Faith Practice Piety

#eBook

Faith Practice Piety

by Irshad Alam Mujaddidi

$1.0 PG

Synopsis

Imam Ahmad Sirhindi, also known as the Mujaddid-i Alf-i Thani, outlines the necessary duties of a Muslim based on a hadith that states, "Islam is knowledge, practice, and piety (‛ilm, ‛amal, ihsan)". Faith ('ilm) Sirhindi addresses the necessary creed that every Muslim must hold to be a member of the mainstream Sunni community. Key points on faith, include his saying that reciting the kalimah is not enough to be considered a Muslim; a person must accept all essential aspects of Islam as truth. Practice ('amal) According to Sirhindi, after establishing the correct faith, a Muslim must actively practice Islam. His letters include detailed discussions on the proper performance of religious duties, such as ablution and prayer, as outlined by the sharia. He emphasized the importance of following the Quran and the Sunnah, and his reforms targeted the widespread un-Islamic practices that had emerged in Sufism and broader Muslim society during the Mughal era. Piety (ihsan) The third component is to perform one's religious practices with proper piety, or ihsan, so that "God and God alone is the object of worship". For Sirhindi, this is where Sufism becomes essential. He defines Sufism as a "technology" to achieve this state of proper devotion. The Naqshbandi Sufi order, to which Sirhindi belonged, is praised for its ability to help initiates realize this level of piety, thereby purifying the inner self while adhering to the outer sharia.