The 77 Branches of Faith: Deeds that Inspire Love for Goodness and Hatred for Sin
Source: Fatawa ʿUlama-e-Hadith, Vol. 9
❖ Question
Which deeds cultivate in a Muslim’s heart love for righteousness and hatred for sin?
❖ Answer
الحمد لله، والصلاة والسلام علىٰ رسول الله، أما بعد!
◈ The Reality of Faith and Its Branches
Rasulullah ﷺ said:
«اَلْإِ یْمَانُ بِضْعُ وَّسِتُّوْنَ شُعْبَۃً۔ وَفِیْ رِوَایَۃٍ لِمُسْلِمٍ بِضْعٌ وَّسَبْعُوْنَ شُعْبَۃً»
"Faith has over sixty branches. In another narration of Muslim: Faith has over seventy branches."
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab al-Iman; Sahih Muslim, Kitab al-Iman)
◈ Categories of the Branches of Faith
The branches of faith are divided into three broad categories:
➊ Deeds of the Heart (24 branches)
- Belief in Allah
- Belief in angels, scriptures, and messengers
- Belief in divine decree
- Belief in the Hereafter
- Love for Allah
- Loving and hating for Allah’s sake
- Love for the Prophet ﷺ
- Honoring the Prophet ﷺ
- Following the Sunnah
- Sincerity (Ikhlas)
- Repentance
- Fear of Allah
- Hope in Allah
- Gratitude
- Loyalty
- Patience
- Contentment
- Reliance upon Allah
- Mercy
- Humility
- Abandoning arrogance
- Abandoning envy
- Abandoning anger
- Removing malice from the heart
➋ Deeds of the Tongue (7 branches)
- Testimony of Tawhid
- Recitation of the Qur’an
- Seeking knowledge
- Teaching knowledge
- Supplication
- Dhikr and seeking forgiveness
- Avoiding vain speech
➌ Deeds of the Body (38 branches)
(a) Related to personal obligations — 15 branches
- Purification
- Covering the private parts
- Performing obligatory and voluntary prayers
- Paying zakat
- Freeing slaves
- Generosity
- Fasting (obligatory and voluntary)
- Hajj and ‘Umrah
- Tawaf
- Iʿtikaf
- Seeking Laylat al-Qadr
- Migration for the sake of Islam
- Fulfilling vows
- Fulfilling oaths
- Paying expiation (kaffarah)
(b) Related to family — 6 branches
- Chastity through marriage
- Fulfilling family rights
- Dutifulness to parents
- Raising children properly
- Maintaining kinship ties
- Obedience to elders and kindness to servants
(c) Related to society — 17 branches
- Justice in governance
- Following the Jamaʿah
- Obedience to leaders
- Reforming disputes
- Cooperating in righteousness
- Establishing punishments (hudud)
- Jihad
- Fulfilling trusts
- Repaying debts
- Respecting neighbors
- Correct financial dealings
- Spending wealth without waste
- Returning greetings of salam
- Responding to sneezes
- Removing harm from people
- Avoiding useless activities
- Clearing obstacles from pathways
(Fath al-Bari, Kitab al-Iman, vol. 1)
◈ Qur’anic Evidence
Allah ﷻ says:
﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا آمِنُوا بِاللَّـهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَالْكِتَابِ الَّذِي نَزَّلَ عَلَىٰ رَسُولِهِ وَالْكِتَابِ الَّذِي أَنزَلَ مِن قَبْلُ﴾ (al-Nisāʾ: 136)
"O you who believe! Believe in Allah and His Messenger and in the Book which He has sent down to His Messenger, and the Scripture which He revealed before."
◈ Virtue of Faith in Hadith
- When asked which deed is best, Rasulullah ﷺ replied: “Faith in Allah.” (Bukhari)
- Rasulullah ﷺ said: “Faith has over seventy branches. The highest is the testimony of La ilaha illa Allah, and the lowest is removing something harmful from the road.” (Bukhari)
- Jibril عليه السلام asked the Prophet ﷺ about faith. He replied: “Faith is to believe in Allah, His angels, His Books, and His Messengers.”
◈ The Reality of Faith
- Faith means firm conviction in the heart without doubt.
- Faith increases and decreases according to deeds: اَلْإِیْمَانُ یَزِیْدُ وَ ینْقُصُ.
- According to the Salaf: Faith is affirmation by the heart, testimony by the tongue, and action by the limbs.
The Qur’an often links faith with righteous deeds, as in:
﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اصْبِرُوا وَصَابِرُوا وَرَابِطُوا﴾ (Āl ʿImran: 200)
◈ Summary of the 77 Branches of Faith
- Belief in Allah, His Messenger, death, resurrection, Paradise, and Hell
- Love, fear, hope, and trust in Allah
- Steadfastness in religion
- Seeking knowledge and teaching it
- Respecting Qur’an and avoiding innovations
- Jihad, Salah, Sawm, Hajj, and Zakat
- Gratitude, honesty, fulfilling promises
- Avoiding haram and evil desires
- Dutifulness to parents, kinship ties
- Justice, modesty, humility, patience
- Good character, helping others, removing harm
- Visiting the sick, attending funerals, greeting with salam
- Hospitality, generosity, covering faults of others
- Avoiding extravagance, futile speech, and actions
(Shuʿab al-Iman, al-Bayhaqi; Fatawa ʿUlama-e-Hadith, vol. 9)
❖ Conclusion
These 77 branches of faith instill in a believer’s heart love for good deeds and hatred for sins. Whoever practices them truly tastes the sweetness of faith, and success lies therein.
ھذا ما عندي والله أعلم بالصواب
