What is your opinion of the one who, when advised, says that faith is in the heart and that a man does not commit himself until he reaches forty years of age, and argues that the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) mission was at forty?

The questioner : Your Eminence, there are some people who, when you speak to them about following the straight path, say to you: “Religion is in the heart, not in outward forms.” And they say that a man does not commit himself or follow the straight path until he reaches forty, arguing that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was not sent until after forty.

The Shaykh : There is no god but Allah.

The questioner : So what is your opinion?

The Shaykh : Our answer is: We agree with his statement that taqwa is in the heart and faith is in the heart. But we say to him: The one who said: , and he is the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), is the one who said: . So the corruption of the outward is a sign of the corruption of the inward. Then, if this corruption is a cause of exiting Islam, the inward has exited Islam. And if it is not a cause of exiting, then there is a disease in the heart, but it does not reach the level of disbelief. So we answer him with what he used as evidence. We say: You said: taqwa is here. And we say: The one who said: is the one who said: . So the corruption of the outward is proof that there is affliction in the inward. Do you understand? Good. What does the second point say?

The questioner : That he does not follow the straight path until he reaches forty.

The Shaykh : As for this, we say: This is a great error. Yes, the completion of forty is the perfection of the strength of the mind and the body. But as for legal responsibility, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) says: . So the limit is puberty. Whenever a person reaches puberty with intellect, he is obligated with what is obligated upon the one who is forty years old, the one who is fifty years old, and the one who is less than that. But it is good that such a person is brought to the authorities so that they may call him to repent. If he repents, well and good; otherwise, they deal with him as this statement requires, because this statement is very serious. Yes, after that.