I have no doubt about this, although it is disputed. For I know that, had the Sunnah not established such treatment for unbelievers, this analogy would, according to its proponents, have to be applied consistently to an unbeliever as well. Abū Hanīfah’s followers took this into account regarding marriage: they prohibited only those marriages for which there are grounds for admissibility in Islam. Disagreement does not diminish the standing of knowledge and jurisprudence once the supporting proof has become clear.

Section

Two issues, however, require consideration.

The first concerns someone who neglects an obligation or commits a prohibited act, neither on the basis of a belief nor out of excusable ignorance, but out of ignorance coupled with neglect of seeking the knowledge required of him, despite being able to acquire it. Alternatively, he has heard that something is obligatory or prohibited, but fails to commit himself to it out of disregard, not disbelief in the divine message.

These are two frequently occurring cases: someone neglects to seek the general knowledge required of him, consequently neglecting obligations and committing prohibited acts without knowing that they are obligatory or prohibited; or the relevant injunction reaches him, but he does not commit himself to following it, out of partisan attachment to his school or obedience to his desires. Such a person has abandoned the required belief without a valid excuse under Islamic law, just as the unbeliever has failed to embrace Islam. For belief consists in acknowledgment through assent and commitment. He may therefore abandon assent