Is every Muslim a believer, or is it the other way around?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Can one be a Muslim without being called a believer?
There is scholarly disagreement among the people of the Sunnah and the community; because the Muslim is broader than the believer, and the believer is more specific. So, if the term Muslim is used in a general sense, it encompasses everyone: the Muslims, the believers, and those who excel in worship. However, a Muslim may be described solely by the attribute of Islam, without the attribute of faith, in the context of praise, if he is among the sinners. It is said: he is a Muslim, but not a believer with complete faith. However, it is better in such a case to say: a believer with deficient faith, or a believer who is an open sinner, or a believer in his faith, but an open sinner due to his major sin, as Abu al-Abbas mentioned in "Al-Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah"; because the station of praise with faith is a great station. And Allah detailed the distinction between them, saying: [Al-Ahzab:35]. This is in the context of detailed specification: "The adulterer does not commit adultery while he is a believer," meaning: rather, he is a Muslim, not a believer with complete faith—the faith that its holder deserves full praise. Therefore, it is necessary to reconcile the texts in a way that harmonizes them and clarifies their meaning.
There is scholarly disagreement among the people of the Sunnah and the community; because the Muslim is broader than the believer, and the believer is more specific. So, if the term Muslim is used in a general sense, it encompasses everyone: the Muslims, the believers, and those who excel in worship. However, a Muslim may be described solely by the attribute of Islam, without the attribute of faith, in the context of praise, if he is among the sinners. It is said: he is a Muslim, but not a believer with complete faith. However, it is better in such a case to say: a believer with deficient faith, or a believer who is an open sinner, or a believer in his faith, but an open sinner due to his major sin, as Abu al-Abbas mentioned in "Al-Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah"; because the station of praise with faith is a great station. And Allah detailed the distinction between them, saying:
Indeed, the Muslim men and Muslim women, the believing men and believing women
إِنَّ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَالْمُسْلِمَاتِ وَالْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.
