Discussion on Islam, faith, and their fruits.
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The Shaykh : Or he advises him. It is not obligatory that he be a Muslim, nor does he claim to be a Muslim, but he wants to say: he is a believer, yet he does not act upon his Islam.
The questioner : That is, the Muslim who is a believer...
The Shaykh : We must distinguish between faith and Islam to understand the matter well. Faith pertains to what is settled in the heart, while Islam pertains to the limbs. Faith pertains to creed, and Islam pertains to action.
The Shaykh: It is possible for me to conceive of a true believer who does not act upon his Islam, but his faith is deficient and weak, and he is to be feared of collapsing at the slightest opportunity or at the slightest trial he is tested with. This is the believer who is not a Muslim, meaning the one who does not act upon his Islam.
The Shaykh: The believer in creed is presumed to be a verifier of everything that came with Islam. Islam, for example, came with prayer, it came with zakah,, it came with fasting, it came with Hajj, and so on.
The Shaykh: So when he saysThe questioner : He is a believer. He should use the term "believer" in accordance with everything that came in the Shari'ah, regarding matters and others. But despite that, he does not act upon them, meaning he does not perform Islam. This Islam came with pillars, so if he abandons them, his faith is deficient but not nonexistent. And if he dies in this state, being a true believer, he will have salvation on the Day of Resurrection from eternal abode in the Fire, because the Fire on the Day of Resurrection is two fires: an eternal fire and a temporary fire, if the expression is correct. The eternal fire is the recompense of the disbelievers who are defiant, to whom the call reached and the proof was established against them, yet they denied it and their souls were certain of it. As for the temporary fire, it is the fire of the transgressors among the believers, and each one of them has a proportion of punishment that corresponds to his neglect of Islam in action or omission. I mean that there are obligations that he must perform but he neglected them, and there are prohibitions that he must abstain from but he did not, so he committed them. So each of these has his share of punishment in the Hereafter, then his testimony that there is no god but Allah and his faith that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah save him, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sahih al-Bukhari 5401. So whoever is a true believer and knows the word truly, meaning he does not doubt or have any uncertainty about everything that came with Islam, such a person, regarding the matter we detailed earlier about the punishment, whoever believes that there is punishment in the Fire even for the people of tawhid (the oneness of Allah) because of their sins and disobedience, is as if he is dedicating himself to entering this Fire and enduring its heat, and not enduring the heat of his disobedience to the desire of the self, because our Lord says: Pray. He does not pray. His self says: Do not pray. He obeys it, while he knows of the punishment in the Hereafter. So he is content with his state of being in the Fire and satisfied with merely this faith whose effect he did not see on his limbs and his body.
The Shaykh: In summary, if the creed, faith, and tawhid (the oneness of Allah) are correct in the heart of the believer, he is saved from eternal abode in the punishment, and he is not like the disbelievers. But this does not mean that he is not punished absolutely, because there are matters that the Shari'ah came with as commands or prohibitions, and the Muslim must perform them, otherwise he will meet the punishment he deserves. This is from our answer.
The questioner : That is, the Muslim who is a believer...
The Shaykh : We must distinguish between faith and Islam to understand the matter well. Faith pertains to what is settled in the heart, while Islam pertains to the limbs. Faith pertains to creed, and Islam pertains to action.
The Shaykh: It is possible for me to conceive of a true believer who does not act upon his Islam, but his faith is deficient and weak, and he is to be feared of collapsing at the slightest opportunity or at the slightest trial he is tested with. This is the believer who is not a Muslim, meaning the one who does not act upon his Islam.
The Shaykh: The believer in creed is presumed to be a verifier of everything that came with Islam. Islam, for example, came with prayer, it came with zakah,
And establish prayer and give zakah
وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَThe Shaykh: So when he saysThe questioner : He is a believer. He should use the term "believer" in accordance with everything that came in the Shari'ah, regarding matters and others. But despite that, he does not act upon them, meaning he does not perform Islam. This Islam came with pillars, so if he abandons them, his faith is deficient but not nonexistent. And if he dies in this state, being a true believer, he will have salvation on the Day of Resurrection from eternal abode in the Fire, because the Fire on the Day of Resurrection is two fires: an eternal fire and a temporary fire, if the expression is correct. The eternal fire is the recompense of the disbelievers who are defiant, to whom the call reached and the proof was established against them, yet they denied it and their souls were certain of it. As for the temporary fire, it is the fire of the transgressors among the believers, and each one of them has a proportion of punishment that corresponds to his neglect of Islam in action or omission. I mean that there are obligations that he must perform but he neglected them, and there are prohibitions that he must abstain from but he did not, so he committed them. So each of these has his share of punishment in the Hereafter, then his testimony that there is no god but Allah and his faith that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah save him, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
Narrated 'Urban bin Malik: who attended the Badr battle and was from the Ansar, that he came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, "O Allah's Apostle! I have lost my eyesight and I lead my people in the prayer (as an Imam). When it rains, the valley which is between me and my people, flows with water, and then I cannot go to their mosque to lead them in the prayer. O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! I wish that you could come and pray in my house so that I may take it as a praying place. The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah willing, I will do that." The next morning, soon after the sun had risen, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) came with Abu Bakr. The Prophet (ﷺ) asked for the permission to enter and I admitted him. The Prophet (ﷺ) had not sat till he had entered the house and said to me, "Where do you like me to pray in your house?" I pointed at a place in my house whereupon he stood and said, "Allahu Akbar." We lined behind him and he prayed two rak`at and finished it with Taslim. We then requested him to stay for a special meal of Khazira which we had prepared. A large number of men from the adjoining area gathered in the house. One of them said, "Where is Malik bin Ad-Dukhshun?" Another man said, "He is a hypocrite and does not love Allah and His Apostle." The Prophet said, "Do not say so. Do you not think that he has said: "None has the right to be worshipped but Allah," seeking Allah's pleasure? The man said, "Allah and His Apostle know better, but we have always seen him mixing with hypocrites and giving them advice." The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah has forbidden the (Hell) Fire for those who testify that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah, seeking Allah's pleasure. "
من قال لا إله إلا الله نفعته يومًا من دهرهThe Shaykh: In summary, if the creed, faith, and tawhid (the oneness of Allah) are correct in the heart of the believer, he is saved from eternal abode in the punishment, and he is not like the disbelievers. But this does not mean that he is not punished absolutely, because there are matters that the Shari'ah came with as commands or prohibitions, and the Muslim must perform them, otherwise he will meet the punishment he deserves. This is from our answer.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.