Itiqad Aimmat al-Hadith - Abu Bakr al-Isma’ili - (67)

[Scholarly Views on the Distinction Between Islam and Faith]

Some of them said: Faith consists of words and deeds, while Islam consists of doing what a person is obligated to do. This distinction applies when the two terms are mentioned together—as in “the believers and the Muslims”—each as a distinct designation: one conveys a meaning not conveyed by the other. But when either term is mentioned alone, it encompasses them all.

Many of them (1) said: Islam and faith are one and the same. Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, said:

“Whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted from him.” [Āl ‘Imrān: 85]

If faith were something other than Islam, it would not be accepted from him. He also said:

“So We brought out whoever was there of the believers. But We found there only one household of Muslims.” [Al-Dhāriyāt: 35–36]

(1) Among them were Muhammad ibn Nasr al-Marwazī, Sufyān al-Thawrī, al-Bukhārī, al-Muzanī, and Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr. See Jāmi‘ al-‘Ulūm wa-l-Hikam, p. 170. This view was also reported from al-Shāfi‘ī; see Fath al-Bārī, 1:114–115.

[أقوال أهل العلم في الفرق بين الإسلام والإيمان] وقال منهم: إن الإيمان قول وعمل، والإسلام فعل ما فرض على الإنسان أن يفعله، إذا ذكر كل اسم مضمومًا إلى الآخر، فقيل: المؤمنون والمسلمون جميعا مفردين أريد بأحدهما معنى لم يرد بالآخر، وإن ذكر أحد الاسمين شمل الكل وعمهم. وكثير منهم (١) قالوا: الإسلام والإيمان واحد، قال ﷿: ﴿وَمَنْ يَبْتَغِ غَيْرَ الْإِسْلَامِ دِينًا فَلَنْ يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُ﴾ [آل عمران: ٨٥] فلو أن الإيمان غيره لم يقبل منه، وقال: ﴿فَأَخْرَجْنَا مَنْ كَانَ فِيهَا مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ - فَمَا وَجَدْنَا فِيهَا غَيْرَ بَيْتٍ مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ﴾ [الذاريات: ٣٥ - ٣٦]

(١) منهم محمد بن نصر المروزي وسفيان الثوري والبخاري والمزني وابن عبد البر، انظر جامع العلوم والحكم ص١٧٠، وروي عن الشافعي، انظر فتح الباري ١ / ١١٤-١١٥.