Part 63

I said to Abu ‘Abd Allah: “Was this related by anyone other than Suwayyid?” “If so, | am not aware of it,” he replied. Then I heard Abu ‘Abd Allah say: “Belief is words that one utters and works that one performs.” I then asked what he thought of the Prophetic tradition in which it is said [concerning a certain slave woman]: “Free her; she is a believer.” He replied: “Not everyone says that she is a believer; rather, some simply say: ‘Free her.’” For example, Malik heard this view expressed by the elder Hilal Ibn ‘Ali, whose account does not include the clause,

“ghe is a believer.”'* However, some have said that the woman mentioned in this tradition was a believer, since when she herself professed to be one, she is thereby reckoned to be a believer. I said to him: “Do you make a distinction between belief and Islam?” “This is a manner over which people have disagreed,” he said. “It is claimed that Hammad Ibn Zayd drew such a distinction.” He was then asked: “Who are the Murji?ites?” He answered: “They are those who say that belief is what one says, but has nothing to do with works.” It was said that Ahmad Ibn Hanbal never wanted to deprive one from all of Iman to the point that nothing remains of it with him, as the Kharijites and Mu‘tazilites claimed. Ahmad stated, in more than one place, that this does not mean that one ceases to be a believer if he commits a major sin, for in another place he remarks that the people who commit major sins have Iman that brings them out of Hell. To support his argument, he quoted the Prophet’s (pbuh) saying: “Remove from Hell whoever has an atom’s weight of Iman.” Hence Ahmad, as well as the leaders of the Orthodox Muslims, agreed that al-fusaq, the sinners, who are not hypocrites have some Iman through which they are rescued from Hell. In this way, one can differentiate between the sinners, unbelievers, and hypocrites. However, it is worth mentioning that the siriners, although they have some Iman, are not classified as true, complete believers worthy of praise and reward. The Legislator [the Prophet] denied the application of the name “believer” to such as these; as he is quoted as saying in the well-known traditions: “A fornicator who fornicates is not a believer as long as he commits it;” and “None of you is a believer until he desires for his fellow human being the good which he desires for himself”; and “No one is a believer unless his neighbor feels safe from harm on his account.” The Prophet swore to the truth of such statements numerous times, when he said: “The believer is someone on whose account people have no reason to fear for their lives or wealth.”

As for the Mu‘tazilites, they categorically denied that such people [that is, major sinners who are nevertheless not hypocrites] could be described either as believers

"8 [The editor of MI.2 supplied the following footnote on p.243 of that work.] This tradition has been related by Yahya Ibn Abi Kathir on the authority of Hilal Ibn ‘AM, that is, Ibn Abi Maymiinah, who included the statement, "She is a believer,” whereas it is excluded by Muslim, Ahmad and others. The inclusion however, acceptable and accounts where it has been included have been passed down through other sources on the authority of a group of the Companions of the Prophet, whose traditions have been related by al-Dhahabi in the beginning of the book entitled al-‘Uluw. Hence, the statement is a reliable addition which one need not hesitate to accept.

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or as Muslims. Rather, they said concerning a person belonging to this group that they consider him as having a status somewhere in between. On one hand, it is said that he will remain forever in Hell such that even intercession will not be able to bring him out. This position has been held against them; however, if they only denied that such a person may be referred to as a perfect believer without qualification, yet acknowledged that he had a measure of belief sufficient to bring him out of Hell, they would not be classed as heretics. All adherents of Orthodox Islam are in agreement that such a person no longer has the complete belief he is required to have; he has ceased to have some of the requisite belief he once had. However [he has not ceased to be a Muslim]; rather, he is among those under threat of divine retribution. There are those among the Murji’ites and the Jahmites who disagreed with this, saying: “belief may not be divided; therefore, he is considered to have complete belief.” As for those who denied that he may be described as having perfect belief, they said that the word “believer,” used in an absolute manner, is associated with praise and the meriting of reward. Terms used to refer to such a person might include: “a righteous person,” “a pious person,” “on the straight path,” and so on. So if such descriptions may not be applied in an absolute sense to the sinner, then neither may the absolute term “believer” be applied to him. As for the possibility of him being addressed as a believer, this is due to the fact that those addressed as believers include everyone who has even a limited measure of belief. For belief is something that a Muslim is commanded to have, and his [occasional] works of disobedience do not exempt him from this command.

However, what Ahmad [Ibn Hanbal] mentioned about Islam followed al-Zuhri’s saying that they see Islam as kalimah, utterance (of two testimonies), and Iman as work. In the latter saying, the meaning of Islam bears two interpretations. It may mean verbal confession and its consequences [overt works]. This is the Islam that the Prophet (pbuh) indicated when he said: “Islam implies that you testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger, and you establish prayer, give zakah, fast during Ramadan, and go on pilgrimage to the Ka‘bah.” It may also mean mere kalimah, utterance (i.e., to say the two testimonies without practicing the obligations); but this is not what the Prophet (pbuh) meant by Islam. However, it might be said that the Islam of the desert Arabs was of this sort. In response one might say that these people and others, when they became Muslims during the time of the Prophet (pbuh) were required to perform outward

deeds: prayers, giving zakah, fasting, going on the pilgrimage to Makkah, and so forth; none of them was allowed to stop by merely making the two testimony. Rather, such a person was considered to have committed a punishable act of disobedience. But if what Ahmad Ibn Hanbal meant in this account was that Islam is nothing more than saying the two testimonies that: “there is no god but Allah” and, “Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,” then everyone who uttered them would be a Muslim. This, in any case, is one of the versions of what he said; the second version indicates that one is not a Muslim unless he both utters the two testimonies and prays. If one does not pray, he is an unbeliever. According to the third version, one is also considered an unbeliever if he neglects giving zakah. As for the fourth vesion, it indicates that one is considered an unbeliever by virtue of neglecting giving zakah if he takes up arms against the Imam, ruler, on account of it, whereas if he simply neglects to give it yet without resisting the Imam, he is not to be so considered. It has also been related on his [Ahmad Ibn Hanbal’s] authority that if one were to say, “I give zakah, but not to the Imam,” then the Imam has no right to kill him. In addition, there are versions attributed to him according to which one becomes an unbeliever by neglecting to fast or go on pilgrimage; that is, if he determines never to make the pilgrimage. And of course, if it may be said that someone who neglects any of the five pillars of Islam is thereby rendered an unbeliever, then Islam cannot possibly be anything but words that one utters. However, what is meant [by these various accounts] is that if one utters the words of the testimony, he enters Islam; he is then said to be a Muslim, though not necessarily a believer in the sense of having belief in his heart. To say that one is a Muslim in this sense does not require that one make the exception, since to become a Muslim in this way is a universally recognized command. However, if one says that he is a Muslim in the sense of performing the duties involved in the five pillars, he may make the exception. Hence, the level of Islam in regard to which one need not make the exception is that level achieved through saying of the two Shadahs, two testimonies, alone; making the exception is not applicable to it since it is not subject to growth or diminution [as is one’s performance of the fundamental religious duties of Islam].

There are three sayings about the meaning of the word Islam. [The Kharijites and the Mu’ tazilites] said that it is Iman. Others said it is the kalimah, utterance [i.c., shahadah] that is the saying of, “there is no god but Allah” and that “Muhammad is His Messenger.” These two sayings have some other aspects, which will be

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mentioned later. But the real meaning is what the Prophet (pbuh) clarified when he was asked about Islam and Iman. He interpreted Islam to mean “outward deeds,” and Iman as believing the five principles (as affirming belief in Allah, in His Angels, in His Books, in His Messengers, and in the Divine Predestination of good and evil). Hence, if the words Islam and Iman are cited together, then we have to interpret each of them in the same way the Prophet (pbuh) did. Whereas, if the word Iman is used in isolation [without being joined to Islam] then it implies Islam. Also, if the word Islam is used alone then it may imply Iman. But the question that arises is: Does Iman require Islam? People have debated over this. And it is worth mentioning that Allah promises Paradise to believers, but not to Muslims. However, He orders people to embrace Islam, which He considers the only religion He will accept from human beings. And it was with Islam that Allah sent all the prophets. Allah says: “If anyone seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers” (3:85). He also says: “Indeed, the religion in the Sight of Allah is Islam. . .” (3:19). Noah said to his people, Allah says: “Relate to them the story of Noah. Behold! He said to his people: ‘Oh, my people, if my stay with you and my reminding you of the Signs of Allah is hard on you, then I put my trust in Allah. So devise your plot, you and your partners, and let not your plot be in doubt for you. Then pass your sentence on me and give me no respite. But if you turn back [consider]: no reward have I asked of you: my reward is only due from Allah, and I have been commanded to be one of the Muslims’”” (10:71—72). Allah says that none will escape penalty except the believers. Allah also says: “. .. We said: Embark therein, two of each kind, male and female, and your family—except those against whom the Word has already gone forth, and the believers. But only a few believed with him.” (11:40); and Allah also says: “And it was inspired to Noah: ‘None of your people will believe except those who have believed already ...”” (11:36). And Noah said, Allah says: “.. . 1 am not going to drive away those who believed . . . (11:29).