which is assent, and that knowledge of Allah is an act of Allah and forms no part of faith whatsoever. He argued that faith, in its linguistic sense, means assent.

The eighth group of the Murji’ah consists of the followers of Muhammad ibn Shabīb. They claim that faith consists in acknowledging Allah and knowing that He is One and that nothing is like Him; and in acknowledging and knowing Allah’s prophets and messengers and everything they brought from Allah that the Muslims have expressly affirmed and transmitted from the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—such as prayer, fasting, and similar matters concerning which there is no disagreement or dispute among them.

As for religious matters over which people differ, one who rejects the truth does not thereby become an unbeliever, for this involves faith and inference. He is not rejecting what the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—brought from Allah Most High, nor is he rejecting what the Muslims have transmitted from their Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and expressly affirmed.

Submission to Allah means renouncing arrogance. They claimed that Iblīs knew Allah Most High and acknowledged Him, and that he was an unbeliever only because he was arrogant. Had it not been for his arrogance, he would not have been an unbeliever.

They also held that faith is divisible and that those who possess it differ in degree; that an individual quality of faith may constitute obedience and part of faith, while the person possessing it may be an unbeliever for abandoning part of faith; and that no one is a believer unless he fulfils faith in its entirety. Anyone who knows that