change, and if there is anything about our condition that we don’t like, there is a divine formula to change it. Allah says: “Verily never will God change the condition of a people until they change what is within themselves.” (Qur’an, 13:11)

After years of falling into the same pattern of disappointments and heartbreak, I finally began to realize something profound. I had always thought that love of dunya meant being attached to material things. And I was not attached to material things. I was attached to people. I was attached to moments. I was attached to emotions. So I thought that the love of dunya just did not apply to me. What I didn’t realize was that people, moments, emotions are all a part of dunya. What I didn’t realize is that all the pain I had experienced in life was due to one thing, and one thing only: love of dunya.

As soon as I began to have that realization (not too long ago), a veil was lifted from my eyes. I started to see what my problem was. I was expecting this life to be what it is not, and was never meant to be: perfect. And being the “idealist” that I am, I was struggling with every cell in my body to make it so. It had to be perfect. And I would not stop until it was. I gave my blood, sweat, and tears to this endeavor: making the dunya into jannah. This meant expecting people around me to be perfect. Expecting my relationships to be perfect. Expecting so much from those around me and from this life. Expectations. Expectations. Expectations. And if there is one recipe for unhappiness it is that: expectations. But herein lay my fatal mistake. My mistake was not in having expectations; as humans, we should never lose hope. The problem was in *where* I was placing those expectations and that hope. At the end of the day, my hope and expectations were not being placed in Allah. My hope and expectations were in people, relationships, other means. Ultimately, my hope was in this dunya rather than Allah.

And so I came to realize a very deep Truth. An ayah began to cross my mind. It was an ayah I had heard before, but for the first time I realized that it was actually describing me: “Those who rest not their hope on their meeting with Us, but are pleased and satisfied with the life of the present, and those who heed not Our Signs.” (Qur’an, 10:7)

By thinking that I can have everything here, my hope was not in my meeting with Allah. My hope was in dunya. But what does it mean to place your hope in dunya? How can this be avoided? It means when you have friends, don’t expect your friends to fill your emptiness. When you get married, don’t expect your spouse to fulfill your every need. When you’re an activist, don’t put your hope in the results. When you’re in trouble don’t depend on yourself. Don’t depend on people. Depend on Allah.

Seek the help of people—but realize that it is not the people (or even your own self) that can save you. Only Allah can do these things. The people are only tools, a means used by God. But they are not the source of help, aid, or salvation of any kind. Only Allah is. The people cannot even create the wing of a fly (22:73). And so, even while you interact with people externally, turn your heart towards Allah. Face Him alone, as Prophet Ibrahim (Alahisalaam) said so beautifully: “For me, I have set my face, firmly and truly, towards Him Who created the heavens and the earth, and never shall I give partners to Allah.” (Qur’an, 6:79)

But how does Prophet Ibrahim (AS) describe his journey to that point? He studies the moon, the sun and the stars and realizes that they are not perfect. They set.

They let us down.

So Prophet Ibrahim (AS) was thereby led to face Allah alone. Like him, we need to put our full hope, trust, and dependency on Allah. And Allah alone. And if we do that, we will learn what it means to finally find peace and stability of heart. Only then will the roller coaster that once defined our lives finally come to an end. That is because if our inner state is dependent on something that is by definition inconstant, that inner state will also be inconstant. If our inner state is dependent on something changing and temporary, that inner state will be in a constant state of instability, agitation, and unrest. This means that one moment we’re happy, but as soon as that which our happiness depended upon changes, our happiness also changes. And we become sad. We remain always swinging from one extreme to another and not realizing why.

We experience this emotional roller coaster because we can never find stability and lasting peace until our attachment and dependency is on what is stable and lasting. How can we hope to find constancy if what we hold on to is inconstant and perishing? In the statement of Abu Bakr (RadiAllahu 'Anh) is a deep illustration of this truth. After the Prophet Muhammad (Salallahu Alayhi Wasallam) passed away, the people went into shock and could not handle the news. But although no one loved the Prophet (Salallahu Alayhi Wasallam) like Abu Bakr (RA), Abu Bakr (RA) understood well the only place where one’s dependency should lie. He said: “If you worshipped Muhammad, know that Muhammad is dead. But if you worshipped Allah, know that Allah never dies.”

To attain that state, don’t let your source of fulfillment be anything other than your relationship with God. Don’t let your definition of success, failure, or self-worth be anything other than your position with Him (Qur’an, 49:13). And if you do this, you become unbreakable, because your handhold is unbreakable. You become unconquerable, because your supporter can never be conquered. And you will never become empty, because your source of fulfillment is unending and never diminishes.

Yasmin Mogahed, my emotional twin sister

Is life throwing way too many lemons at you? Here's a reflection to think about :)

Tonight I came across one of my favorite verses in the Qur'an: "They plan, but Allah too plans. And Allah is the best of Planners."

Every single time I hear this verse it hits home and envelopes me with a sense of peace. We go about living our lives planning to go to school, planning to graduate, planning to get a job, to get married, to have children... All we do with our lives is plan. Sooner or later one of our plans don't fall through and as humans we lose hope. This ayah reminds me that no matter how much I plan and how much I think that this plan is the best for me..Allah has his own plans and what He has planned is whats going to go down. More importantly it reminds me that that Allah's plan is better because He knows what I don't. It reminds me that I should be happier letting go of my plans to hold fast to His.

When things don't go the way you want, smile because it means you're now on His plan and He has something better for you. inshAllah!

difficult, but not impossible!

inshAllah

Rajab is here...

Sometimes it feels overwhelming to think about becoming a better person. “I’m ok” resonates easily within and our ‘busyness’ helps us avoid thinking about it. But at Maghrib yesterday (Tuesday April 29th) we have herald in the month of Rajab and with it a golden opportunity.
Anas b. Malik (Radiallah 'anhu) tells us that when Rajab would begin the Prophet (SAW) would say, “O God! Bless us in Rajab, and Sha’ban, and bless us in Ramadan…”

While every month should be a month of peace, righteousness and piety, the four sacred months have been favored over the other months and provide us with an opportunity to make real changes in our behavior. Ibn Abbas (Radiallahu 'anhu) said, “Allah distinguished these four months, made them sacred, and glorified them; He made sinning during them of worse consequence than during the others; and the reward for righteous deeds is greater.” There are four sacred months: Dhul-Qi’da, Dhul-Hijja, Muharram and Rajab. Dhul-Qi’da is a month of preparing for the pilgrimage, Dhul-Hijja includes the pilgrimage, and Muharram is returning from the pilgrimage. Rajab stands alone.

Rajab is like a big “Black Friday" sale, but it lasts for an entire month instead of just one day. So make your list, and get shopping.

Start your Rajab shopping with your mornings. Have you joined the tahajjud revolution yet? Has it been a year (at least) since you last missed Fajr? Start Rajab by becoming a person of tahajjud, and inshAllah next year you will look back upon a year of ‘on time’ Fajrs.
Add a clean and tranquil home to your shopping cart. Is it neat and tidy? Does it smell good? Are the voices peaceful and the words pleasant? Don’t delay your spring cleaning to Ramadan and pre-Eid, begin now. As you clean up and clear up, plan ways to turn your house into an angel magnet.

Don’t forget to be gentle with the people around you. They are a sacred trust to you, their feelings and their hearts lie quivering in your hands. Set aside your nafs, and turn with an open heart to their service and love.

Double check your cart and make sure you are leaving behind the habits of sin you have fallen into. Tight clothes (men and women) and immodesty, stinginess and bitterness, lies and slander, crabbiness and arrogance all need to be left behind. Their cost is too high. 

When you stand at the ‘checkout’ line on the last day of Rajab, be sure to have gathered plenty of fasting days, lots of ‘istighfar’, and plenty of du'a. This is the currency you will use to leave the month cleansed of sin, energized with righteousness, and truly blessed by this month of blessings.

Happy Rajab to all. May it be blessed with abundance. AMEEN, inshAllah.

via anse

The Perfect Libaas...

The layer of ultimate protection that is specified for a married couple is not a wall or barrier of some sort, but the spouse themselves.  Allah (SWT) describes the intimacy of this relationship in the following words:

…هُنَّ لِبَاسٌ لَكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ لِبَاسٌ لَهُنَّ …

“[…] They are clothing for you and you are clothing for them […]” (Qur’an 2:187)

This comparison is poignantly perfect in so many ways! Husbands and wives protect and beautify each other, complement and complete one another, hide each other’s defects and are identified by each other…

There are no fairytale marriages, so do not get deluded by that myth. The Prophet ﷺ and the Sahabah (Companions) Radiallahu `anhu (may Allah be pleased with them) had disagreements with their wives but they sought a higher purpose in their existence. Seek that higher purpose of Paradise and you will be granted, insha’Allah (God willing), a marriage which is of the ayaat (signs) of Allah (SWT):

وَمِنْ ءَايَٰتِهِۦٓ أَنْ خَلَقَ لَكُم مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ أَزْوَٰجًۭا لِّتَسْكُنُوٓا۟ إِلَيْهَا وَجَعَلَ بَيْنَكُم مَّوَدَّةًۭ وَرَحْمَةً ۚ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَءَايَٰتٍۢ لِّقَوْمٍۢ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ

“And of His signs is that He created for you from yourselves mates that you may find tranquility in them; and He placed between you affection and mercy. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought.” (Qur’an 30:21)

Feel overwhelmed?

2:286

لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ 

The more you get closer to Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala, the more you are tested and the more strength He gives you to overcome these tests.

Remember that Allah Subhana WaTa'ala does not burden a soul beyond it can bear. La yukallifullahu nafsan illa wus’aha. [2:286] You may not think you are capable of handling your problems but He knows very well you can.

And if that’s not one of the greatest testimonies of Allah's love for us, then I am not sure what else can be...

a tiny lesson...

"We enter the world in a state the Quran calls *fitra*, our original state and inherent nature that is disposed to accept faith and prefer morality. But we soon learn anxiety mainly from our parents and then our societies. The heart is created vulnerable to anxiety and agitation: 

إِنَّ الْإِنْسَانَ خُلِقَ هَلُوعًا (Quran, 70:19). 
{Indeed, mankind was created anxious}

Those who are protected from this state are people of prayer, people who establish prayer and guard its performance with a humble and open heart connected with God, the Lord of all creation. The highest ranks among people are those who do not allow anything to divert them from the remembrance of God. They are the ones who remember God as they are standing, sitting, and reclining on their sides (Quran, 3:91)."

(The Purification of the Heart: Translator's Introduction, H. Yusuf, 2004, p.6)

true love.

The best love is when you find someone who makes your iman rise, who makes you more pious, and who helps you in the dunya because that person wants to meet you again in Jannah...

Inner Fortress of a Mu'min…IMAAN

Allah mentioned in Surah Hujurat 49: 14-15, about the difference between Islam and Iman.

The bedouins say: “We believe.” Say: “You believe not but you only say, ‘We have surrendered (in Islâm),’ for Faith has not yet entered your hearts. But if you obey Allâh and His Messenger (SAW), He will not decrease anything in reward for your deeds. Verily, Allâh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (14) Only those are the believers who have believed in Allâh and His Messenger, and afterward doubt not but strive with their wealth and their lives for the Cause of Allâh. Those! They are the truthful. (15)

Besides the five pillars that our religion is based off of, Islam also includes other visible actions such as good manners, honesty, refraining from harmful activities, kindness to people and many more. But these actions can be done for other reasons other than faith. It can merely be done because of wanting to be accepted by society; fear of embarrassment or worldly punishment.

Islam or the outward submission is the minimum degree giving the rights of a Muslim. Allah will reward his deeds and intentions. Preferable to Allah is the mu’min, the Muslim who has true faith. These are the beliefs in which ALL Muslims need to adhere to and believe with the heart and confess with the tongue as well implement to be a true Muslim. Imaan is explicitly described in the famous hadeeth of Jibreel (alaihis-salaam), when he (alaihis-salaam) asked the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam): "What is Imaan?" He (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam) replied: "Imaan is to believe in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, the Last Day and to believe in the Predestination; the good and the bad." [Saheeh al-Bukharee and Saheeh Muslim]

1. Belief in Allah
That is in His existence. His perfection and absolute attributes. His superiority over all creation and that there is nothing similar to Him

2. Belief in His Angels
Noble creatures created from light who have no free will but execute commands of Allah and worship Him continuously

3. Belief in His Books
Allah revealed scriptures to some of His Messengers, and He revealed the Quran as the final message to mankind.

4. Belief is His Messengers
That they were truthful in what they conveyed about Allah. That they were supported by miracles and that they faithfully deliver His messages to the people.

5. Belief in the Last Day of Judgement
The day of resurrection and what was revealed concerning it.Destruction of the present universe, renewed creation, emergence from the grave, the gathering of judgment day, paradise and hellfire.

6. Believe in Al Qadr
That Allah’s knowledge is in all that is zaahir (outward) and baatin (inward, i.e. the heart and mind) and in the fact that He has orginated and is the primary cause of all things and occurrences, Good and Bad.

Imaan is the combination of (1) Tasdeeq bil-Qalb: Believing with the heart (2) Iqraar bi lisaan: Confession by the Tongue (3) Af'aal: Actions of the Body

(1) Heart is the root of Imaan. If the belief of the heart is not firm and correct then no other deed or action can be perfect. The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said: "There is a lump of flesh in the body. When it is sound, the whole body is sound; but when it goes wrong, the whole body goes wrong (as a result). It is the heart!" 

Belief in the heart constitutes of two parts: -

(a) Statement of the Heart, i.e. Tasdeeq (Affirmation) made up of Recognition, Knowledge and Affirmation of 

Allah and His Commands. Belief in everything that one knows from the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam) and willingness to believe in all the new information he acquires from him (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam). Meaning to realize, accept and admit that he must believe in everything that is authentically reported from the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam).

(B) Actions of the Heart i.e. Inqiyaad (Submission) made up of Acceptance and Submission to Allah and His Commands. Submission is Adherence to everything known from the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam). Meaning to submit to all the commands of Allah's Messenger (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam) and have a willingness, desire and recognition that he is obliged to submit to every command authentically known from him (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam).

Imaan is the correct and complete inner belief. Both "Islam" and "Imaan" include deeds. But those who are mu’min (true believer) are far more superior than a Muslim.

Note: Every mu’min is a muslim but not every Muslim is a mu’min.

Thus, the belief of the heart is the most important component of Imaan.

(2) Secondary, confession of the tongue is another important aspect of Imaan. The simple pronouncement of the words 'La ilaha illAllah' is not the intent. Indeed, the hypocrites did that (merely pronounced the Shahadah) but they were not true believers. The pronouncement of the words must include the correct belief in Allah, rejecting all types of Shirk, and adherence to laws of Islam. 

One who believes in his heart but does not verbally state his belief is not considered as a believer neither in this life nor in the Hereafter. Allah has not declared such a person to be a believer in the Message (the Qur'an), simply due to the Knowledge of Imaan in his Heart. He is not considered a believer unless he confirms it by his speech. 

(3) Actions of the body are the third integral part of Imaan. True belief of the heart results in external submission to the commands of Allah Ta'ala. It is not possible that a person's belief of the heart is at a very high state of Imaan but it is not demonstrated by his deeds or actions. 

Ibn Taymiyyah (rahimahullah) said: "It is inconceivable that there be a man who is a believer with confirmed belief in the heart that Allah has obligated him to Pray, give Zakaat, Fast and perform Hajj but he lives his whole life without even making one prostration to Allah or never fasting any month of Ramadaan, never paying Zakaat for the sake of Allah and never making pilgrimage to Allah's House. This is impossible!! This would only happen if the person has hypocrisy and opposition to Islam in his heart - It would never happen with a true faith!! For this reason, Allah describes those who refused to prostrate, as unbelievers…" [Muhammad Ibn Taymiyyah Majmoo vol.7, p.611]

These are the compulsory aspects for the validity of Imaan. If these are not fulfilled then Imaan does not exist.