The Branches of Faith

Ibn Hajar said in Fath al-Bari, the commentary on al-Bukhari and Qadi 'Iyad said that a some people have attempted to enumerate these branches through ijtihad. That is quite difficult to do.

Ibn Hajar said that there is not a single agreed-on manner of counting these branches. He says that the most correction in his view is that which was followed by Ibn Hibban. There is a summary of what they mention about these branches will are divided into: branches the actions of the heart, the actions of the tongue, and the actions of the body.

The actions of the heart

These include beliefs and intentions. They consist of twenty-four qualities:

1. Belief in Allah, which includes belief in His Essence, Attributes, tawhid, and that there is nothing like Him and that everything beside Him is in time.

2. Belief in His angels, His books and Messengers, and the decree of good and evil

3. Belief in the Last Day

4. Belief in the questioning in the grave, the Resurrection, the Gathering, Reckoning, Balance, Sirat and the Garden and the Fire.

5. Love of Allah

6. Loving and hating in Allah.

7. Love for the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,

8. The belief that he should be esteemed. That includes the prayer on him and following his Sunna.

9. Sincerity

10. Lack of showing-off and hypocrisy

11. Repentance

12. Fear

13. Hope

14. Thankfulness

15. Fidelity

16. Steadfastness

17. Contentment with the Decree

18. Reliance on Allah

19. Mercy

20. Humility, which includes respect for the old and mercy to the young

21. Abandoning pride and arrogance

22. Abandoning envy

23. Abandoning malice

24. Abandoning anger

The actions of the tongue

These include seven qualities:

1. Articulating tawhid

2. Recitation of the Qur'an

3. Teaching knowledge

4. Learning knowledge

5. Supplication

6. Dhikr, which includes asking forgiveness

7. Avoiding foolish talk

The actions of the body

They include thrity-eight qualities, of which fifteen apply to individuals:

1. Purification, physically and legally, which includes avoiding impurities and covering the private parts

2. The prayer, obligatory and voluntary

3. Zakat

4. Freeing slaves

5. Generosity, which includes feeding people and being generous to the guest

6. Fasting, obligatory and voluntary

7. Hajj

8. 'Umra

9. Tawaf

10. I'tikaf

11. Seeking the Night of Power

12. Fleeing for the sake of the deen which includes hijra from the Abode of shirk

13. Fulfilling vow

14. Care for oaths

15. Performing kaffara

They include what is connected to dependents, which are seven qualities:

1. Chastity in marriage

2. Taking care of the rights of the family

3. Dutifulness to parents, which include avoiding disobeying them

4. Care for children

5. Maintaining ties of kinship

6. Obeying masters

7. Gentleness to slaves

They include what is connected to general behaviour which consists of seventeen qualities:

1. Undertaking command with justice

2. Following the Community

3. Obeying those in authority

4. Making peace between people, which includes fighting rebels and Kharijites

5. Helping one another to piety, which includes commanding the correct and forbidding the bad

6. Establishing the hudud

7. Jihad, which includes ribat (manning the frontiers)

8. Carrying out the trust, which includes performing the five prayers

9. Loans and repaying them

10. Generosity towards neighbours

11. Good behaviour, which includes getting money from what is lawful

12. Spending wealth properly, which includes lack of squandering and extravagance

13. Returning the greeting

14. Blessing the person who sneezes

15. Refraining from harming people

16. Avoiding diversion

17. Removing harmful things from the road

These are 69 qualities and they can be counted as 70.

In the version of Muslim, "The highest of them is 'There is no god but Allah' and the least is removing something harmful from the road."

This indicates that there is disparity in their ranking. Allah knows best.