Is the rule "Every believer is a Muslim, but not the reverse" absolute?
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The questioner : Your Eminence, there is a rule among the scholars: "That every believer is a Muslim, but not the reverse".
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : To what extent is this absolute, O Shaykh, or not?
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you. Islam and faith are sometimes used to mean the entire religion, in which case faith is included, as in the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Ma'idah 5:3] This includes Islam, which is the outward laws, and faith, which is the deeds and words of the hearts. Likewise, when faith is used in a general sense, as in His saying: it includes even the Muslims.
However, if it is said: a believer and a Muslim, then faith is in the heart and Islam is in the limbs, and faith is more complete than Islam. The evidence for this is the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Hujurat 49:14].
Also indicating this is the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Adh-Dhariyat 51:35-36] Because Allah saved Lut and his family except for his wife. His wife was with him in the house, a Muslim in appearance, seeming to be a believer in Allah and His Messenger, but she concealed disbelief. So Allah called the house a house of Islam and called all its inhabitants Muslims, but He did not save from it except the believer. For the wife of Lut, as Allah mentioned in the Qur'an, betrayed him and disbelved in a way he did not know, so she thereby became one of the hypocrites.
And based on this, we say: Every believer is a Muslim, but not the reverse, and not every Muslim is a believer, because Allah said: Yes, I understand now.
The questioner : Does a Muslim not have faith?
The Shaykh : No, but his faith is weak. His faith is weak. The believer's faith is complete. So now, if we ask: Is every believer a Muslim, or every...? We say: If faith is used in a general sense, Islam is included in it. If Islam is used in a general sense, faith is included in it. And if both are mentioned, this is the distinction. Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : To what extent is this absolute, O Shaykh, or not?
The Shaykh : May Allah reward you. Islam and faith are sometimes used to mean the entire religion, in which case faith is included, as in the saying of Allah the Exalted:
and have approved for you Islam as religion
وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الإِسْلامَ دِيناًAnd give good news to the believers
وَبَشِّرِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَHowever, if it is said: a believer and a Muslim, then faith is in the heart and Islam is in the limbs, and faith is more complete than Islam. The evidence for this is the saying of Allah the Exalted:
The bedouins say, "We have believed." Say, "You have not [yet] believed; but say [instead], 'We have submitted,' for faith has not yet entered your hearts.
قَالَتِ الْأَعْرَابُ آمَنَّا قُلْ لَمْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَلَكِنْ قُولُوا أَسْلَمْنَا وَلَمَّا يَدْخُلِ الْأِيمَانُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْAlso indicating this is the saying of Allah the Exalted:
(35) So We brought out whoever was in the cities of the believers. (36) And We found not within them other than a [single] house of Muslims.
فَأَخْرَجْنَا مَنْ كَانَ فِيهَا مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ * فَمَا وَجَدْنَا فِيهَا غَيْرَ بَيْتٍ مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَAnd based on this, we say: Every believer is a Muslim, but not the reverse, and not every Muslim is a believer, because Allah said:
Say, "You have not believed, but say, 'We have submitted.'"
قُلْ لَمْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَلَكِنْ قُولُوا أَسْلَمْنَاThe questioner : Does a Muslim not have faith?
The Shaykh : No, but his faith is weak. His faith is weak. The believer's faith is complete. So now, if we ask: Is every believer a Muslim, or every...? We say: If faith is used in a general sense, Islam is included in it. If Islam is used in a general sense, faith is included in it. And if both are mentioned, this is the distinction. Yes.