If someone asks what Islam is, one of the best answers is a story ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb told his son. It is in Sahih Muslim (8a), in a shorter form in Sahih al-Bukhari (50), and it is the second hadith in an-Nawawi’s collection of forty. Scholars have called it umm as-sunna, the mother of the Sunnah, because it gathers so much together.
A stranger
White clothes, black hair, and no sign of travel.
بَيْنَمَا نَحْنُ عِنْدَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ذَاتَ يَوْمٍ إِذْ طَلَعَ عَلَيْنَا رَجُلٌ شَدِيدُ بَيَاضِ الثِّيَابِ شَدِيدُ سَوَادِ الشَّعَرِ لاَ يُرَى عَلَيْهِ أَثَرُ السَّفَرِ وَلاَ يَعْرِفُهُ مِنَّا أَحَدٌ حَتَّى جَلَسَ إِلَى النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَأَسْنَدَ رُكْبَتَيْهِ إِلَى رُكْبَتَيْهِ وَوَضَعَ كَفَّيْهِ عَلَى فَخِذَيْهِ
“One day, while we were sitting with the Messenger of God ﷺ, a man came to us with extremely white clothes and extremely black hair. No sign of travel could be seen on him, and none of us knew him. He sat down by the Prophet ﷺ, rested his knees against his knees and placed his hands on his thighs.”
The Companions were puzzled: the man was not from the town, since no one knew him, yet he had not come from a journey either, since there was no dust or weariness on him. And he sat like a student before his teacher.
Islam: what you do
The first question: “Tell me about Islam.”
الإِسْلاَمُ أَنْ تَشْهَدَ أَنْ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَأَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ وَتُقِيمَ الصَّلاَةَ وَتُؤْتِيَ الزَّكَاةَ وَتَصُومَ رَمَضَانَ وَتَحُجَّ الْبَيْتَ إِنِ اسْتَطَعْتَ إِلَيْهِ سَبِيلاً
“Islam is that you testify that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God, that you establish the prayer, pay the zakat, fast Ramadan and make the pilgrimage to the House if you are able to.”
These are the five pillars of Islam: the declaration of faith, prayer, zakat, the fast and hajj. All of them are deeds that can be seen. The visitor said: You have spoken truly. And ʿUmar says: We were amazed that he asked him and then confirmed the answer.
Faith: what you hold in your heart
The second question: “Tell me about faith (īmān).”
أَنْ تُؤْمِنَ بِاللَّهِ وَمَلاَئِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ وَتُؤْمِنَ بِالْقَدَرِ خَيْرِهِ وَشَرِّهِ
“That you believe in God, His angels, His books, His messengers and the Last Day, and that you believe in the divine decree, its good and its bad.”
Islam describes what you do; īmān, what you believe. The Qur’an makes the same distinction in a verse about Bedouins who said they believed:
۞قَالَتِ ٱلۡأَعۡرَابُ ءَامَنَّاۖ قُل لَّمۡ تُؤۡمِنُواْ وَلَٰكِن قُولُوٓاْ أَسۡلَمۡنَا وَلَمَّا يَدۡخُلِ ٱلۡإِيمَٰنُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمۡۖ وَإِن تُطِيعُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ لَا يَلِتۡكُم مِّنۡ أَعۡمَٰلِكُمۡ شَيۡـًٔاۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٞ رَّحِيمٌ
The bedouins say, "We have believed." Say, "You have not [yet] believed; but say [instead], 'We have submitted,' for faith has not yet entered your hearts. And if you obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not deprive you from your deeds of anything. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful
Iḥsān: how you do it
The third question: “Tell me about iḥsān.”
أَنْ تَعْبُدَ اللَّهَ كَأَنَّكَ تَرَاهُ فَإِنْ لَمْ تَكُنْ تَرَاهُ فَإِنَّهُ يَرَاكَ
“That you worship God as though you see Him, and though you do not see Him, He sees you.”
Iḥsān comes from the same root as ḥusn, beauty. It means doing things well, doing them beautifully. If Islam is the deed and īmān the belief behind it, iḥsān is the quality of the deed: praying, fasting and treating people as someone who knows God is near.
Who was he?
The visitor also asked about the Hour and its signs, and then left. The Prophet ﷺ asked ʿUmar whether he knew who the man had been, and said:
فَإِنَّهُ جِبْرِيلُ أَتَاكُمْ يُعَلِّمُكُمْ دِينَكُمْ
“That was Jibril. He came to you to teach you your religion.”
The angel who brought the Qur’an came in human form and taught with questions, not a lecture. And the answers set out faith in three layers, one on top of the other: what you do, what you believe, and how you do it.