for the faith and righteous deeds he possesses, while repudiating him for the sins he commits. Flagrant disobedience does not nullify the core of faith, for a person may carry within himself traits of sin, traits of obedience, traits of faith, and traits of unbelief. Allah the Exalted said: “If two groups among the believers fight, make peace between them; but if one of them transgresses against the other, then fight the one that transgresses until it returns to the command of Allah. If it returns, then reconcile between them with justice and act equitably—surely Allah loves the equitable. The believers are but brothers, so reconcile between your brothers” (49:9–10).
Thus Allah declared the two fighting factions to be brothers of the group that mediates between them and still described them all as believers, even though a believer’s fighting his brother is one of the attributes of unbelief, as the Prophet ﷺ said: “Reviling a Muslim is outrageous sin, and fighting him is unbelief.” Yet this unbelieving trait neither negates the essence of faith nor annuls the bond of brotherhood in faith. Undoubtedly, that brotherhood entails mutual love and loyalty, and its force increases in proportion to the strength and uprightness of one’s faith.
This principle—that an individual may combine within himself a characteristic of faith and a characteristic of unbelief—is affirmed by the Quran and the Sunnah and upheld by the early generations and leading scholars. Consequently, love and loyalty are granted according to the traits of faith a person possesses, while aversion and enmity correspond to the traits of unbelief he displays.