The Ruling on One Who Denies Creation or Rejects a Matter Known Necessarily in the Religion

Abū Muṭīʿ said, “I asked Abū Ḥanīfa—may Allah have mercy on him—‘If a person is certain of this and acknowledges it, is he a believer?’ He answered, ‘Yes. Once he affirms this, he has affirmed the whole of Islam, and he is a believer.’

“I then said, ‘What if he denies some aspect of His creation and says, “I do not know who created this”?’ He replied, ‘That is disbelief, because the Exalted has said, “He is the Creator of everything.” It is as though such a person were claiming that there is a creator other than Allah.

“‘Likewise, if someone were to say, “I do not know that Allah has made prayer, fasting, and zakāh obligatory upon me,” he would have disbelieved, for Allah the Most High says, “Establish prayer and give the zakāh,” and He says, “Fasting has been prescribed for you,” and He says, “So glorify Allah when you reach the evening and when you reach the morning; to Him belongs praise in the heavens and the earth, and at nightfall and when you enter midday.”

“‘But if he says, “I believe in this verse …”’