What is the validity of the statement that every believer is a Muslim, but not the other way around?
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Question:
Our teacher taught us in the early stages that every believer is a Muslim, but not the other way around. Is this correct?
Answer:
Yes, every believer is a Muslim; because faith is the perfection of obedience: performing what Allah has made obligatory, leaving what Allah has forbidden, and being called a believer. He is more complete than the absolute Muslim. If the Muslim has performed the obligations, he is called both a Muslim and a believer. If he has a deficiency and sins, he is called a Muslim, and not a believer. It is permissible to say: a believer with deficient faith, or to say: a disobedient believer. But if one says: believer, and uses the term in its absolute sense, it is only said regarding the upright person known for obeying Allah and His Messenger and leaving what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden. He is called a believer.
This is the meaning of the statement: "Every believer is a Muslim, but it does not reverse"; because Islam is broader in its essence, encompassing the sinner and the upright. He is called a Muslim even if he is a sinner, such as the undutiful, the fornicator, and the thief. He is called a Muslim if he is a monotheist regarding Allah, believing in Allah, but he has fallen into sin without deeming it permissible. However, Satan and his desires overcame him, so he committed it without deeming it permissible: he committed fornication, or stole, or was undutiful to his parents, or one of them, or backbit people, or tailed, or consumed usury, or similar sins. This person is a Muslim, and the people of the Sunnah call him a Muslim, and do not call him a believer in the absolute sense. But if one says: believer, there is no harm in saying: believer, but it is qualified: a believer with deficient faith, a believer with weak faith, a disobedient believer. This is also said of him. But the believer in the absolute sense is the upright one.
Our teacher taught us in the early stages that every believer is a Muslim, but not the other way around. Is this correct?
Answer:
Yes, every believer is a Muslim; because faith is the perfection of obedience: performing what Allah has made obligatory, leaving what Allah has forbidden, and being called a believer. He is more complete than the absolute Muslim. If the Muslim has performed the obligations, he is called both a Muslim and a believer. If he has a deficiency and sins, he is called a Muslim, and not a believer. It is permissible to say: a believer with deficient faith, or to say: a disobedient believer. But if one says: believer, and uses the term in its absolute sense, it is only said regarding the upright person known for obeying Allah and His Messenger and leaving what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden. He is called a believer.
This is the meaning of the statement: "Every believer is a Muslim, but it does not reverse"; because Islam is broader in its essence, encompassing the sinner and the upright. He is called a Muslim even if he is a sinner, such as the undutiful, the fornicator, and the thief. He is called a Muslim if he is a monotheist regarding Allah, believing in Allah, but he has fallen into sin without deeming it permissible. However, Satan and his desires overcame him, so he committed it without deeming it permissible: he committed fornication, or stole, or was undutiful to his parents, or one of them, or backbit people, or tailed, or consumed usury, or similar sins. This person is a Muslim, and the people of the Sunnah call him a Muslim, and do not call him a believer in the absolute sense. But if one says: believer, there is no harm in saying: believer, but it is qualified: a believer with deficient faith, a believer with weak faith, a disobedient believer. This is also said of him. But the believer in the absolute sense is the upright one.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.