religion precludes inheritance. Moreover, it would follow that he could not lawfully be enslaved, nor could his father’s conversion to Islam make him a Muslim, since he is already a Muslim.”

He said:

“This is Ibn Qutayba’s interpretation, which he mentioned in Correcting Abū ‘Ubayd’s Errors. Abū ‘Abd Allāh ibn Batta also mentioned it in al-Ibāna.”

He said:

“Not everyone who is established to possess this knowledge is judged to be a Muslim. Adult unbelievers, for example, possess this knowledge yet are not Muslims.”

He said:

“Ahmad alluded to this interpretation in the report transmitted by al-Maymūnī, saying: ‘The original natural disposition upon which Allah created people.’ Al-Maymūnī asked him: ‘Does the natural disposition mean religion?’ He replied: ‘Yes.’”

Al-Qādī said:

“By religion, Ahmad meant the knowledge we have mentioned.”

He said:

“According to the second report, the natural disposition here means the beginning of a person’s creation in his mother’s womb.”

He said:

“For interpreting it as the covenant He took from them—namely, their acknowledgment of knowing Allah Most High—is to interpret the natural disposition as Islam, because acknowledging such knowledge is an acknowledgment of faith, and a believer is a Muslim.”

He said:

“If the natural disposition were Islam, it would follow that a child born to two unbelieving parents could neither inherit from them nor be inherited from by them, because that would preclude unbelief from being created by Allah. Yet it is established among our principles that human deeds, whether acts of obedience or disobedience, are created by Allah.”