Islam Museum Islam Museum islam.museum
Search ⌕ ARENUR
Accessibility
Text size 100%

Saved on this device only — nothing is sent anywhere.

Istiqama (steadfast uprightness)

الاستقامة

Standing firm upon faith and obedience after the words 'I believe in God'; in Sufyan ibn Abdullah al-Thaqafi (may God be pleased with him)'s hadith he asked the Prophet ﷺ for comprehensive words of Islam he would not need to ask anyone after him about and was answered 'say: I believe in God, then stand firm' — one route 'say: my Lord is God, then stand firm' — its meaning for Ibn Rajab drawn from 'those who say our Lord is God then stand firm' in Fussilat and al-Ahqaf; Abu Bakr is reported glossing 'then stood firm' three ways: 'they associated nothing with God', 'they did not turn to a god other than Him', and 'they stood firm that God is their Lord'; a weak al-Nasa'i route through Anas adds 'people have said it then most of them disbelieved, and whoever dies upon it is of the people of istiqama'; and in the hadith's continuation in al-Tirmidhi and al-Nasa'i, when he asked 'what do you most fear for me?' and 'what shall I guard against?', the Prophet took hold of his own tongue — 'this' — or gestured to it, making guarding the tongue among the greatest things istiqama watches.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

CreedSpirituality and Sufism

Overview

Istiqama (uprightness) is steadfastness in faith and obedience after saying "I believe in God." 1

The hadith

In the hadith of Sufyan ibn Abd Allah al-Thaqafi, he asked the Prophet for a comprehensive saying about Islam, about which he would not ask anyone after him. He said: "Say, I believe in God, then be upright." In another version: "Say, my Lord is God, then be upright." 1

Ibn Rajab's commentary

Ibn Rajab holds that the meaning of the hadith is taken from two verses in the surahs of Fussilat and al-Ahqaf. He relates from Abu Bakr three meanings of "then they were upright": they did not associate anything with God, they did not turn to any god other than Him, and they were upright in holding that God is their Lord. 2

Guarding the tongue

In the continuation of the hadith in al-Tirmidhi and al-Nasa'i, Sufyan asked what he should fear, and the Prophet took hold of his tongue. Ibn Rajab makes guarding the tongue among the most important things that uprightness must observe. In a report of al-Nasa'i from Anas, with a chain he described as weak, there is an addition to the meaning. 1

See faith.

Connections

Explore the connections

Based on
Arba'un 21 — say: I believe, then stand firm· Muwatta 72· Iman (faith)

People and things also explored

Ihsan (excellence in worship)· Prophetic adab (proper conduct)· Vain desire (hawa)· Love for one's brother· Islam (the religion and the term)· Hypocrisy (nifaq)· Trust in God (tawakkul)· Iman (faith)

Sources

  1. Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam — Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali , p. 471-472
  2. Jami' al-Ulum wal-Hikam — Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali , p. 472
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Istiqama (steadfast uprightness)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/istiqama/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-16.

Improve this page on GitHub · Report an error · JSON

Wing

Ideas

Beliefs, concepts, sciences and schools, explained in plain words. Related

Ihsan (excellence in worship)

The third level named in the hadith of Jibril after islam and iman, defined by the Prophet as worshipping God as though you see Him, for even if you do not see Him, He sees you. In his commentary on Shaddad ibn Aws's hadith 'God has prescribed ihsan upon everything' Ibn Rajab extends it from the station of watchful worship to a ruling written upon all things — reaching excellence even in execution and slaughter — noting that the wording of 'writing' entails obligation for most jurists and usul scholars.