and ʿUmar ibn ʿUthmān al-Shamzī in Mecca. ʿUmar asked him, “Tell me about someone who maintains that Allah Most High has forbidden eating pork, but does not know whether the pig Allah forbade might be something other than this very animal.” He replied, “He is a believer.”

ʿUmar then said, “He also maintains that Allah has made pilgrimage to the Kaaba obligatory, but does not know whether it might be a different Kaaba in such-and-such a place.” He replied, “This person is a believer.”

He asked, “What if he says, ‘I know that Allah sent Muhammad and that he is a messenger,’ but does not know whether he might be the black African?” He replied, “This person is a believer.”

Abū Hanīfah did not regard anything derived from religion as faith. He maintained that faith is indivisible and does not increase, and that people do not differ in their degree of faith.

He said: As for Ghassān and most of Abū Hanīfah’s followers, they relate