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Amantu comprises of the fundamentals of belief that every Muslim must believe, accept and approve.

There are 6 fundamentals of belief in Amantu; they are as follows:

1. To believe in Allah, 2. To believe in His angels, 3. To believe in His books, 4. To believe in His prophets, 5. To believe the Day of Judgment (life after death), 6. To believe in destiny (qadar), that the good and the evil are from Allah.

The oral expression of Amantu is as follows:

Amantu billahi wa malaikatihi wa kutubihi wa rusulihi wal-yawmil-akhiri wa bil-qadari khayrihi wa sharrihi minallahi taala wal-ba’thu ba’dal-mawti haqqun ashhadu an la ilaha illallah wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh.

Its meaning is as follows:

Amantu billahi: I believed in the existence and oneness of Allah, that He has no partners or counterparts, that He has all kinds of loftiness and that He is free of all kinds of deficiency.

Wa malaikatihi: I also believed in the angels of Allah.

Wa kutubihi: I also believed in the books of Allah.

Wa rusulihi: I also believed in the prophets of Allah.

Wal-yawmil-akhiri: I also believed in the Day of Judgment.

Wa bil-qadari khayrihi wa sharrihi minallahi taala: I also believed in the destiny, that everything that seems as good or evil to us take place through the knowledge, law and creation of Allah. 

Wal-ba’thu ba’dal-mawti haqqun: I also heartily believed in life after death (and resurrection). All of them are true and right.  

Ashhadu an la ilaha illallah wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluh: I witness that there is no god but Allah and I witness that Hazrat Muhammad is his slave and messenger.

The last sentence is called the word of Shahadah, that is, the sentence of witnessing.

Allah created the spirits of all people before He created the world and the beings in it. He brought them together in a place called the realm of spirits. Then, he brought all of them to his presence and asked them:

We have been Muslims since Qalu Bala.

Allah created the spirits of all people before He created the world and the beings in it. He brought them together in a place called the realm of spirits. Then, he brought all of them to his presence and asked them:

– Alastu birabbikum= Am I not your Lord? The spirits answered:

– Qalu:Bala=They said:Yes you are. They also said, “Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek.”  The time when the conversation above took place is called Qalu Bala.

Then, Allah created the world as a place of testing and trial in order to find out to what extent the spirits were sincere and truthful in their promises. He placed each spirit into a different body and sent them to the world, the place of testing and trial, in certain intervals. Thus, man had two choices:

He will either use his mind and will in a good way and continue to know Allah as his Lord or he will use his mind and will in a bad way and deny Allah, avoiding worshipping him and following the way of the devil.

We, as Muslims, give Allah endless thanks that we have kept our promises that we gave our Lord in Qalu Bala. We hope (inshaallah) we will continue to keep our promises until the last breath.

I was taken to hospital as a result of a traffic accident I had in 1989; I was in a coma. My spouse, who was near me, died and the doctor who examined me wrote a report stating that I was dead since he did not see any signs of life in my body.  In the news bulletin of TRT that night, my name was among those who died in the accident.

Then, they understood that I was not dead; I came round after remaining in a coma for three days. However, due to the effects of the impacts in the accident, I could not open my eyes and I could not move any parts of my body. I could not think much because of the effect of the anesthetics in the serum injected to my arm. I was exactly like a living dead person. At first, I thought I was in a deep sleep: a sleep that I was never able to wake up from. Meanwhile, I heard the conversation taking place near my bedside.

My uncle (I recognized his voice) said:

– Doctor! There has been no progress for three days. We want to take our patient to Ankara if you permit. 

The doctor answered:

– Your patient can die any moment. It will be a murder to permit his transport. I cannot accept a responsibility like that.

When I heard that conversation, I realized that I had a big accident and I was terrified by the sentence of the doctor; “He can die any moment.” However, I could feel that I had lost all of my faculties except hearing and thinking. I was afraid not being able to pass the reckoning rather than dying and I was panting as if my throat was being squeezed. 

I thought I was dying when I heard a voice out of nowhere; it started to talk to me. It asked me why I was afraid so much. When I told him why, the same voice said:

– There is nothing to be afraid of. You are undergoing so much trouble because you were made believe groundless and superstitious things. There is nothing like Allah and the hereafter; there is no trouble about them. I will prove you that they are nonsense. If you approve me, you will see that you will not have any troubles or anxiety.

Since I felt myself like being under a mountain that fell upon me, I said:

– All right, tell me quickly and relieve me of this trouble.

The voice said:

– You know that seeds become seedlings first and then trees. Then, they start to die, dry and decay in the soil. Animals are born, grow up, develop and die like us and then they become soil. Have you ever heard those trees or animals fear or become worried like you? Of, course not, because they were not made believe in superstitious things. That is, since there is no reviving and reckoning, they do not have worries about those things. If you remove those nonsense things from your mind, you will have no troubles and you will feel relieved.     

After I heard those words, my troubles increased. I thought, “will I be relieved, if I deny them as that voice said?”; however, I could feel that my heart, my spirit and my other faculties did not want to deny. 

Suddenly, my mind began to be illuminated as if someone switched on a light. The issues that I had read and listened to about belief before started to flash before my eyes. I addressed that voice:

– You want to deceive me with lies and the gift of the gab. However, I have a mind and I am responsible for what I do. How can you consider me to be equal to mindless animals and unconscious plants? I will certainly fear reckoning because if I use the organs that were given to me and that are maybe one thousand time more developed than those of the animals and plants, and the bounty of the mind  to meet the needs of my soul and my desires, I will deserve punishment in the hereafter and fall into a level one thousand time lower than those of the animals and plants. Since a pin cannot be without a maker, a painting without a painter and a village without a headman, can that perfect universe be without an owner and a creator? And will my Lord, who created me in a perfect form along with the universe, give me free rein and not question me? 

Yes, the lights of belief came to my rescue in my hardest time and started to illuminate the dark world I was in. As I told that voice the truths of belief that I acquired from them, I felt that my troubles and pains started to be relieved. After a while, that voice kept completely silent and could not answer back.

Then, I came round and according to what my friends told me I heard the adhan (call to prayer) outside and wanted to pray.

The reason why I am writing this letter to you and narrating the hair-raising event that I experienced is that I want to express how much we need the truths of belief. It is necessary to go to the grave with belief in the last breath and to turn the grave to a garden of the gardens of Paradise with it. 

All of our believing brothers know that the devil pesters people in their deathbeds and tries to delude their minds in order to make them deny Allah and therefore it is necessary to have a strong belief. However, I experienced an exemplary event before death with the permission of Allah and I regarded it as a duty to inform all of the believers about that event through Zafer Magazine.

(Niyazi YILDIRIM, Zafer Magazine, issue 195)

Belief is the reason why man was created. That is, he was created in order to know his Creator with belief and to worship Him. If man acts in accordance with the reason of creation, he will attain the endless bliss in the hereafter and enter Paradise; otherwise, he will be sent to Hell and will be exposed to endless trouble and unhappiness. In this regard, belief is the means of gaining the endless bliss and the key to Paradise. One cannot enter Paradise without belief. Therefore, it is more important than anything in the world for a man to believe and to preserve his belief without losing or weakening it until his last breath.

Because of the great importance of belief, our Prophet said:

“Renew your belief by saying la ilaha illallah : there is no god but Allah” (Musnad, 2/359; al-Munziri, at-Targhib wa’t-Tarhib, 2/415; al-Haysami, Majmauzzawaid, 1/52); he attracted our attention to renewing and preserving belief.

A question like, “the belief is repeatedly ordered to be renewed; is there a continuous possibility of belief to weaken and be lost?” may come to one’s mind. Badiuzzaman, interprets the issue of renewing belief as follows by giving also the answer to that question:

“Since man himself and the world in which he lives are being continuously renewed, he needs constantly to renew his belief. For in reality each individual human being consists of many individuals. He may be considered as a different individual to the number of the years of his life, or rather to the number of the days even to the hours of his life. Since a single individual is subject to time, he is like a model and each passing day clothes him in the form of another individual.

Furthermore, just as there is within man this plurality and renewal, so also is the world in which he lives in motion. It goes and is replaced by another. It varies constantly. Every day opens the door of another world. As for belief, it is both the light of the life of each individual in that person, and it is the light of the world in which he lives. And as for la ilaha illallah (there is no god but Allah), it is a key with which to turn on the light.

Then the instinctual soul, desire, doubts, and Satan exercise great influence over man. In order to damage his belief, they are much of the time able to benefit from his negligence, to trick him, with their wiles, and thus to extinguish the light of belief with doubts and uncertainty.

Also, man is prone to act and utter words which apparently oppose the Sharia, and which in the view of some religious authorities are no less than unbelief.

Therefore, there is a need to renew belief all the time, every hour, every day.” (Mektubat: Letters)

In the passage above, the necessity of renewing belief is underlined from three different points:

First point: The time and place man lives, his spiritual mood, psychology, thought and understanding can change very often due to the environment he is in. The things that he was exposed to, the things that he did and the people that he contacted leave positive or negative marks on him.

Our Prophet states the following about the issue:

“The heart of a believer undergoes changes more than a boiling pot.”

“The heart is like a sparrow. Every moment, it turns towards a different direction.”

“The heart is like a bird wing that was thrown in the countryside. The wind overturns it; the heart is like that.”

Due to the fact that the heart of man and his psychological mood is so vulnerable to outside effects, our Prophet ordered us to renew or beliefs often by saying la ilaha illallah.

* * *

The Messenger of Allah said the following during a talk:

“– Hearts rust just as the iron rusts.

One of the companions asked:

– What is the thing that will eliminate the rust and that will polish it, O Messenger of Allah? He answered:

– It is to read the Quran and to think about death.” (Taj)

From Abdullah bin Amr:

“Our Prophet prayed as follows:

– O Allah Who has the hearts in His hand of power! Direct our hearts towards the deeds and worshipping that you are pleased with.” (Muslim)

The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“The place of belief in a believer resembles the situation of the horse and the stake it is tied to.

The horse turns round and round and approaches the stake, similarly, the believer makes some mistakes through negligence and then repents and turns to the belief that he is tied to spiritually.”                        (Ibn Hibban)

Second Point: It is the fact that there are negative feelings like the soul, desires, delusion in man and the devil constantly tries to tempt and deceive him. In a moment of heedlessness, those negative thoughts may cause doubts in man about belief. It is necessary to renew belief so as not to fall into a dangerous situation like that. 

Third Point: Man cannot keep himself away from some words and sentences that are contrary to religion seemingly and that are even regarded as unbelief by some scholars. Therefore, it is necessary to say la ilaha illallah and renew belief. 

Another way of strengthening and preserving belief is to upgrade it from the level of imitative belief to investigative belief. It can only be achieved by reading the books about belief that teach the truths of belief investigatively and answer the doubts and delusions that can come to the mind and by taking part in talks about belief. If man upgrades his belief from imitative to investigative, it will be out of question for him to lose his belief and to die without belief in the last breath. Islamic scholars say that the devil will come to deceive man and take away his belief in his deathbed using all of his tricks and delusions. Therefore, they say that they are afraid of the time of death.

Man can be freed from dangers like that in deathbed through investigative belief. It is because in investigative belief, belief is not only in the mind; it is distributed over the heart, spirit and other feelings and settled there. Even if the devil damages the belief in man’s mind, it cannot remove the belief settled in other feelings. Thus, he remains a believer and dies as a believer.

2. Belief is a great source of morality and a strong supporting point. A person who attains the real belief can challenge the whole universe and can get rid of the pressure of the troubles that he undergoes to the extent of the strength of his belief.

Our victories that made history and caused people write legends are good examples of the strength that belief gives to man.

A believing person, no matter how great a disaster happens to him, may face those troubles and sorrows with the trust in Allah and surrender, and with the feeling of consent to destiny and confront them with patience and endurance. He does not fall into hopelessness and pessimism. He does not resort to rebellion and screaming. It comes from the strength that belief gives a man. We see very often that people with no belief give way to despair so much so that they think of committing suicide when they face very small problems. The fact that we witness almost no suicides in Islamic countries and that suicides increase in the most civilized and wealthy countries with high level of welfare confirm it.

Our Prophet pointed out to the power of strength and resistance that belief makes man gain as follows:

“A believer is like a green plant. The winds of misfortune that are never missing make him bend but cannot break him. On the contrary, they make him revive and recover. A hypocrite (and an unbeliever) is like a dry plant. The winds of misfortune make the leaves shed, make the stem break and kill them.”

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From Suhayb:

“ Strange are the ways of a believer for there is good in every affair of his and this is not the case with anyone else except in the case of a believer; for if he has an occasion to feel delight, he thanks (God), thus, there is a good for him in it, and if he gets into trouble and shows resignation (and endures it patiently), there is a good for him in it..”

[Muslim/Zuhd 64 (2999)>

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Neither the joyful moments of life nor the sorrowful times make a believer go astray. They do not make him spoil; they do not make him pessimistic or rebellious, either. He has a definite criterion. He thanks Allah when he receives bounties and he shows patience when he faces troubles. Therefore, he wins in both states.

It is to know in detail and with evidence what our Prophet informed us from Allah. In other words, it is to learn and approve the necessary knowledge about the religion in detail.

Belief is a something involving the heart and the conscience. A person who heartily believes in and adheres to the fundamentals of belief is regarded a believer. What is important in belief is the approval of the heart.

They are divided into three:

1 – Believers,

2 – Unbelievers,

3 – Munafiqs (Hypocrites).

* A person who believes in the essential decrees of the religion of Islam that are obligatory to believe in without hesitation and approves them is called a believer.

* A person who does not believe in any of the fundamentals of belief included in Amantu and any of the orders and prohibitions of Allah is called an unbeliever.

* A person who seemingly believes but denies in his heart is called a hypocrite.

A teacher asked the students the following questions in order to blur their minds:

– Why did Allah send us to this world although He wants all of us to go to Paradise?

One of the children answered as follows:

– You certainly want all of us to pass. The why do you not give all of us good marks but give us examinations?

What is belief?

Belief, in the dictionary, means believing in something without any hesitation and definitely, and adhering sincerely and heartily.

Its religious meaning is believing in the existence and oneness of Allah without any hesitation and accepting and approving without any hesitation that Hazrat Muhammad is a prophet and what he conveyed to us all are right and true. 

• How many parts is belief divided into?

Belief is divided into two:

1. Implicit (ijmal) belief,

2. Detailed (tafseel) belief.

Belief is the greatest blessing and grant of Allah to humans. Allah gives it to His slaves that He wishes. However, it cannot be claimed that the slave has no role in receiving it. On the contrary, the slave should use his preference and will first and be willing for belief and guidance. Allah will give him belief and guidance upon his demand and request. Therefore, some Islamic scholars and saints described belief as, “It is a light that God Almighty puts into the heart of a person He wishes after that person uses his partial will and preference in that way.”

The necessary knowledge that needs to be learned is the 6 fundamentals of belief included in Amantu, the obligatory worshipping like daily prayers, fasting, hajj (pilgrimage), zakat (almsgiving) and the actions like killing a person, having alcohol, and fornicating that are regarded haram by the religion. (32 fard and 54 fard)

It is necessary for every Muslim to know them in detail and to believe them.

Deed is practicing what one believes, fulfilling the orders of the religion and avoiding what the religion forbids. Deed has a close relation with belief. Man adopts something first, believes that it is true and then practices what he believes to be true. However, deed is not a part of belief. That is, a person is not regarded to be a disbeliever or to have denied his belief if he does not fulfill the orders of the religion and even if he does not worship. He becomes a sinner.

However, deed and worship strengthens the belief in the heart increases its effect and makes man mature. If a person does not carry out the requirements of his belief, the positive effects of belief on human behavior diminish and disappear in time. As the effects of belief on a person diminish, negative feelings, evil habits, harmful desires cover a person’s world of feelings. Sometimes, that state may lead that person to unbelief, that is, losing his belief.

Every evil and sin, every deed that is contrary to the orders of the religion penetrates into the heart, and stains and blackens the light of belief.

Our Prophet indicated that state with his following words:

“In the heart of a person who commits a sin, a black stain forms.”

As the sins are repeated, the blackness in the heart increases and the light of belief gradually fades away. That state continues until the heart completely blackens and hardens and the light of belief completely fades away and disappears.

Therefore, the following sentence is stated, “There is a way going to unbelief in every sin.”

As we have mentioned above, today, imitative belief faces many delusions and doubts and they are exposed to be shattered and break down. Ali Fuad Başgil explains the reasons why imitative belief was sufficient in the past but not sufficient today as follows:

“People needed the strength of religion and spirituality in every period. However, that need became an obligation today. In the past, our ancestors lived comfortably with quite simple knowledge of religion and imitative belief in the form of tradition because the whole environment presented them with spirituality. Today, the situation has changed completely. The feeling of religion has weakened; the former religious respect has been replaced by an arrogant disrespect. The family has diminished and the family ties have loosened. The burden of the family has been placed on the shoulders of the father and mother; they have not been able to take care of the religious education of their children due to the economical needs. On the other hand, schools and universities have become centers of anti-religious propaganda. In an environment that has become more blurred with the derisions and obstinacy of the stubborn deniers, simple knowledge of religion is not enough today. 

Questions like “What is religion? What is its relation with science? What should religion do in the presence of science and what kind of attitude should it assume?” have been occupying minds more than ever. Especially the intellectual young people should know the answers to those questions.” (Din ve Lâiklik: Religion and Laicism)

Indeed, the religious knowledge and the belief lesson to be given today should have an investigative content that will make the mind and logic accept the issues about belief. Otherwise, a simple lesson of religion, some knowledge about belief in the form of tradition will not be satisfactory for the people, especially the youth of today.

SINS AND REPENTANCE

Shahr bin Hawshab reporting from Abu Hurayra said: Hazrat Eesa (Jesus) was sitting with his disciples when an eagle whose wings were adorned with pearls and rubies landed near them. That eagle had a fascinating beauty that they had never seen before. Hazrat Eesa said, "Pay attention to that eagle; keep your eyes on it. It came here to teach us something.

Suddenly, the skin of the eagle began to be peeled and the fascinating beauty began to disappear. Soon, a terrifying black beast with almost no feathers appeared. Everybody became scared of it; they were disgusted with the animal that they had loved and admired a few minutes before. After a while, the animal went to the water nearby and cleaned itself with water and regained its former beauty again. It became an eagle with its feathers, dazzling wings with pearls and rubies again. The Hazrat Eesa told his disciples, “That was the lesson for you." When the disciples asked how, Hazrat Eesa stated the following: "If a believer does not commit sins and if he fulfills his worshipping, he becomes like the first state of the eagle; everybody likes him and wants to become like him. When he commits sins and disobeys Allah, his beauty disappears and he becomes ugly. If the believer washes his sins with the water of genuine repentance, he regains his former state and becomes beautiful just like that eagle. It is because Allah accepts the repentance of the people who repent."

He should always remember that not carrying out the duties that his belief necessitates is a fault and sin and he should feel sorry. He should ask for patience and help from Allah in order to fulfill the orders of the religion and to practice what his belief necessitates; he should repent and vow not to commit sins again.

Only then can a person protect his belief from the negative effects of the sins. Thus, he can get rid of the danger of losing his belief.

It means believing wholly in the things that our Prophet conveyed to us from Allah.

If a person says:

“La ilaha illallah muhammadun rasulullah” by knowing the meaning and approving, he believes wholly.

That sentence is called tawhid. The meaning of it is as follows:

La ilaha illallah: There is no god but Allah.

Muhammadun rasulullah: Muhammad is His messenger. 

* * *

From Muadh bin Jabal:

The Prophet said,

–O Muadh! Do you know what Allah's Right upon His slaves is?

–Allah and His Messenger know best.

–To worship Him (Allah) Alone and to join none in worship with Him (Allah).

 Do you know what their right upon Him is?

–Allah and His Messenger know best.

–Not to punish them (if they do so).

 (Bukhari/Tawhid 1; Muslim/Iman 48; Tirmidhi/Iman 18; Ibn Majah/Zuhd 35)

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According to the hadith above, the aim of the creation of man is to worship Allah by having the belief of oneness and not to join anyone in worship with Him. Allah promises not punish a person who  lives accordingly.

To declare belief with the tongue is not a necessity of belief. If a person does not express his belief by tongue, he will be regarded a believer by accepting it with the heart. However, how can we know about the belief of a person in his heart if he does not declare it with his tongue? Therefore, it is necessary to declare belief with the tongue so that Muslims can witness his belief and treat his dead body as a Muslim when he dies. Therefore, the two fundamentals of belief are expressed as “acceptance with the heart and declaration by the tongue”. Here, declaration by the tongue is not the essential fundamental but it is necessary to witness a person’s belief and to accept him as a believer. Praying in the congregation, carrying out a religious obligation are like declaration with the tongue; actually they are even stronger than it. Our Prophet said the following regarding the issue:

“Witness the belief of a person who attends the mosque because Allah says, ” The Mosques of Allah shall be maintained only by those who believe in Allah and the Last Day, perform as-salat (prayers), and give zakat (alms).’ (at-Tawba, 18).” 

It is not objectionable by religion to deny one’s belief or to utter words contrary to belief under compulsion or due to a similar excuse with the tongue not with the heart since declaration with the tongue is not the essential fundamental of belief. A person who is forced to do so does not become an unbeliever; he is regarded a believer since he preserves his acceptance with the heart. 

Accordingly, during the Age of Happiness, Ammar Bin Yasir, a companion of the Prophet, could not endure the oppression and tortures, and denied his belief with the tongue; so, he got rid of the tortures he was exposed to.

Our Prophet approved what he had done; the Prophet said that the denial of belief with the tongue under oppression and violence would not harm belief when the heart is full of belief. It was stated in the Quran that the denial under compulsion would not make a person unbeliever. (an-Nahl 16/106)

• Where did people come to this world from?

People came to this world from the realm of spirits. Allah created the spirits of people before their bodies. Then he clothed each spirit a different body and sent them to this world. 

• Why did people come to this world?

They came to this world to believe in Allah and to worship Him.

The following is stated in the Quran regarding the issue:

“And I created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me (Alone)..” (adh-Dhariyat, 56). 

• With what belief do people come to this world?

All people come to this world with the creation of Islam, that is, as Muslims. Then they either live in accordance with the creation of Islam by using their minds and wills, and live like Muslims, or they change their clean creation by being affected from the negative spheres and start to lead lives outside Islam. Our Prophet points to that issue as follows: 

Children are innocent

From Abu Hurayra:

“No child is born but has the Islamic Faith, but its parents turn it into a Jew, a Christian or a fireworshipper.”

(Bukhari / Qadr 3; Muslim / Qadr  22; Abu Dawud / Sunnah 17)

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The role and responsibility of parents are pointed out in the spiritual and material education of the child. Every child is born as innocent. Primarily his mother and father shape his belief and ethical values. That is, the child tends towards the faith of his parents through imitation. He adopts it. Therefore, parents have a great responsibility.  That responsibility is to bring up and educate new generations in accordance with the creation of Islam and to teach them the fundamentals of belief and holy values.

A seed grows and develops greatly until it becomes a tree; belief is like a tree too. Islamic scholars divide belief into two levels first:

1– Taqlid (imitative) belief,

2– Tahqiq (investigative) belief

Imitative belief: It means adhering to the fundamentals of belief traditionally without reasoning on the issue as one hears from his parents, teachers and environment. Since imitative belief is a kind of believing that is not based on a detailed belief in the fundamentals and consciousness of belief, it may be exposed to some doubts and delusions and face the risk of faltering and breaking down especially in this age.

Investigative belief: It means knowing all of the issues about belief with evidence and in detail, to approve and believe   without hesitation. A belief like that can protect itself from faltering and breaking down when faced by doubts and delusions.

There are various degrees of investigative belief. Islamic scholars divide those degrees into three:

1 – Certainty at the degree of knowledge: It means knowing and believing in Islamic issues scientifically and in detail.

2 – Certainty at the degree of witnessing: It means knowing and believing in Islamic issues as if seeing them or as if observing their truthfulness personally. Seeing through eyes and knowing scientifically are very different from the aspect of giving a person an idea. Man can know something definitely, without hesitation but when he sees it, his belief increases. For instance, knowing the existence of America and seeing America personally. Certainty at the degree of witnessing is believing in the fundamentals of belief as if seeing through the eyes.  .

3 – Absolute certainty: It means accepting and realizing the issues concerning belief by entering into them and experiencing them personally.

The following example can be given to explain the three levels of belief: When smoke is seen somewhere it is known that there is a fire there. To know the presence of fire by seeing the smoke is certainty at the degree of knowledge. To go near the fire and to know the existence of fire by seeing it is certainty at the degree of witnessing. To go near the fire and to put your hand into the fire and feel the burning property of the fire and to know the existence of fire like that is absolute certainty.