What Īmān Does

Look at what īmān does. These same people, who came asking for money, are now saying: we are not only willing to give our wealth; we are willing to give our lives for the sake of Allah, because the reward of Allah is better. That is what īmān does. And if our īmān is not carrying us to that level, then it means our īmān is very weak. Because with the magicians, their īmān transformed them from people who came to beg from Firʿawn into people who were willing to give their lives for the sake of Allah (swt). That is īmān.

If our īmān is not transforming us in that way, then we have a problem with our īmān. If we are not willing to give for the sake of Allah, to provide and to sacrifice — what īmān do we have? Because the dīn is taḍḥiyah: it is sacrifice. And they died upon īmān, and they were shuhadāʾ; they died for the sake of Allah. These magicians, who had been committing one of the major crimes and sins — magic — īmān transformed them. And Allah (swt) accepts the tawbah of anyone, and in the end they became shuhadāʾ.