Eemaan is like a good, strong tree that is firmly rooted in good soil with its branches reaching up into the sky, bearing abundant fruit, producing its fruit for everyone by the grace of its Lord.
Thus eemaan is the tree, its roots are ‘aqeedah which is rooted deeply in the heart, and its trunk, branches and fruits are deeds and actions.
Undoubtedly if the roots are removed or turn rotten or dried up, they will no longer exist. Similarly, eemaan will no longer exist if `aqeedah is taken away. If the trunk or branches are cut off, or some of them are cut off, the tree will weaken and may die altogether, because the presence of branches and leaves are essential to the trees continued existence. Similarly, if deeds are neglected, in part or in whole, thus eemaan will be reduced or destroyed.
Shaykh ‘Umar Sulayman ‘AbdAllah al- Ashqar in ‘Al `Aqeedah fillah’
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم 
Subhanallah, I read this very article today on our sista’s forum and I had to mention there that without our eeman (faith) we’d have no motivation to do the right thing. Even unbelievers in Allah have faith in wrong gods and there is a war between us and them against the shaytaan who wants to deceive us all and rob us of our faith (eeman)! We need each other and al Quran to keep us on the straight path. Eeeman is not something we have once for all; we struggle with it every day. But Allah has promised us victory, even though he also promised us faith would be in confusion (6:110).
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Subhanallah! what a lovely explanation, easy and to the point!
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May Allah reward shaykh `Umar for the benefit he has brought to us. aameen
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