If people do not have faith, they will not have a real spiritual life, nor can they know the real good things in life. Therefore, faith is undoubtedly an important event in one's life. So what is faith? We have to have a clear answer. Faith is the light of the soul and the guidance of the spirit. No matter where we are in the world, what resources we have, what knowledge we have, if we break away from faith, we will be nothing but a pauper.
Since ancient times, our country is a country of faith, and is an ancient civilization of the unity of politics and religion. In every dynasty, the emperor thought that he was the son of heaven. From the son of heaven to the common people, they had their own beliefs. From a certain point of view, these beliefs were the foundation of traditional culture. Some people say that the Chinese people have no faith since ancient times, or that China has been an atheist or a country with separation of politics and religion since ancient times. Then he has not been to China or read Chinese history.
We are familiar with the prosperous Tang, song, and Ming Dynasties, which have many records of foreign envoys visiting, and are also the most open and peaceful period in China. In those periods, not only literature and art flourished, such as poetry, song and Fu, but also various faiths and cultures were very developed. This is due to the confidence of the court at that time. Just like the United States now, cultural activities of various faiths can be held freely. Therefore, the national fortune in those periods was prosperous, and the common people were rich. Later, there were some irrational stages. But when faith is destroyed, society is at its darkest.
In Chinese dictionary, belief is defined as people's respect for a certain thought or religion and belief in someone or something. And what we are talking about today is a special term for believing in Allah. It is not entirely correct for ordinary people to regard faith as Imani's Chinese free translation. The word "Imani" in Arabic has the meaning of belief, but the two words are different. Perhaps because there is no more suitable word to interpret "Imani" in Chinese, Chinese scholars have all translated Imani into faith.
Although faith can also be used as a noun, it is more often used as a verb. It is one level higher than belief, that is, it has a deep faith in the creator and bow to worship. Imani, however, is a special noun, a title for a person's identity or qualification. That is to say, belief is one of the factors to obtain Imani, but it is not an absolute condition. Imani is under Allah's sole control, and he has not delegated this power to anyone, including the sages of all ages.
In a sense, Imani includes faith, which is a part of Imani. These two words are the relationship between inclusion and inclusion. From the perspective of logic, they are the relationship between mother and child, not on the same level. That is to say, those who have Imani must believe in Allah. But those who believe in Allah may not have Imani. Some people claim to believe in Allah, but only Allah knows if he has Imani. For example, ibraus, who once talked with Allah, could not not not not believe in Allah, but it did not have Imani.
According to a sermon, faith lies between awe and hope. That is to say, believers are those who fear Allah all the time and hope that Allah will give them precious Imani. Therefore, every believer needs to pray and practice continuously after he believes. On the one hand to prove their faith, on the other hand to cultivate their own Imani, hope to become a true believer.
In short, faith is the worship from the bottom up, Imani is the gift from the top down; faith is the prayer from the heart to Allah, Imani is the grace from Allah. Therefore, some people seem to be very smart, understand all the principles, and are familiar with the classic sermons. They are good at talking about Yi Si, but he is not a believer, and he has never admitted that he is a believer. This is typical of knowing without believing. The reason is that Allah didn't give him Imani, but gave him some knowledge of veneration.
Allah said, "Allah leads those he desires to the right path." (2:213) and he said, "Whoever Allah leads, who abides by the right way; whoever Allah misleads, who suffers." (7:178) and he said, "Whoever Allah leads, he is the one who follows the right way; whoever Allah misleads, you cannot find the protector for anyone other than Allah.
