Nor do they strip the sinful Muslim of the name of faith altogether, nor do they consign him to everlasting punishment in the Fire—as the Muʿtazilites claim. Rather, the sinner still falls under the designation of “believer.”

This is evident from His words, exalted is He: “then the freeing of a believing slave” (Q 4:92).

Nevertheless, such a person may not merit the description of faith in its absolute sense,

as in His saying, exalted is He: “The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, their hearts tremble …” (Q 8:2).

Likewise, the Prophet ﷺ said: “An adulterer does not commit adultery while he is a believer, a thief does not steal while he is a believer, a wine-drinker does not drink wine while he is a believer, and a pillager does not seize a valued spoil at which people raise their eyes while he is a believer.”

Hence they say: He is a believer whose faith is deficient, or a believer by virtue of his faith yet a sinner on account of his major transgression; the unqualified term is not fully granted to him, nor is the name of faith taken from him outright.