They say, “He did not speak,” and they say, “Faith is in the heart alone.” (1)
Al-Bukhārī said (2): “Wakīʿ stated: Beware of these Murjiʾah and these Jahmiyyah (3); the Jahmiyyah are disbelievers, and al-Murīsī (4) is a Jahmī. You already know the nature of their unbelief: they claim that bare knowledge suffices (5)—and that is disbelief. The Murjiʾah say, ‘Faith is a declaration without deeds,’ and that is an innovation. Whoever says, ‘The Qur’an is created,’ is a disbeliever in what was revealed to Muḥammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He is to be asked to repent; if he repents, so be it, otherwise his neck is to be struck.”
He also said (6): “Wakīʿ declared: May Allah’s curse be upon al-Murīsī (7), whether he is a Jew (8) or a Christian.” A man (9) asked him, “Was his father or grandfather a Jew or a Christian?” Wakīʿ replied, “And upon his companions (10) be the curse of Allah; the Qur’an is the speech of Allah.” Wakīʿ then struck one hand against the other and said (11): “There is a wicked man in Baghdad called al-Murīsī; he must be summoned to repent—if he repents, well and good, but if not, his neck is to be struck.”
(1) Faith (iman): an utterance by the tongue, conviction in the heart, and action of the limbs. This is the creed of the Salaf, opposed by certain theologians such as the Jahmiyya, the Murjiʾa, the Ashʿariyya, and others. The issue is treated exhaustively in the book Al-Iman by Shaykh al-Islam; before that in Al-Iman by Abu ʿUbayd al-Qasim ibn Salam; likewise in Al-Iman by Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shayba; and in other works of the Salaf—may God have mercy on them. Further details will follow on pp. 646–648, God willing.
(2) Al-Khalq Afaʿal al-ʿIbad (The Creation of the Servants’ Actions), by al-Bukhari, p. 34.
(3) In Al-Khalq Afaʿal al-ʿIbad: “Wakiʿ said, ‘These Murjiʾa and Jahmiyya have introduced innovations…’ ”
(4) In Al-Khalq Afaʿal al-ʿIbad: al-Marīs.
(5) In Al-Khalq Afaʿal al-ʿIbad: “It suffices you.”
(6) The speaker is al-Bukhari, and the text continues the preceding discussion in Al-Khalq Afaʿal al-ʿIbad.
(7) In Al-Khalq Afaʿal al-ʿIbad: al-Marīs.
(8) It is omitted from Al-Khalq Afaʿal al-ʿIbad.
(9) In Al-Khalq Afaʿal al-ʿIbad: “He said…”
(10) In Al-Khalq Afaʿal al-ʿIbad: “upon him and his companions.”
(11) In all manuscripts: “He said, ‘He.’ ” This reading is confirmed in Al-Khalq Afaʿal al-ʿIbad.