Aqeedah and its Relation to Deeds

The tree of “Faith” which is another word for aqeedah begins to grow in the heart with knowledge and submission to Allah. It then develops into the inner deeds of the heart such as love, fear, submission, hope and dependence which then transforms into good words and deeds. These deeds of the heart then develop into actions on the limbs such as prayer, fasting, giving zakah and hajj for example which are from the pillars of Islam.

So we see how belief develops as a natural process, eventually maturing into righteous deeds and actions. The fully matured believer combines his faith with righteous deeds and he understands that it is a necessary component for the fulfillment and completion of Faith. Allah said in the Qur’an:

This verse clearly shows that those people referred to in the verse were believers, but their faith was not complete. Ibn Katheer mentions this in his tafseer. Faith and belief are inseparable and this is the belief of Ahlu Sunnah. The hadeeth of Jibreel also indicates the difference between Eemaan and Islam. We can say that Islam is submission and what that necessitates from the fundamental actions such as saying the shahada and prayer and other actions and Eeman is Belief and all that it necessitates from statements and actions.

This is beautifully illustrated in another hadeeth in which the Prophet ﷺ said:

This hadeeth shows very clearly that Faith (aqeedah) has various levels, the highest of which is the shahadah which enters a person into Islam and the least of which seems minor like removing something harmful from a road. In addition, the characteristic of modesty which is related to the Islamic personality is also a part of faith.

What we need to cultivate within ourselves is the understanding that aqeedah is not simply a theoretical subject connected to the branches of belief in Allah but is intrinsically connected to how this belief manifests on our limbs. Not understanding this leads to Muslims belittling and seeing as minor, actions such as backbiting, fornicating, financial transactions such as debts, family relations and many other important deeds that are part and parcel of the true Muslim personality and identity.