Al-Muqaddimāt al-Mumahhidāt - Ibn Rush al-Jadd - (1/52)

Al-Muqaddimāt al-MumahhidātIbn Rush al-Jadd

to withdraw into solitude and cease keeping company with people. Mālik wrote back to him, saying: “Allah has apportioned deeds among His servants just as He has apportioned their provision. One man may be enabled to excel in prayer but not in fasting; another may be enabled to excel in fasting but not in prayer; and another may be enabled to excel in one thing but not another.” He listed several things, then said: “I do not think that what you are engaged in is better than what I am engaged in. Both of us are pursuing good, Allah willing. Peace be upon you.”

Section
Clarifying the Meaning of Faith and Islam

No act of worship is valid without first acknowledging and believing in the One worshipped. The foremost obligation is therefore to believe in Allah Most High, His oneness, the attributes of His essence and His acts, His angels, His Books, His messengers, and everything they brought from Him.

Faith is assent in the heart. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says:

“You will not believe us”—that is, you will not accept what we say—“even if we are truthful.” [Joseph: 17]

Islam, by contrast, is the outward profession and declaration of faith. The word is derived from submission, meaning compliance, for whoever professes faith has complied and submitted to its rulings being applied to him. Thus every believer is a Muslim, since whoever holds faith inwardly professes it outwardly. Yet not every Muslim is a believer, for the hypocrite and the heretic outwardly profess Islam while inwardly holding unbelief. They are therefore Muslims outwardly but unbelievers inwardly. Islam is thus broader in scope than faith.

This applies in the land of Islam and wherever a believer is obliged to profess his faith and is not permitted to conceal it. In a land at war, however, if he is compelled to profess unbelief and fears for his life, then, should he outwardly profess unbelief, he must retain faith in his heart. If he does so, he is a believer but not a Muslim, for Allah, glorified and exalted is He, has called such a person a believer in His Book, saying:

“And a believing man from Pharaoh’s family, who concealed his faith, said” [Ghāfir: 28].

He also says:

“Except one who is compelled while his heart remains secure in faith” [al-Nahl: 106].

Yet he is not a Muslim

على الانفراد وترك مجالسة الناس، فكتب إليه مالك يقول: إن الله قد قسم بين عباده الأعمال كما قسم الأرزاق، فرب رجل فتح له في الصلاة ولم يفتح له في الصيام، ورب رجل فتح له في الصيام ولم يفتح له في الصلاة، ورب رجل فتح له في كذا ولم يفتح له في كذا فعدد أشياء ثم قال وما أظن ما أنت فيه بأفضل مما أنا فيه، وكلانا على خير إن شاء الله والسلام. فصل في تحرير القول في الإيمان والإسلام ولا يصح شيء من العبادات إلا بعد الإقرار بالمعبود والتصديق به. فأول الواجبات الإيمان بالله تعالى وبوحدانيته وبما هو عليه من صفات ذاته وأفعاله وملائكته وكتبه ورسله وكل ما جاءوا به من عنده. والإيمان هو التصديق الحاصل في القلب قال الله ﷿: ﴿وَمَا أَنْتَ بِمُؤْمِنٍ لَنَا﴾ [يوسف: ١٧] أي بمصدق لنا ﴿وَلَوْ كُنَّا صَادِقِينَ﴾ [يوسف: ١٧]. وأما الإسلام فهو إظهار الإيمان والإعلان به، مأخوذ من الاستسلام وهو الانقياد؛ لأن من أظهر الإيمان فقد انقاد واستسلم لجريان حكمه عليه. فكل مؤمن مسلم؛ لأن من اعتقد الإيمان في الباطن فهو معلن به في الظاهر. وليس كل مسلم مؤمنا؛ لأن المنافق والزنديق يظهران الإسلام ويعتقدان الكفر، فهما مسلمان في الظاهر كافران في الباطن. فالإسلام أعم من الإيمان. وهذا في بلد الإسلام وحيث يجب على المؤمن إظهار إيمانه ولا يحل له كتمه. وأما في بلد الحرب إذا أكره على الكفر فواجب عليه إذا خاف على نفسه فأظهر الكفر أن يعتقد الإيمان بقلبه، فيكون إذا فعل ذلك مؤمنا غير مسلم؛ لأن الله ﵎ قد سماه مؤمنا في كتابه فقال: ﴿وَقَالَ رَجُلٌ مُؤْمِنٌ مِنْ آلِ فِرْعَوْنَ يَكْتُمُ إِيمَانَهُ﴾ [غافر: ٢٨]، وقال: ﴿إِلا مَنْ أُكْرِهَ وَقَلْبُهُ مُطْمَئِنٌّ بِالإِيمَانِ﴾ [النحل: ١٠٦] وليس بمسلم