Eamaan or Faith, To me it is a complex topic. For it takes a lifetime to understand and follow Faith. However, I am going to quote some Quranic verses and some Ahadith in this respect. This is not the complete picture of the topic, however, it does give us some idea as to what it is. Allah has put all what we should do to save ourselves in the following chapter

`Time. By [the token of] time [through the ages]. Verily man is in loss. Except such as have faith, and do righteous deeds and [join together] in the mutual teaching of truth, and of patience and constancy. [103:1-3]

He does not require something fancy or something out of this world from us. He has already put what is good and what is evil in our hearts. All we have to do is to know ourselves; as to what is in us and as to where we stand in comparison with Allah.

By the soul, and the proportions and order given to it. And its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right. Truly he succeeds that purifies it. And he fails that corrupts it. [91:7-10]

Allah is certainly not bias towards a group of people. The availability of the things in life is directly proportional to its abundance on earth. For instance, sunshine, air, water, land and many other gifts of God which are very necessary are very much available, for no or little cost. A persons destiny is the most important thing in life. He does not restrict it to Muslims only. It is in everybodys heart. It is available to everybody. Everybody and anybody can go to heaven, provided that he or she knows him or herself, and then acts upon what is right and abstains from what is wrong.

Those who believe [in the Quran], and those who follow the Jewish [scriptures], and the Christians and the Sabians, any who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. [2:62]

This is what Allah asks us for: And they have been commanded no more than this: to worship Allah, offering Him sincere devotion, being true (in faith); to establish regular prayer; and to practice regular charity; and that is the religion right and straight. [98:5]

The following Hadith is interesting as it describes three different states of faith. Narrated Abu Huraira: One day while the Prophet, peace be upon him, was sitting in the company of some people, [The angel] Gabriel came [in human form] and asked `What is faith?. Allahs Apostle, peace be upon him, replied, `Faith is to believe in Allah, His angels, (the) meeting with Him, His Apostles, and to believe in Resurrection. Then he further asked, `What is Islam?. Allahs Apostle, peace be upon him, replied, `To worship Allah alone and none else, to offer prayers perfectly, to pay the compulsory charity (Zakat) and to observe fasts during the month of Ramadan. Then he further asked, `What is Ihsan (perfection)?. Allahs Apostle, peace be upon him, replied, `To worship Allah, as if you see Him, and if you cannot achieve this state of devotion then you must consider that He is looking at you. Then he further asked, `When will the Hour [of Doomsday] be established?. Allahs Apostle, peace be upon him, replied, `The answerer has no better knowledge than the questioner. ...

Notice here that the least required is the faith, then Islam is a step up and Ihsan is the best. The following Hadith points the five pillars of Islam. Narrated Ibn Umar: Allahs Apostle, peace be upon him, said: Islam is based on [the following] five [principles]:

1. To testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and Mohammed is Allahs Apostle.
2. To offer the Salat (prayer).
3. To pay Zakat (obligatory charity).
4. To perform Hajj (pilgrimage to Makkah).
5. To observe fast during the month of Ramadan.

It is very important to perform a deed with the right intentions. It is important to perform a deed, mere intention is not good enough, but mere deed without the right intention is also not good enough. Narrated Umar: Allahs Apostle, peace be upon him, said, `The rewards of deeds depend upon the intention and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended. ... Following Ahadith explain the good things in Islam. One might expect it to be some ritual. However, our Prophet, peace be upon him, explains that it is our behavior to others influenced by the love of Allah. Narrated Abu Musa, Some people asked Allahs Apostle, `Whose Islam is the best? He replied, `One who avoids harming the Muslims with his tongue and hands. Narrated Abdullah bin Umar: A man asked the Prophet, peace be upon him, `Whose Islam is good?. The Prophet replied, `One who feeds others and greets those whom he knows and those whom he does not know.

Narrated Anas: The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, `None of you will have faith till he loves me more than his father, his children and all mankind. Narrated Anas: The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, `None of you will have faith till he wishes for his brother what he likes for himself. Narrated Anas: The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, `Whoever possesses the following three qualities will have the sweetness of faith:

1. The one to whom Allah and His Apostle becomes dearer than anything else.
2. Who loves a person and he loves him only for Allahs sake.
3. Who hates to revert to Atheism (disbelief) as he hates to be thrown into the fire.

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allahs Apostle, peace be upon him, said, `A believer who accompanies the funeral procession of a Muslim out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Allahs reward and remains with it till the funeral prayer is over, he will return with a reward of two Qirats. Each Qirat is like the size of the [Mount of] Uhud. He who offers the funeral prayer only and returns before the burial, will return with the reward of one Qirat only.

It is very important to remember not to get carried away by performing too much. Only as much is required as you can do it easily. Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, `Religion is very easy and whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue in that way. So you should not be extremists, but try to be near perfection and receive the good tidings that you will be rewarded; and gain strength by worshipping in the mornings, after-noons and during the last hours of the nights. Here is a reward for those who join the people of faith. Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri: Allahs Apostle said, `If a person embraces Islam sincerely, then Allah shall forgive all his past sins, and after that starts the settlement of accounts: the reward of his good deeds will be ten times to seven hundred times for each good deed and an evil deed will be recorded as it is unless Allah forgives it.

Even a tiny little bit of faith is good enough to help one out of Hell. Allah is just looking for excuses to have mercy on us. Narrated Anas: The Prophet said, ` ... And whoever said, None has the right to be worshipped but Allah and has in his heart good [faith] equal to the weight of an atom will be taken out of Hell.

Here is a sign of faith. Yet there are men who take [for worship] others besides Allah, as equal [with Allah]: They love them as they should love Allah, but those of faith are overflowing in their love for Allah. If only the unrighteous could see, behold they would see the punishment: that to Allah belongs all power, and Allah will strongly enforce the punishment. [2:165]

Paying attention to Allah, praying to Him only for him, is a sign of faith. Narrated Abu Huraira: Allahs Apostle, peace be upon him, said, `Whoever establishes the prayers during the nights of Ramadan faithfully out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Allahs rewards, all his past sins will be forgiven. Risking his life, his family and his wealth only for the sake of Allah, the Almighty, is a sign of love for Allah and faith in Him. Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, `The person who participates in [Holy battles] in Allahs cause and nothing compels him to do so except belief in Allah and His Apostles, will be recompensed by Allah .... Faith is a very broad term. Anything good done for the sole sake of happiness of Allah, could be counted as an action of having faith in Him. Narrated Abu Huraira, The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: `Faith consists of more than sixty branches and Haya is a part of faith. (The term Haya covers a large number of concepts which are to be taken together; amongst them are self respect, modesty, bashfulness, scruple etc.)

Now I am going to quote items which tell us what is not faith. So that we identify those and keep away from them. One might again be surprised at those actions. They pertain more to ones behavior to others, which reflects lack of love and belief in Allah. Narrated Abdullah: The Prophet, peace upon him, said, `Abusing a Muslim in Fusuq (an evil doing) and killing him is Kufr (disbelief). Narrated Abdullah bin Umar: The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, `Whoever has the following four [characteristics] will be a pure hypocrite and whoever has one of the following four characteristics will have one characteristic of hypocrisy unless and until he gives up.

1. Whenever he is entrusted, he betrays.
2. Whenever he speaks, he tells a lie.
3. Whenever he makes a covenant, he proves treacherous.
4. Whenever he quarrels, he behaves in a very imprudent, evil and insulting manner.

The Messenger believeth in what hath been revealed to him from his Lord, as do the men of faith; each one [of them] believeth in Allah, His angels, His books, and His messengers; `We make no distinction [they say] between one and another of His messengers. and they say: `We hear, and we obey; [we seek] Thy forgiveness, our Lord, and to Thee is the end of all journeys.. On no soul doth Allah place a burden greater than it can bear; it gets every good that it earns; and it suffers every ill that it earns; [Pray:] `Our Lord! condemn us not if we forget or fall into error; our Lord! lay not on us a burden like that which Thou didst lay on those before us; our Lord! lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear; blot out our sins, and grant us forgiveness; have mercy on us; Thou art our Protector; help us against those who stand against faith. [2:285-286]