is nothing more than a verbal profession (1); that works are merely subsidiary ordinances; that faith is a bare abstraction; that people do not vary at all in their level of faith (2); that their faith (3) and the faith of the angels and the prophets are one and the same; that faith neither increases nor decreases; that when speaking of one’s own faith there is no place for the qualifying phrase “if Allah wills”; that whoever professes with his tongue yet performs no deeds is nonetheless a true believer, and that they are believers in the sight of Allah without any reservation—this entire set of claims (4) is the doctrine of the Murjiʾah. It is the vilest of statements, the most misleading, and the furthest from right guidance.
• al-Qadariyyah: They (5) are those who allege that power, will, and capability reside with them; that they hold in their own hands good and evil, harm and benefit, obedience and disobedience, guidance and misguidance (6); that human beings initiate their acts independently (7), with nothing of them having been pre-recorded in Allah’s knowledge (8). Their claim parallels the creed of the Magians and the Christians, and it is the very root of heresy.