Umar ibn al-Khattab reported,: One day we were sitting in the company of Messenger of Allah (Peace Be Upon Him) when there appeared before us a man dressed in pure white clothes, his hair extraordinarily black. There were no signs of travel on him. None amongst us recognized him. At last he sat with the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him). He knelt before him placed his palms on his thighs and said: Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), inform me about Islam (submission). The Messenger of Allah (Peace Be Upon Him)said: Islam implies that you testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and you establish obligatory prayers, pay Zakat, observe the fast of Ramadan, and perform pilgrimage to the (House) if you are solvent enough (to bear the expense of) the journey. He (the inquirer) said: You have told the truth. He (Umar ibn al-Khattab) said: It amazed us that he would put the question and then he would himself verify the truth. He (the inquirer) said: Inform me about Iman (faith). He (the Holy Prophet) replied: That you affirm your faith in Allah, in His angels, in His Books, in His Prophets, in the Day of Judgment, and you affirm your faith in the Divine Decree about good and evil. He (the inquirer) said: You have told the truth. He (the inquirer) again said: Inform me about Ihsan (virtue). He (the Holy Prophet) said: That you worship Allah as if you are seeing Him, for though you don't see Him, He, verily, sees you. [Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Number 0001]

This saying of our beloved Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) clearly shows that there are three facets of our Deen (Islam); Islam, Iman and Ihsan.

Islam means we should submit to the will of Allah by doing what Allah has ordered for doing and restrain our selves from acts which Allah has forbidden. Islam is concerned with outward bodily activities like voicing the Shahada, offering obligatory prayers, giving Zakat, etc. Jurists (Faqeeh) study this aspect of Islam and are expert in it. If one want to know how to do ablution, or draw a will, he asks a Jurist.

Iman and Ihsan will be discussed in part 2 of this post.