The Ruling to Believe
Belief in Islam is regarded as a legal ruling (hukm shar’i) rather than a rational ruling. It is binding according to the sacred law (shariah).
Belief is obligatory upon every legally responsible person (mukallaf), whether male or female, free or slave, to know what is necessary for Allah, what is impossible and what is possible.
The Obligation of Knowledge
According to the sacred law (shariah), it is obligatory for every legally responsible person, whether male or female, free or slave, to know what is necessary for Allah, what is impossible, and what is possible.
An obligation means that one must fulfill it. Failing to do so makes one accountable on the Day of Judgment, liable to reward or punishment, from God.
Therefore, the ruling is that the mukallaf must know what is necessary, possible, and impossible in relation to Allah in that which is considered obligatory (fard) by the authoritative scholars in matters of belief. As a consequence the mukallaf needs to know what it means ‘to know’ and the obligation to acquire knowledge becomes due.
In the matter of beliefs conformity (taqlid) is not acceptable according to Imam al-‘Ilish.
The Definition of Knowledge
In Taqrib al-Aqa’id it states:
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The reality of knowledge is that it is a sure judgement, congruent with the truth, and accompanied with evidence.
Sure judgment in Islam requires that the person is 100% certain, as anything less, such as 99.9% certainty, is considered unacceptable.
This certainty must be congruent with the truth, meaning one’s belief cannot be mixed with any evident falsehood. For instance, while believing in the Oneness of Allah, one cannot simultaneously hold the false belief that God had a beginning, as God is Eternal.
Additionally, this sure judgment must be accompanied by evidence. Unlike the concept of “faith” in other religions, where belief may be sustained without evidence due to a lack of preservation of tenets, Islam insists that no belief is logically impossible. In fact, Islam mandates that one should not believe in what is logically impossible. The concept of Iman in Islam differs from the notion of “faith” in this context; Iman represents reasoned faith, where rationality is the qualifier and beliefs are grounded in evidence.