The degrees of Yaqin:

1.     ‘Ilm al-Yaqin (Yaqin through knowledge) which is obtained through thinking and inferring.[1] For example, one known for truthfulness tells you that he has honey of a certain quality.  The evidence from the Qur’an is the verse: “Nay, would that you knew (now) with a sure (Yaqin) knowledge.” (102: 5)[2]

2.     ‘Ain al-Yaqin (Yaqin through witnessing and seeing).[3] For example, when the truthful person shows you the honey he has told you about. The evidence from the Qur’an is the verse: “Again, ye shall see it with certainty (Yaqin) of sight!” (102: 7)

3.     Haqq al-Yaqin (Yaqin through experiencing and practicing). For example, when you taste the honey. The evidence from the Qur’an is the verse: “But verily it is the absolute (tangible) Truth.” (LXIX: 51)

Ibn al-Qayyim said: “Abu Bakr al-Warraq said: “Yaqin is of three types: Yaqin of information, Yaqin of evidence, and Yaqin of sight). He means by Yaqin of information: certitude of the heart as to the truthfulness and confirmation of the informant’s report. Yaqin of evidence means: a higher step, in that the informant presents pieces of evidence that prove what he has informed although the receiver of the information trusts him. We find this in the information of faith, monotheism and Qur’an. Although Allah (SWT) is the truest of speech, He sets up evidence, examples and proofs to confirm the truthfulness of His Information. Thus Yaqin is realized in its two first forms: of knowledge and evidence. Then there comes the higher stage: the stage of Mukashafah (lit. mentally seeing what is invisible), when the thing related becomes to the heart like the visible thing to the eye.

Then, belief in the unseen to the heart becomes like the seen to the eye, which is the highest sort of Mukashafah. It is this sense that ‘Amir Ibn Qais refers to in his saying: “If the cover were removed I would not have more Yaqin (i.e. certainty and confidence).”[4]

True, the stage of Haqq al-Yaqin may be reached by the individual that tastes faith with his heart, for if the heart senses and tastes faith the stage it has reached will be that of Haqq al-Yaqin. So, the person who delves deeper in this universe through seeing, reflecting and experiencing will have more Yaqin (certitude) than that who thinks and sees only. The Holy Qur’an aims at helping all humans with reaching Yaqin; therefore, it addresses the human mind throughout the ages, for Islam is the religion of all humanity from the time of the mission of our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) till the Day of Judgment.

In the era of Prophethood, the age of the camel, a Bedouin finds in what Allah has created a clear evidence for His Existence, saying: “A dropping indicates a camel and footprints indicate walking. Then would a heaven with its constellations, an earth with its roads, seas with their waves, a night that is pitch dark and a day that is dead calm not indicate the (existence of) the One Who understands the finest mysteries (and) is well-acquainted (with them)?” The intellect can detect in what Allah has created the signs indicating the existence of its Creator. This is illustrated below: