Superiority of Belief over Islam and Certainty over Belief

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.) once said, ‘O brother from Ju’f (name of his tribe) belief is superior to Islam and certainty is superior to belief. Nothing there is dearer than certainty.”

“I heard abu Al-Hassan (a.s.) saying, ‘Belief is above Islam by one degree. Piety is above belief by one degree. Certainty is above piety by one degree. Nothing is distributed so little among people as certainty is.’”

“I heard abu Ja’far (a.s.) saying, ‘Allah has given superiority to belief over Islam by one degree just as He has given superiority to al-Ka’ba over the Sacred Mosque.’”

“Once Abu ‘Abdillah (a.s.) said to me, ‘O abu Muhammad, Islam is a high status.’ I said, ‘Yes, indeed it is.’ The Imam said, ‘Belief is above Islam by one degree.’ I said, ‘Yes, it is.’ The Imam said, ‘Piety is above…

“I asked abu al-Hassan al-Rida (a.s.) about belief and Islam and he said, abu Ja’far (a.s.) has said the following: ‘There is Islam. Belief is one degree higher above Islam, and piety is one degree higher above belief.…

“Belief is one degree higher than Islam. Piety is one degree higher than belief. Certainty is one degree higher above piety. Nothing is distributed among people so little as certainty is.”