Muslim has reported from Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) in his conversation with Gabriel replied:

About Islam:

"Islam is that you attest that there is no deity but Allah, and that Muhammad (Peace be upon him) is the Messenger of Allah, that you keep up prayer, pay poor-rate, keep fast of Ramadhan, and make pilgrimage of the House (K'abah), provided you have means of making journey to it."

"It is that you believe in: Allah, and His angels, and His Books, and His Appostles, and the Last Day, and that you believe in predestination- in its good and in its evil." About Ihsaan: "It is that you serve Allah, as if you see Him, and if you do not see Him, He certainly sees you."
Ibn Majah has reported from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah said:
"The believer is more honourable to Allah than some of His angels."

In 'The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam', Iqbal says faith (Imaan) is not merely a passive belief. The Quran rejects static view of the universe: Examine verse 51-47. Since all entities, in their own reference and relativity, are constantly changing, existence and environment demand new solutions to emerging situations and scenario: (examine verse 55-29), which eloquently explains the faith that Lord-Master of the megaverse provides opportunities anew, every day, whereby we can sustain and succeed in the ever changing reality in the evolving (expanding) universe. Iqbal emphasises: "To exist in real time is not to be bound by the fetters of serial time, but to create it from moment to moment and to be absolutely free and original in creation."

"According to the Qura'an,'change is one of the greatest signs of God'. To grasp the dialectic of change is what the true seeker of truth is all the time attempting. This is the way to understand the laws of nature and society. This is the way to master them and harness them to the benefit of humanity." (Prof Khwaja Masud, 'Ijtihad' is need of the hour, The News, 22 November, 2004).

Faith of a Muslim stands its test and gains strength in realizing the living reality. Faith becomes sterile without action. Without practice, its passivity makes it dull and ultimately dormant, hardly finding any mention of its once motivating motile mode even in footnotes to history. Conversely also it is true that action is blind without faith and conviction. Faith has a dynamic quality, which must cope up with changing reality; otherwise it becomes a dogma.

Islamic faith does not support monasticism. It enables and creates capacity, within an environment, to seek knowledge and search for truth. Iqbal says: "all search for knowledge is a form of prayer". Observation of science and nature by a seeker of truth is his act of prayer.

"Men who celebrate the praises of Allah, standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and contemplate the creation in the heavens and the earth: 'Our Lord! Not for naught have You created this! Glory to You! Give us salvation from the penalty of the Fire." 3-191 Therefore faith is neither blind nor irrational, as is commonly alleged. It develops in the believer, what Carlyle calls 'Seeing Eye':

"Do they not look at the sky above them? How We have made it and adorned it, and there are no flaws in it? And the earth, We have spread it out, and set thereon mountains standing firm, and produced therein every kind of beautiful growth (in pairs),

to be observed and commemorated by every devotee turning [to Allah]" 50-6 to 8 Also see 31-31 Faith is dynamic. It is not passive. It is to be practiced. According a Tradition: "Whoever practices what he knows, Allah will provide him with understanding of what he did not know."

A 'live' believer observes and thinks over signs in creation in order to save himself from becoming dormant (dead) due to blindness and inattention to the Reality. The Quran asserts that signs are from the One Who is Ever All-Knowing and Ever-All-Wise (24-59), for those who are conscious and fear (2-187), reflect (5-89), use intellect (2-73, 242), remember (2-221), and seek guidance (3-103).

Imam Ibn Taymiyyah has explained different aspects of increasing faith: (i) practicing Ijmaal (total observance) and Tafseel (detailed observance) of Allah's Commands. One who knows the Qur'an and the Sunnah is obliged to have a detailed Imaan. ".. This day I (Allah) have perfected your religion for you ." 5-3 In this verse, the word Diin (religion) refers to the legislation of commanded and forbidden actions. Therefore Ijmaal and Tafseel have to conform to the Quranic Commandments and Ordainments. The more one knows, understands, believes in, and practices with conviction, the more his faith increases (8-2). The assent (increase in faith) requires putting heart (love) along with head (conscious belief) into obedience. The practicing believer ascends through: (ii) love for Allah and His Messenger and fear of and expectations from Allah, which are part of faith, (iii) God-consciousness (remembrance and attention) 'Umar 0.Ibn Habib, one of the Companions, said: "If we thank and praise Allah, our Imaan increases. However, if we neglect and forget Him, our Imaan decreases." ".. Nor obey any, whose heart We (Allah) have permitted to neglect the remembrance of Us, one who follows his own desires, whose case has gone beyond allbounds." 18-28 "And remind, for, indeed, reminding profits the believers" 51-55 "The admonition will be received by those who fear (Allah): But it will be avoided by those most unfortunate ones". 87- 10 & 11. According to Sahih Bukhari, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: "The one who holds Allah in remembrance as compared to one who does not, is like a living man as compared to one who has died." "For, believers are those who, when Allah is mentioned, feel a tremor in their hearts, and when they hear His Verses rehearsed, find their belief strengthened, and put (all) their trust in their Lord" 8-2 Ihsaan is the opposite of behaving badly,. striving to do what is good, repelling harmful things and benefiting mankind. As for Ihsaan in worship of Allah, it is enveloped in utmost love and humility in submission. Love causes one to desire and seek more, and humility creates fear. Following grim graphic description of one of the events of the Battle of Badr, given by Sir William Muir, is reproduced by Thomas Patrick Hughes in A Dictionary of Islam, p.383, which underlines need of right belief for righteous acts:

"The sun was now declining, so they hastily dug a pit on the battle field and cast the enemy's dead bodies into it. Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said: '.they well know that the promise of their Lord (Allah) unto them has fully come to pass.' At the moment when the corpse of Otba was tossed into a pit, a look of distress over-cast the countenance of his son, Abu Hodzeifa (Abu Huzaifah). Muhammad (Peace be upon him) turned kindly to him, and said: 'Perhaps you are distressed for your father's fate?' 'Not so, O Prophet of the Lord! I do not doubt the justice of my father's fate; but I know well his wise and generous heart, and I had trusted that the Lord would have led him to the faith. But now that I see him slain and my hope destroyed, it is for that I grieve.' So the Prophet (Peace be upon him) comforted Abu Hodzeifa, and blessed him, and said: 'It is well."

Ibn Masud narrated that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said:

"Whoever dies while ascribing partners to Allah, enters the Hell-fire." (Bukhari). It is reported in Muslim (Sahiih), that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: "He who professed that there is no God to be worshiped-obeyed, but Allah (Alone), and made a denial of everything which the people worship besides Allah, his property and blood become inviolable, and his affair rests with Allah." Itbaan (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: "Indeed Allah has forbidden for Hell the person who testifies 'There is nothing worthy of worship in truth but Allah', seeking thereby nothing but Allah's Countenance (Pleasure)" (Bukhari, Muslim)