Clarification of the ruling on saying: "I am a believer, if Allah wills," and an explanation of the Hanafis' deviation from the Salaf in this matter.

The Shaykh : And with great regret, this disagreement between the Hanafis and others has led to a dangerous and very serious conflict. The Salaf, including the Shafi'is, Malikis, and Hanbalis, hold the view that faith increases and decreases. As we explained earlier, its increase is obedience and its decrease is sin. Therefore, if one of them is asked, "Are you a believer?" he answers with fear: "I am a believer, if Allah wills." This is because no one can say, "I am truly a believer," for Allah (Mighty and Majestic) has described the true believers with the qualities mentioned above. Thus, he says, "I am a believer, if Allah wills." As for those who say that faith is a reality that does not accept increase or decrease, there is for them only a static faith or disbelief. If one of them is asked, "Are you a believer?" he says, "I am truly a believer." There is no difference in this between one who commits major sins and wrongs and one who guards the obligatory duties, indeed all acts of obedience. Each of them says, "I am truly a believer." The reason is that this represents the faith that has settled in his heart, which he imagines does not accept increase just as it does not accept decrease. Therefore, he says, "I am truly a believer." As for the one who understands that faith is capable of increase and decrease, as is the evidence of the Book and the Sunnah as we have explained, he says, "I am a believer, if Allah wills," because he is greatly in doubt that he has fulfilled all the qualities of complete faith.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : This indicates that faith without deeds does not benefit, and that righteous deeds are part of faith, as we are currently discussing. Therefore, the benefit of the Sunnah is to correct distorted concepts. When Allah mentions faith, He mentions it coupled with righteous deeds, because we cannot conceive of faith without righteous deeds except for a person we imagine in our minds who believed and said, "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah," and then died. We can conceive of that. But a person who says, "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah," and lives for a long time, as Allah wills, without doing any good, his lack of righteous deeds is proof that he says it with his tongue and that faith has not entered his heart. Therefore, the mention of righteous deeds after faith is to indicate that the beneficial faith is that which is coupled with righteous deeds. In any case, we distinguish between faith, which resides in the heart and, as this hadith informed us, involves the actions of the heart, and the actions which are the actions of the limbs. The actions of the limbs are completing parts of faith; they are not original parts of faith. Rather, the more a person does righteous deeds, the stronger this faith in the heart becomes. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) pointed to this reality in the authentic hadith that we mentioned on more than one occasion, which is his saying in a long hadith: Just as the heart, from a medical and material perspective, its soundness is tied to the soundness of the body's exterior, and whatever part of it becomes sick affects the heart, and whatever part of it becomes healthy affects the heart's health, so too is the case with the completion of righteous deeds and righteous deeds with faith that resides in the heart. The more numerous the righteous actions of the limbs, the more this faith in the heart grows and strengthens, and the opposite is the opposite. In any case, I wanted to say that those who hold that faith does not increase or decrease, if one of them is asked, "Are you a believer?" he says, "I am truly a believer." As for the Salaf who say that faith increases and decreases, they did not dare to say, "I am truly a believer," because each of us believes that he is shortcoming in righteous deeds, and this means that righteous deeds are part of faith.