Is action a condition for the validity of faith or its perfection?
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Question:
May Allah reward you with good. The questioner asks: Is action a condition for the validity of faith, or for the perfection of faith?
Answer:
Action is part of faith. There is no faith without action. If a person abandons action entirely, he has no faith. If he performs some actions but abandons others, that is a matter requiring consideration. If he abandons something for which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled that its abandonment constitutes disbelief, then he becomes a disbeliever, such as prayer. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan Ibn Majah 1079Sahih (Darussalam) The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) also said: Mishkat al-Masabih 569 So, if the Prophet’s text explicitly states that abandoning an action makes one a disbeliever, then he commits major shirk (associating partners with Allah). As for cases where it is mentioned that something is disbelief, but the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not rule that it causes one to exit the religion, this is considered minor shirk (associating partners with Allah). It is considered minor shirk, such as the statement: "Do not return after me as disbelievers, killing one another, striking the necks of one another." This refers to minor shirk, so the killer does not become a disbeliever.
Likewise, insulting a Muslim is open sinfulness, and fighting him is disbelief. This is minor shirk (associating partners with Allah). The scholars established a rule regarding this: if the word "disbelief" (kufur) comes with the definite article (al-), it refers to major shirk (associating partners with Allah). Between a servant and disbelief is the abandonment of prayer. However, if it comes in the indefinite form, it is considered minor shirk (associating partners with Allah), as in "fighting him is disbelief." Yes.
May Allah reward you with good. The questioner asks: Is action a condition for the validity of faith, or for the perfection of faith?
Answer:
Action is part of faith. There is no faith without action. If a person abandons action entirely, he has no faith. If he performs some actions but abandons others, that is a matter requiring consideration. If he abandons something for which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ruled that its abandonment constitutes disbelief, then he becomes a disbeliever, such as prayer. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
The covenant that distinguishes between us and them is prayer; so whoever leaves it, he has committed Kufr.
العهد الذي بيننا وبينهم الصلاة فمن تركها فقد كفر،Jabir reported God’s Messenger as saying, “What lies between a man and infidelity is the abandonment of prayer.”* *This means that when a man does not make it his practice to observe the prayer he is no longer a Muslim. Muslim transmitted it.
بين العبد وبين الكفر ترك الصلاة رواه مسلم،Likewise, insulting a Muslim is open sinfulness, and fighting him is disbelief. This is minor shirk (associating partners with Allah). The scholars established a rule regarding this: if the word "disbelief" (kufur) comes with the definite article (al-), it refers to major shirk (associating partners with Allah). Between a servant and disbelief is the abandonment of prayer. However, if it comes in the indefinite form, it is considered minor shirk (associating partners with Allah), as in "fighting him is disbelief." Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، هل العمل شرط لصحة الإيمان أو كماله؟\صالح الفوزان\كبار العلماء — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.