Part 83

Allah differentiates among believers; so he who achieves the required Iman deserves reward, but he who has some hypocrisy and has committed major sins is among those threatened with punishment. His Iman will benefit him and remove him from the Fire, even if he has a mustard seed’s weight of Iman. However, he does not deserve the absolute Iman on which depends the promise of entering Paradise without first being punished. To summarize, there are people who have a degree of unbelief [or hypocrisy] as well as a degree of Iman. As Ahmad Ibn Hanbal said, such people are called Muslims.

Thus, a human being may have some degree of Iman and some degree of hypocrisy, or he could be a Muslim who is guilty of [minor] unbelief, which does not exclude him from Islam completely, as Ibn ‘Abbas and others have said. This

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is what Ahmad Ibn Hanbal said concerning the thief, the drunkard, and so on, whom our Prophet (pbuh) considered to be Muslims but not believers. Reference is made to the Qur’an and the Sunnah to demonstrate that such a person has Iman but not Islam. A man could be a Muslim and have unbelief that does not take him away from the Muslim community since unbelief is of two kinds: that which excludes one from Islam, and that which results from neglect of deeds, which does not exclude him from Islam, but causes him to be a mere Muslim rather than a believer. This is how Ibn ‘Abbas and his companions interpret Allah’s saying: “. .. If any do fail to judge by what Allah reveals, those are the unbelievers” (5:44). They say that unbelief that does not exclude one from the Muslim community is unbelief of a lesser degree than unbelief, sin of a lesser degree than sin, and wrongdoing of a lesser degree than wrongdoing.

This is also cited by al-Bukhari in the first chapter of his Sahih, entitled The Book of Belief, in which he indicates that deeds are part of Iman. Here he includes the ideas of Orthodox Muslims as well as refutations of the Murji?ites as he was a supporter of the Sunnah and the Orthodox Muslims who in turn sincerely followed the Companions of the Prophet and their Successors.

FURTHER ASPECTS THAT DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN ISLAM AND IMAN

Muslim scholars agree that the name Muslim may be overtly applied to hypocrites, since outwardly they have surrendered, prayed, paid zakah, gone on pilgrimage, and fought in the same manner that the Prophet applied the tenets of outward Islam upon them. They also agree that he who does not have any Iman [who is a hypocrite in his belief] is as Allah says: “The hypocrites will be in the lowest darak, /evel, of the Fire . . .” (4:145). There are two different readings of the word darak (or dark) and they both mean /evel. Abu al-Husayn Ibn Faris* says that Hell has darakat, /evels, while Paradise has darajat, grades. Al-Dahhak says that the word darajat means grades on top of each other, while darakat means steps leading downward. Accordingly, Muslims differ in their grades. For example, the highest grade in Paradise is occupied by our Prophet (pbuh) who said: “If you hear a call to prayer [adhan], say what the caller says, then ask Allah to give you al-

* Abu al-Husayn, Ahmad Ibn Faris (2-390), was a well-known grammarian. [Kitab al-Iman MZ, p. 310 and al-Ziriki, vol. 1, p. 184.]

wasilah, which is the highest grade in Paradise, which should only be for one of Allah’s slaves, and I hope to be that slave. Whoever asks Allah to give him alwasilah, | will intercede for hifn on the Day of Resurrection.” His [the Prophet] saying: “I hope to be . . .” is like his saying: “I hope to be the most Allah-fearing and righteous among you and to be the most knowledgeable with His hudid, divine ordinances,” and there is no doubt he is the most fearing member of the Muslim community and the most knowledgeable about Allah’s divine ordinances.

He [the Prophet] also said: “My prayer of intercession for my people will remain hidden until the Day of Judgment, and it will be for every one who died without associating anything with Allah.” He also said: “I hope you will constitute half of the inhabitants of Paradise,” and other such sayings which Ahmad [Ibn Hanbal] and others have cited in support of the view that whenever one says, “I am a believer,” he must add, in sha’a Allah, if Allah wills, as the Prophet does in this hadith.

What is meant here is that our Prophet (pbuh) is the best of believers and occupies the highest grade in Paradise. Hypocrites, however, are in the lowest level of the Fire even though they were Muslims in this life and were outwardly judged to be Muslims based on overt laws and legislations. One who is a hypocrite with respect to his deeds is called a Muslim, but if his hypocrisy exceeds his Iman, he does not deserve the name “believer,” rather, he deserves the name “hypocrite.” If one’s hypocrisy supersedes Iman then he does not deserve to be called a believer but rather he is more deserving to be called a hypocrite. A person whose complexion is a mixture of white and black, but his blackness supersedes, will be more deserving to be called black rather than white. Allah says: “. .. They were that day nearer to unbelief than to belief . . .” (3:167). But if he has more Iman than hypocrisy, he is threatened with punishment [i.¢., he has committed major sins], and is not among those believers who are promised Paradise. This is an argument for what Muhammad Ibn Nasr mentions on the authority of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal; however, I have not found it in Ahmad’s writings, and neither is it mentioned by al-Khallal or any of his followers. According to Muhammad Ibn Nasr and others, Ahmad said: “Whoever commits these four major sins [fornication, theft, drinking alcohol, and plundering] or something more serious than these four is called a Muslim, but not a believer.” The one who commits minor sins is called a believer but not a perfect believer. Ahmad said that when the Prophet (pbuh) negated the Iman of a major sinner, he also negated it of himself. Moreover, he only negated

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it of major sinners [as in his saying: “The adulterer who commits adultery is not a believer when he commits adultery”]. Thus, the believer who commits minor sins, which may be erased by doing righteous deeds, is an imperfect believer. As for someone who fulfills the required Iman but mixes his righteous deeds with minor sins, he occupies a lower grade in Paradise than one who does not commit such sins.

Ahmad’s refusal to attribute Iman to major sinners is based on the Prophet’s (pbuh) refusal to do so. Although such sinners have the essence of Iman and tasdiq, they have committed sins that takes their Iman away from them. The servant of Allah can have both Iman and hypocrisy in his heart, as well as both Iman and unbelief. But the absolute Iman is that belief whose possessor deserves the promise of Paradise.

CAN AN INDIVIDUAL HAVE BOTH IMAN AND HYPOCRISY?

The Kharijites, Mu‘tazilites, Jahmites, and Murji’ites, which include the Karramites and other subsects, say that Iman and hypocrisy cannot be found together at the same time in the same servant of Allah. Some of them claim consensus on this, as does Abu al-Hassan. But in so doing they are mistaken and oppose the Book, the Sunnah, and the traditions of the Companions and their Successors, as well as sound reasoning. Moreover, the Kharijites and the Mu'“tazilites have generalized this corrupt view by claiming that one person cannot have both obedience deserving reward and disobedience deserving punishment at the same time. He cannot be praised for some characteristic and condemned for another, or loved by one and damned by another. They cannot imagine that the same person might enter both Hell and Paradise. Rather, he who enters one does not enter the other, so they deny the possibility of coming out of Hell or receiving the Prophet’s intercession for those who deserve Hell. (In this they oppose the Prophet’s previous statement about his intercession.) It is said that the vast majority of the Murji’ites agreed with them; however, they [the Murji?ites] say that major sinners do enter Paradise and do not enter the Fire.

The Orthodox Muslim community, the Companions, their Successors, Islamic sects such as the people of the hadith, Muslim jurists, and theologians from such

sects as the Murji?ites and Karramites, Kullabites, Ash‘arites, and Shi‘ites [both Murji’ites and non-Murji”ites] say that someone may be punished in Hell by Allah and then be allowed to enter Paradise, as the authorized hadiths clearly indicate. All these groups were in agreement concerning the destination of the person who committed evil deeds for which he deserved to be punished, and did righteous deeds for which he merits Paradise. However, these groups disputed over what he should have been called. For example, the Murji?ites [whether Jahmites or nonJahmites] said that he was a perfect believer since they defined Iman as mere acceptance or belief, without deeds. However, the Orthodox Muslim community said that he was not a perfect believer; otherwise he would have been punished. He also lacked birr, piety, and taqwa, righteousness, so how could he be called a believer? Here we have two different points of view. The correct one is: If the question has to do with freeing a slave to atone for sin, he is a believer. The answer is the same if one asks if he is included in the address to believers.

However, if one asks how he will be judged in the Hereafter, it is said that such a person is not among the believers who are promised Paradise. Nevertheless, he also has Iman, which prevents him from remaining forever in Hell, and by virtue of this Iman he can enter Paradise later; if Allah has not forgiven him, he is punished in the Fire. Therefore, some have said that he is a believer based on his Iman and a sinner based on his major sins; or he may be considered an imperfect believer. Those Orthodox Muslims and Mut‘tazilites who do not call him a believer [although they oppose the Mu‘tazilites’ view that he has the essence of Iman, through which he will enter Paradise] say that calling someone a sinner precludes calling him a believer. Allah says: “. . . Ill-seeming is a name connoting sin [to be used of one] after he has believed . . .” (49:11); and He also says: “Is it then he who is a believer like the one who is a sinner? Not equal are they” (32:18); and the Prophet’s (pbuh) saying: “Cursing a Muslim is a sin and fighting against him is unbelief.”