assent in the heart and profession by the tongue, accompanied by hatred of Allah and His laws and arrogant defiance of Allah and His laws, do not constitute faith, by the consensus of the believers, unless that assent is accompanied by righteous action.

The foundation of action is the action of the heart: love and reverence, which are incompatible with hatred and arrogance. They then said: “Neither speech nor action is accepted without intention.” This is clear, for if speech and action are not sincerely devoted to Allah, Allah Most High will not accept them. They then said: “Neither speech, action, nor intention is accepted unless it accords with the Sunnah.” The Sunnah is the revealed law: what Allah and His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, have commanded. For speech, action, and intention that do not accord with the Sunnah and the revealed law, as commanded by Allah, constitute innovation. Every innovation is misguidance and is not something Allah loves. Thus, Allah neither accepts it nor deems it sound, as is the case with the deeds of the polytheists and the People of the Book.

In the usage of the early generations, the term Sunnah encompasses the Sunnah in matters of worship and in