Description of Belief

“Amir al-Mu’minin (Ali ibn abu Talib) (a.s.) was asked about belief and he said, ‘Allah, the Most Majestic, the Most Holy, made belief upon four pillars: ‘Patience, Certainty, Justice and Jihad (hard work for the cause of Allah). ‘The Patience therein has four branches: nostalgia, fear, restraint and vigilance. One who has a longing for paradise forgets the worldly desires. One who has fear of hell abstains from unlawful things. One who exercises restraint in worldly matters the worldly hardships become easier for him, and one who is vigilant of death hastens to good deeds. ‘The Certainty therein is also of four branches. They consist of sharp understanding, proper application of wisdom, recognizing good lessons and knowledge of the traditions of the people of the past. One who possesses sharp understanding recognizes the matters of wisdom. One who applies wisdom properly recognizes the good lessons, and one who recognizes the good lessons recognizes the traditions, and one who recognizes traditions is like the one who has lived with the people of the past and has found proper and firm guidance. He has seen who found salvation and by what means they found. He has also seen those who were destroyed and things that destroyed them. Allah destroys only those who disobey Him and grants salvation for ones obedience to His commands. ‘The Justice therein is also of four branches. It is a matter of deep understanding, a huge body of knowledge, the bloom of wisdom and the garden of forbearance. One who has deep understanding has the ability to interpret all knowledge. One who has a huge body of knowledge knows the ways of wisdom, and one who is forbearing is not an extremist in his decrees and lives among the people with a good name. ‘The Jihad (hard work for the cause of Allah) therein, is also of four branches. They consist of helping others to perform their duties and to stay away from that which is prohibited, to speak the truth whenever needed and to shun sins and sinners. One who helps others to perform their duties has supported the believer. One who helps stop others from sinning has humiliated the hypocrites and has thwarted their wicked plans. One who speaks the truth at the right time, his is the winning side. One who shuns the sinners has used anger for Allah. One who becomes angry for Allah, Allah becomes angry for him. Such is belief, its pillars and branches.’”