But Ibrahim knew how to speak in Divine presence...

But Ibrahim knew how to speak in Divine presence; he was a servant of Allah; he should not forget the dictates of humility; it was a sign of his excellence ' of his humbleness, that he did not start talking with Allah in a friendly way, did not consider himself as worthy of that exclusive proximity, of that sublime friendship. He continued to see in himself a humble and powerless servant who is sustained by his Master's grace.

That is why he submitted to the Lord to Whom all the worlds surrender, and said: "I submit myself to the Lord of the worlds". "al-Islam", "at-taslim" and "al­istislam" all are from the same root s-l-m and have the same meaning, that is, to submit, to surrender. These verbs are used when a man or a thing submits to another thing, in such a way that the first never disobeys the second, never goes against it. Allah says: Yes! whoever submits himself entirely to Allah ...

(2:112); Surely I have turned my face, being upright, wholly to Him Who originated the heavens and the earth ... (6:79). It is with the face that one turns towards someone. So far as Allah is concerned, the whole being, the whole existence, of the thing turns to Him. When a man surrenders to Allah, he obeys and accepts whatever comes to him from Allah - the creative matters like the measure and the decree, as well as the legislative ones like order and prohibition.

As men differ in degrees of their submission to Divine Decrees or legislations, so does their Islam. The first stage of Islam is to accept and obey the exoteric commandments, orders and prohibitions, by reciting ash-shahadatayn (the two testimonies, that is, testifying to the Oneness of God and Messengership of Muhammad, (s.a.w.a.)), no matter whether the belief has entered into the heart or not. Allah says: The dwellers of the desert say: "We believe".

Say: "You do not believe but say, 'We submit'; and faith has not yet entered into your hearts". . . (49:14) This Islam is followed by the first stage of al-iman (faith, belief); and that is the sincere belief in the above-mentioned shahadatayn,- such a believer faithfully obeys most of the rules of the shari'ah. This first stage of al-iman is followed by the second stage of Islam.

It is the sincere acceptance of all true beliefs in detail, with its necessary concomitant, that is, good deeds - although occasional slips are not impossible. Allah says praising the pious ones: Those who believed in Our signs and were submissive (43: 69).