Part 62

"' Munkar and Nakir are the names of the two angels who examine the dead in their graves as to their belief.

Abu Ayyab Sulayman Ibn Da?iid al-Hashimi" said: “Making the exception [that is, adding the clause, “if Allah wills”] when speaking of belief is permissible. And if someone says, ‘I am truly a believer,’ rather than making the exception and adding, ‘if Allah judges me to be so,’ this is permissible as I see it, and I would not consider such a person to be a Murji?ite.” This view was shared by Abu Khuthaymah and Ibn Abi Shaybah. Moreover, al-Shalinji mentioned that he once asked Ahmad Ibn Hanbal about the person who persists in committing grave sins yet without neglecting prayer, giving zakah, and fasting: “Can such a person persist [in being a believer] even if this is his condition?” Ahmad Ibn Hanbal replied that he could. For according to the hadith that “the fornicator who fornicates is not a believer as long as he commits it,” such a person ceases to be a believer though he continues to be a Muslim. Likewise it may be said, as in the hadith, “he who drinks wine, at the time he drinks it, is not a believer,” and “he who steals, at the time he steals, is not a believer.” Allah says: “. . . And whosoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, surely those are grave

' AL-Shalinji, Is‘ Ibn Said (?-246 A.H.), was a jurist and a scholar of hadith and wrote a famous book entitled Fad@il al-Shaykhayn. [Kitab al-Iman MZ, p. 229.]

“ AL-Hashimi, Abu Ayyab Sulayman Ibn Da?ad (?-219 A.H.), was scholar of hadith and a jurist who lived in Baghdad. [Kitab al-Iman MZ, p. 229.]

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sinners” (5:47).'* So I said to Ibn ‘Abbas: “What kind of unbelief is this which is referred to here?” He replied: “It is unbelief that does not cause one to cease to be a member of the religions community. Rather, just as some people’s belief is greater than others, so also does unbelief exist in degrees, unless there results from it something concerning which everyone agrees would exclude him from the community of belief.” And according to Ibn Abi Shaybah, the hadith that, “the fornicator who fornicates is not a believer as long as he commits it,” indicates that the person referred to here does not have complete belief; rather, some degree of belief is lacking in him.

Al-Shalinji related that he once asked Ahmad Ibn Hanbal about belief and Islam. He replied that belief is a saying and a work, while Islam is an iqrar, verbal confession. Abu Khuthaymah was in agreement with this view. As for Ibn Abi Shaybah, he held that there can be no Islam without belief, nor belief without Islam. The person who says, “I have accepted belief,” has likewise entered Islam; and if he says, “I have accepted Islam,” he likewise has entered belief. And according to Muhammad Ibn Nasr al-Mirwazi, others also asked Ahmad Ibn Hanbal about the saying of the Prophet (pbuh): “A fornicator who fornicates is not a believer as long as he commits it.” He [Ahmad] replied: “Whoever commits one of the four major sins [fornication, theft, drinking wine, and plundering] mentioned in the previous hadith, is called a Muslim but not a believer, and if he commits a lesser sin rather than a major one, he will be called a believer but of diminished belief.

'S In this Qur’anic verse from Siirat al-Ma’idah (5:47), the last word should be al-fasiqinn, the grave sinners. However, in MI.1 (p. 212), MI.2 (p. 240), MZ (p. 229), and MKH (p. 215) of Kitab alIman (the versions used for this translation), this verse ends with the word al-kafirin, the unbelievers, instead. However, in DKI, p. 217, it is correct. In GHA, which is an abridged edition, this whole section is omitted. Not only is the word al-kafiriin, as used in the verse, wrong, but it renders invalid the argument that follows.

‘ Al-Athram, Abu Bakr Ahmad Ibn Muhammad (?-261 A.H.), was a jurist and a scholar of hadith who wrote a book entitled a/-Sunan fial-Figh. (Al-Zirikli, vol. 1, p. 194 and Kitab al-/man MZ,

[Ahmad Ibn Hanbal] replied: “I do not condemn the practice as this implies that some people do condemn it. For if we believe that Iman is a saying and work that will increase and decrease, then we have to say, “if Allah wills” whenever we talk about one’s Iman [i.e., we do not say that because we doubt his Iman but because he may be negligent in his deeds).” Abu ‘Abd Allah [Ahmad Ibn Hanbal] said in support of this that Allah says: “. . . You shall enter the Sacred Mosque, if Allah wills . . .” (48:27). This is evidence about exception, without a doubt. Another piece of evidence came from the Prophet (pbuh), who said concerning the people of the graves: “Indeed, if Allah wills, we will follow you [the dead],” and this means that there is no doubt concerning this matter. Thus he [the Prophet] used the exception: “Based on this [the Oneness of Allah] we will be resurrected, if Allah wills,” this means from the grave. He [Ahmad] mentioned the saying of the Prophet (pbuh): “ I hope to be the most fearful of Allah among you.” He stated all of the above in order to strengthen the case of istithna”, exception, with regard to belief.

I said to Abu ‘Abd Allah: “It is as if you see nothing wrong with someone not making the exception.” He replied by saying: “If it is someone who believes that belief is both a saying and work, and that belief may increase or diminish, then it is easier for me to grant this.” Then he went on to say: “There are people whose hearts -are too weak to make the exception, it is like an amazement to them.” I also heard someone ask Abu ‘Abd Allah: “What do you say about Shababah?”"” He replied: “Shababah used to claim to be a Murji’ite, and people have attributed to him views even more odious than such rumors as these, the likes of which I have never heard anyone else espouse. According to Shababah, if someone said [something], he performed an act with his tongue; therefore, he performed an act with a member of his body.. However, this view is offensive, and I never heard of anyone supporting it.” Then someone asked Abu ‘Abd Allah whether he had written anything about Shababah. “Yes,” he replied, “I wrote something about him some time ago, before we became aware that he held this view.” Then I asked him whether he had written anything about him after this discovery. “No,” he answered, “not a word.” Someone then said to Abu ‘Abd Allah: “They claim that Sufyan used to go so far as to make the exception when he referred to himself as a believer.” “This was based on Sufyan’s doctrinal belief,” replied Abu ‘Abd

"7 Shababah, Abu ‘Amr al-Fazari (7-256 A.H.), was a scholar of hadith and a sympathizer to the Murjiite’s way of thinking. [AI-Zirikli, vol. 3, p. 226 and Kitab al-Iman MZ, p. 231.]

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Allah, “and he has been known to support the practice of making the exception.” “But who has reported this on Sufyan’s authority?” I asked. “Whoever has passed down any report on Sufyan’s authority in this regard has himself practiced making the exception.” Waki‘ reports that Sufyan once said: “We figure people to be believers based on [worldly] judgments and inherited [practices and traditions]; however, we cannot be certain what they are in Allah's judgment.” I then asked him: “So what do you yourself say?” “We support the practice of making the exception,” he answered.

“So then,” I asked Abu ‘Abd Allah: “What if someone says he is a Muslim but does not make the exception?” “That is quite acceptable,” he replied. “If one simply says he is a Muslim, he need not make the exception.” Then | said to him: “Let us suppose I say that so-and-so is a Muslim, knowing that the Prophet (pbuh) said: ‘A Muslim is someone whom other Muslims have no reason to fear lest he harm them by anything he says or does,’ yet knowing also that people do, in fact, have reason to fear that he might harm them by what he says or does.” In reply, he mentioned the tradition passed down by ‘Abd al-Razzaq, on the authority of Mu‘ammar, on the authority of al-Zuhri, according to which Islam is based on kalimah, utterance (of two testimonies), whereas belief is based on work performed. Then someone said to Abu ‘Abd Allah: “Shall we say, then, that belief may increase or diminish? “The tradition passed down from the Prophet (pbuh) indicates that this is so,” he replied. It says: “Bring out of Hell whoever has [belief] in his heart the size of a speck of so-and-so.” Someone then asked him about what ‘isa al-Ahmar said about the Murji’ite’s views. He replied, saying: “Yes, I am aware of what they said, and they are offensive, objectionable views.” It was related to us by Mu’ammal, on the authority of Hammad Ibn Zayd, who said that he had heard Hisham say that al-Hassan [al-Basri] and Muhammad used to refer to someone as a Muslim, yet hesitated to refer to anyone as a believer.