DISCUSSION
2.1 Definition of Faith
The definition of faith from Arabic means belief. Meanwhile, according to the term, the meaning of faith is justifying it with the heart, saying it verbally, and practicing it with actions (deeds). Thus, the meaning of faith in Allah is confirming with the heart that Allah really exists with all His attributes of glory and perfection, then this confession is pledged verbally, and proven by concrete deeds.
So, someone can be said to be a perfect believer (believer) if they fulfill the three elements of faith above. If a person acknowledges in his heart the existence of Allah, but does not pledge it verbally and prove it with his deeds, then that person cannot be said to be a perfect believer. Because, these three elements of faith are a unified whole and cannot be separated.
Faith in Allah is a very basic need for a person. Allah commands mankind to believe in Him, as Allah says, which means:
"O you who believe. Keep believing in Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad) and in the Book (Al Qur'an) that was revealed to His Messenger, as well as the book that was revealed before. Whoever disbelieves in God, His angels, His Books, His Messengers, and the Day to come, then that person has truly gone astray." (Q.S. An Nisa: 136)
The verse above provides an explanation that if we deny Allah, we will experience real error. Misguided people will not experience happiness in life. Therefore, believing in Allah is actually for the good of humans.
The word faith which is not combined with other words in the Koran has a positive meaning. Thus, words of faith which are not associated with the word Allah or with his teachings, are said to be haq faith. Meanwhile, what is associated with other things is called false faith.
2.2 Existence of Faith
Islamic belief in the Koran is called faith. Faith does not only mean belief but rather the belief that drives a Muslim to act. Therefore the field of faith is very wide.
Islamic creed or faith binds a Muslim, so that he is bound by the legal rules that come from Islam. Therefore, being a Muslim means believing and implementing everything regulated in Islamic teachings.
The form of faith is based on three elements, namely the contents of the heart, words and actions. The contents of the heart and actions are called outlook on life. Meanwhile, actions that embody the movement of action throughout human life are called life attitudes.
A person's attitude to life can be true or false, depending on their views. If his view is a haq view, then his attitude to life or behavior has a haq value. Likewise, vice versa, if the views held are false, then the attitude to life or behavior is false. Thus there are two forms of faith, namely the true form of faith and the false form of faith
2.3 Process of Forming Faith
The seed of faith carried from the womb requires continuous fertilization. If superior seeds are accompanied by intensive care, they are likely to become extinct. Likewise with the seed of Faith. Various influences on a person will direct a person's faith/personality from the family environment, society, education, etc.
Basically, the process of forming faith. Starting with the introduction process, then increasing to love or hate. Getting to know God's teachings is the first step in achieving faith in God. If someone does not know God's teachings then that person cannot possibly believe in God.
Apart from the introduction process, the habituation process also needs to be considered, because without habituation, someone who hates it can become happy. A child must be accustomed to what Allah commands and avoid Allah's prohibitions so that in the future he will be skilled in carrying out Allah's teachings.
Doing something physically is a form of behavior that is easy to see and measure. But behavior does not consist of visible actions alone. It also includes mental attitudes that are not very easy to respond to except directly (for example, through words or actions that are thought to reflect these mental attitudes).
2.4 Signs of Believers
1. Piety
Taqwa is guarding oneself from all sinful acts by carrying out all that is commanded by Allah SWT and also abandoning what He has forbidden. A person's faith in Allah SWT is not perfect if he does not have piety, that is, realizing it in a tangible form by doing righteous deeds or doing good to others.
Rasulullah SAW taught us to always be devout wherever we are. If we are in the market then we must show devotion in our dealings in the market, if we are in a learning class we must also be devoted to Allah in matters of seeking knowledge and teaching it and so on wherever we are we must be devoted to Allah SWT without should be hesitant to do so.
Allah SWT does not differentiate between the ranks of people based on tribe, race, language, and culture, but Allah SWT distinguishes the difference between one person and another by his piety, whoever is the most pious, then he is the most honorable in the eyes of Allah SWT.
2. Shame
A very important sign of a person's faith is al haya' or having a sense of shame. The meaning of having shame here is not that we feel embarrassed about speaking in front of many people so that we feel hot and cold when speaking in public or that we feel embarrassed about appearing less convincing or less cool in front of our friends at an event. However, the shame that we must cultivate as believers is shame if we do not do actions or things that have been justified by Allah SWT and His Messenger.
Therefore, it is very important for us to have this kind of shame, so that undesirable deviations do not occur. In fact, faith and shame are something that cannot be separated and of course we should not separate them like two sides of a coin that is not recognized and cannot be used as a legal means of payment.
If there is no shame in the soul of someone who professes to believe, in reality he is not a believer. There are two types of Haya' (shame):
Instinctive shame (haya' nafsaniy), namely the shame that Allah has given to every human being, such as the shame of having one's private parts visible or the shame of having sexual intercourse in front of other people. In this case, of course we must always submit and obey Allah SWT with all His provisions by granting us shame instincts. If we feel ashamed of ourselves and others, we will always guard our private parts so that they are not visible in front of other people. Therefore, people who have no shame must be wary of, because if they have damaged their own image, it is very possible for them to damage the image of others.
Shame of faith (haya'imaniy), is a feeling of shame that can prevent someone from committing immoral acts because of fear of Allah SWT. Every Muslim must have true shame towards Allah, shame that is shown anywhere, at any time, and in any situation and condition. Not only are you embarrassed to deviate when you are in the mosque and the like, but you are not ashamed to deviate in the market, office, even when you are alone. Therefore, it is very important for us to always strengthen our sense of shame so that there is not the slightest ugliness from that shame.
3. Gratitude
A very important sign of a person's faith is always being grateful. Allah SWT bestows many blessings on mankind. Every moment in human life will never pass with the blessing of Allah SWT.
Therefore, humans should always be grateful to Allah SWT. Gratitude means "thanks to Allah SWT". In other words, gratitude is taking advantage of the blessings that Allah SWT has given us according to the will of the giver.
Being thankful contains many benefits, including maintaining and increasing that blessing with other abundant blessings, Allah SWT said:
"Indeed, if you are grateful, We will certainly increase (favors) to you, and if you deny (My favors), then indeed, My punishment will be very painful" (QS Ibrahim [14]:7).
There are three ways we can thank Allah SWT:
Be grateful with your heart, namely recognizing and realizing that the blessings you receive come from Allah SWT.
Give thanks verbally, namely by saying "Alhamdulillah" which means all praise to Allah.
Be grateful with actions, such as doing good deeds, in accordance with the demands of religion.
Allah SWT bestows many blessings on humans. Broadly speaking, God's favors are divided into two types, namely favors which are the goal and favors which are a means to achieve the goal.
The first characteristic of blessing is that it is eternal, filled with happiness and pleasure, something that is possible to achieve, and all needs are met. The second blessing includes cleanliness of the soul in the form of faith and noble morals, bodily advantages such as health and strength, things that bring physical pleasure, such as wealth and power, and things that bring virtue, such as help and protection from Allah SWT. .
4. Be patient
The last or fourth sign of someone's faith is patience. Patience comes from Arabic, namely shabara-yashbiru-shabran, which means to restrain or restrain.
In terms of patience, it means refraining from behaving, speaking and behaving that is not permitted by Allah SWT.
Patience is an important part of faith. In a hadith narrated by Abu Nu'aim, the Prophet SAW said that patience is part of faith. The position of patience for faith is very important, like the position of the day of Arafat in the Hajj.
The Prophet SAW described patience as a very valuable item in heaven. He also said, "patience towards something you hate is a great virtue" (HR. At-Tirmidhi).
5. Satisfaction with God's Decision
Ridha means accepting the decision of losing or winning with an open heart. If you get a victory then you are ready to carry out your duties as a sign of gratitude to God, and if you lose, then accept it with an open heart, and feel that it is better than winning. A tasawwuf scholar, Ibnu Athaillah Sakandari stated: "Pleasure is directing the heart's attention to God's provision for the servant and leaving unpleasure". Another scholar, Ruwaim stated: 'Contentment is the calmness of the heart in living out the decrees of God.'
One day the caliph Umar bin Khattab wrote a letter to the governor Abu Musa al Asyari: "All goodness lies in contentment. Even if you are able to be a contented person; and if you can't afford it, then be patient"
Signs of Believers (Al Anfal 2-4)
"Indeed, the believers are those whose hearts tremble when the name of God is mentioned, and when His verses are recited, their faith increases (because of it), and only in God they put their trust. (namely) those who establish prayer and who spend part of the sustenance that We give them. Those are the people who truly believe. They will obtain several degrees of elevation in the presence of their Lord and forgiveness and glorious sustenance."
(QS. Al Anfal 2-4)
From this verse it is clear that some of the signs of a person who truly believes in Allah are:
When God's name is mentioned, his heart trembles
When Allah's Verses are recited, his faith increases
They always put their trust in God
Establishing Prayer
Spending (giving infaq, sadaqoh)
Those are the signs of a true believer in addition to the other signs that God described in the letter of Al Fatihah and other letters.
What we can think about is, have we ever trembled or even cried when we mentioned the verses of the Koran? Or do we actually laugh out loud even though the Koran tells us how painful Allah's punishment is? all the answers come back to each of us, let's introspect / muhasabah / evaluate ourselves before Allah steps in to evaluate us in the Final Yaumul.
2.5 Correlation of Faith and Piety
Faith and piety are two things that cannot be separated. A person who is devout is a person who believes, that is, who views and behaves according to the teachings of Allah according to the Sunnah of the Prophet, namely a person who performs prayers, as an effort to build his faith and spend his sustenance to support the upholding of Allah's teachings.
True faith in Allah and His Messenger will provide a strong incentive or stimulus to do good to others so that those noble qualities and noble morals will eventually lead a person to the degree of piety. A pious person is a person who has true faith and a person who truly believes is a person who has noble character and morals. Thus it can be said that people with noble character are the characteristics of pious people.
Belief in the oneness of Allah, known as tawhid, is divided into two, namely theoretical tawhid and practical tawhid. Theoretical knowledge is knowledge that discusses the oneness of substance, the oneness of substance, the nature and actions of God.
Practical monotheism, also called monotheism of worship, is related to human charity and worship. Practical tauhid is the application of tortical monotheism. In other words, there is no one to be worshiped except Allah, or the only thing that must be worshiped is Allah alone, who makes Him the place of support for the heart and the goal of one's steps.
In Islamic teachings, what is meant by perfect monotheism is monotheism which is reflected in worship and in human actions in everyday life.
In upholding tahuid, one must unite faith and charity, concept and implementation, thought and action, as well as text and context. In this way, monotheism is believing in God with the understanding of being confident and trusting in God through the mind justifying with the heart, saying it with the mouth and practicing it with one's actions. Therefore, a person is only declared to be faithful and pious, when he has said the words of monotheism and by practicing all the commandments of God and avoiding his prohibitions./lalanurmala-lalanurmala