Superiority of Belief over Islam and Certainty over Belief

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) once said, ‘O brother from Ju’f (name of his tribe) belief is superior to Islam and certainty is superior to belief. Nothing there is dearer than certainty.”

“I heard abu Al-Hassan (a.s.) saying, ‘Belief is above Islam by one degree. Piety is above belief by one degree. Certainty is above piety by one degree. Nothing is distributed so little among people as certainty is.’”

“I heard abu Ja’far (a.s.) saying, ‘Allah has given superiority to belief over Islam by one degree just as He has given superiority to al-Ka’ba over the Sacred Mosque.’”

“Once Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) said to me, ‘O abu Muhammad, Islam is a high status.’ I said, ‘Yes, indeed it is.’ The Imam said, ‘Belief is above Islam by one degree.’ I said, ‘Yes, it is.’ The Imam said, ‘Piety is above belief by one degree.’ I said, ‘Yes, it is.’ The Imam said, ‘Certainty is above piety by one degree.’ I said, ‘Yes, it is.’ The Imam said, ‘Nothing is given to people as little as certainty is. What you are holding to is very little of Islam. Pay attention not to lose it.’”

“I asked abu al-Hassan al-Rida (a.s.) about belief and Islam and he said, abu Ja’far (a.s.) has said the following: ‘There is Islam. Belief is one degree higher above Islam, and piety is one degree higher above belief. Certainty is by one degree higher above piety and nothing is distributed among people so little as certainty is.’ I then said, ‘What then is certainty?’ The Imam said, ‘It is trust in Allah, submission to Allah, accepting the decision of Allah and allowing Allah to be the person in charge of one’s affairs.’ I then said, ‘What then is the interpretation of that?’ The Imam said, ‘This is how abu Ja’far (a.s.) said it is.’”

“Belief is one degree higher than Islam. Piety is one degree higher than belief. Certainty is one degree higher above piety. Nothing is distributed among people so little as certainty is.”