and were to say, “I do not know what will become of the disbeliever,” he answered, “He is rejecting the Book of Allah, Exalted is He, and is therefore himself a disbeliever.”

On the One Who Doubts His Own Faith

I then asked him, “What would you say about a man who, when asked, ‘Are you a believer?’, replies, ‘Allah knows best’?”
He said, “He is uncertain about his faith.”

I continued, “Is there any position between disbelief and faith other than hypocrisy? For a person must be one of three: a believer, a disbeliever, or a hypocrite.”
He replied, “No. One who doubts his faith is not a hypocrite.”

I said, “Why is that?”
He responded, “Because of the report concerning the companion of Muʿādh ibn Jabal and Ibn Masʿūd. Ḥammād narrated to me from Ḥārith ibn Mālik—who had been among the companions of Muʿādh ibn Jabal al-Anṣārī—that when death approached him, he wept…”