278 — Abū Bakr ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Hamīd al-Wāsitī ⦗659⦘ related to me: Abū Bakr al-Athram related to us: I heard Abū ʿAbd Allāh Ahmad ibn Hanbal being asked, “What do you say about qualifying one’s affirmation of faith with ‘if Allah wills’?” He replied, “For my part, I do not find fault with it.”

Abū ʿAbd Allāh said, “If a person holds that faith consists of words and deeds, and adds this qualification out of fear and caution, it is not based on doubt, as they claim. The qualification is made only with regard to deeds. Allah—Majestic is His Glory—says: ‘You shall surely enter the Sacred Mosque, if Allah wills, in safety’ [al-Fath: 27]. This is a qualification made without any doubt. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, ‘Indeed, I hope that I am the most fearful of Allah—Majestic is His Glory—among you.’” He said, “All of this lends support to qualifying one’s affirmation of faith with ‘if Allah wills.’”