Part 46

Al-Qasim, Ibn ‘Abd al-Rahmin Ibn Abdullah ibn Mas‘tid (2-116 A.H.), was a jurist and a judge in Kifah. [Kitab al-Iman MZ, p. 171.]

Al-Azdi, Mu‘ammar Ibn Rashid (2-153 A.H.), was a jurist and a scholar of hadith. [Al-Zirkili, vol. 8, p. 190 and Kitab al-Iman MZ, p. 171.]

Al-Jazari, ‘Abd al-Karim Ibn Malik (?~127 A.H.); was a compiler of hadith. [Kitab al-Iman MZ,

Al-Hassan Ibn‘Ali Ibn Abi Talib Abu Muhammad (?-50 A.H.) was the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). [EI 2, vol. 3, p. 240 and al-Zirkili, vol. 2, p. 214.]

Tbn Battah, ‘Ubayd Allah bn Muhammad Ibn Abdullah al-‘Ukbari (?-387 A.H.), was a wellknown Hanbali scholar and jurist consult. He wrote several books, the most well-known among them are al-Ibanah and al-Sunan. [EI 2, vol. 3, page 734 and Kitab al-Iman MZ, pp. 171-72.] 1 Mubarak Ibn Hassan al-Sullami (n.d.) was a scholar of hadith. [Kitab al-Iman MZ, p. 173.]

"| Al-Aftas, Salim (n.d.) was a scholar of hadith. [Kitab al-Iman MZ, p. 172.]

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others? No, he replied. I mentioned this to ‘Ata? who said to ask them whether belief is tayyib, good, or khabith, wicked. For Allah says: “In order that Allah may distinguish the wicked from the good and put the wicked one on another, keep them together and cast them into Hell. Those are the losers” (8:37). So I asked them, but they gave me no reply, though some of them said that belief is inward, and has nothing to do with works. So I mentioned this also to ‘Ata’, and he said: “Praise be to Allah! Have they not read the verse in Surat al-Baqarah that says: ‘It is not of piety that you turn your faces towards the east or the west; but piety is the one who believes in Allah and the Last Day, the Angels, the Book and the Prophets . . .”” (2:177). Then he said that Allah also describes the works that are required for belief. Allah says: “. .. And gives his wealth, in spite of love for it, to the kinsfolk, to the orphans and to the poor who beg and to the wayfarer and to those who ask, and to set slaves free, and offers the prayers, and gives the zakah, and who fulfills their covenant when they make it, and who are patient in extreme poverty and ailment and at the time of fighting. Such are the people of the truth and they are the righteous ones” (2:177). Then he [‘Ata’] said: “Ask them whether this type of good work is implied by this name.” Allah says: “And whoever desires the Hereafter and strives for it, with the necessary effort due for it while he is a believer .. .” (17:19), thus linking the name [belief] with work, and work with the name [belief.]

It follows from what has been said that praise is not merited by Iman without works but only by Iman accompanied by works. Thus, if it is known that dispraise and punishment are due to abandoning good works, their [the Murji’ites’] controversy became nothing but an outward dispute. On the other hand, if they [the Murji’ites] said that abandoning good works is not harmful, this saying is outright unbelief. Some people related that the Murji’ites said that Allah makes some matters obligatory. Nevertheless, He does not ask them to do these things nor does He say that abandoning these acts will harm them. This token may refer to extremists who say that none of the people who believe in the oneness of Allah enters Hell. This is the view of immoral hypocrites who claim that as long as one believes in the oneness of Allah, no sin can harm him. I [the author] state that I have never known a specific person who related this statement. However, people discuss it in books without stating specifically who says it. This would be the statement of those who have no moral character from among the sinners and the hypocrites who said that it is not harmful to have sin with Iman or with tawhid,

oneness of Allah, at the same time. Some of those who advanced the argument against the Murjiites ascribed this statement to them. The following verse is a testimony to this: “. . . Such are the people of truth, and they are the righteous ones” (2:177). That is, they are the people of truth in their saying that they believe. Allah also says: “The desert Arabs say, ‘We believe.’ Say: “You have no faith; but you [only] say.’ ‘We have submitted our wills to Allah for not yet has faith entered your hearts . . .”” (49:14). He also says: “Only those are believers who have believed in Allah and His Messenger, and have never since doubted, but have striven with their belongings and their lives in the Cause of Allah: Such are the sincere ones” (49:15). That is, they are the sincere ones in their saying that they believe in Allah, in contrast to the liars, of whom Allah says: “When the hypocrites come to you, they say, ‘We bear witness that you are indeed the Messenger of Allah.’ Allah knows that you are indeed His Messenger, and Allah bears witness that the hypocrites are indeed liars.” (63:1). Allah also says: “And among some people who say: ‘We believe in Allah and the Last Day’ while, in fact, they believe not. They think they can deceive Allah and those who believe, while they only deceive themselves, and perceive it not. In their heart is a disease and Allah has increased their disease. A painful torment is theirs because they used to tell lies”(2:8-10). There are two well-known versions for the reading of the words yukadhdhibin, and yukdhibin, both of which mean felling lies. This means that they lied when they said, “we believe in Allah and the Last Day.” They also, inwardly, did not believe the Messenger even though outwardly they showed that they believed him. Allah says: “Alif. Lam. Mim. Do people think that they will be left alone because they say: ‘we believe’ and will not be tested? And We indeed tested those who were before them. And Allah will certainly make known [the truth of] those who are true and will certainly make known [the falsehood of] those who are liars” (29:1—3). In these verses, Allah indicates that one’s Iman must be tested and tried. The word yaftun, which is used in the sense so test, also is used in the expression fatantu al-dhahab, tested the gold. This expression describes when the goldsmith wants to test or purify gold that may have been mixed with foreign substances . Moses said, Allah says: “. . . It is only Your trial by which You lead Whom you will stray and keep guided, Whom you will lead into the right path. . .” (7:155). What is meant by this verse is to test the trial and tribulation of the people with the good and the bad in order to find out those who are patient and thankful and those who are not. Also the trial and tribulation is being tested through sending down Messengers and Books in order to distinguish

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between a believer and an unbeliever, thus causing some people to stray and others to be rightly guided.

The Qur’an is full of examples that describe the believers as the People of Truth and the hypocrites as liars, despite the fact that both groups profess Iman [with their lips]. To put it differently, those whose deeds validate what they profess with their lips are considered sincere believers, while those who profess with their lips what is not in their hearts are considered as liars. Allah says: “What you suffered on the day the two armies met, was with the leave of Allah, in order that He might test the believers. And that He might test the hypocrites also, these were told: “Come, fight in the way of Allah, or [at least] drive [the foe from your city].’ They said: ‘Had we known there would be a fight, we should certainly have followed you.’ They were that day nearer to unbelief than to belief, saying with their lips what was not in their hearts, But Allah has full knowledge of all they conceal” (3:166-67). For when Allah declared in the verse of al-birr, piety: “. .. Those are the people of the truth and they are the righteous ones” (2:177), He indicated that the meaning intended is that they spoke the truth when they said: “We believe,” since this is the utterance they had been commanded to make and that they in fact did make. They had not been commanded [merely] to utter with their tongues: “we are righteous.” Rather, ifa man says, “I am righteous,” he is vouching for his own integrity. For this reason, Zaynab, the daughter of Jahsh, was named Birrah, that is, Pious One. It has been said that because she bore witness to her own integrity, the Prophet (pbuh) called her Zaynab. This is in contrast to the establishment of belief by their saying: “We have believed,” for making this declaration was imposed upon them. Allah says: “Say [Oh, Muslims]: ‘We believe in Allah and that which has been sent down to us and that which has been sent down to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and to al-Asbat [the twelve sons of Jacob], and that which has been given to Moses and Jesus, and that which has been given to the Prophets from their Lord. ..’”(2:136). Also in the chapter entitled Al ‘Umran, Allah says: “Say [Oh, Muhammad]: ‘We believe in Allah and that which has been sent down to us, and that which has been sent to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and to al-Asbat [the twelve sons of Jacob], and that which has been given to Moses and Jesus, and that which has been given to the Prophets from their Lord .. (3:84). Allah also says: “The Messenger [Muhammad] believes in what has been sent down to him from his Lord, and so do the believers. Each one of them believes in Allah, His Angels, His Books, and His Messengers. They say: ‘We