such that he has erred in some matters of the Sunnah. Such a person is neither a disbeliever nor a hypocrite. He may nevertheless commit acts of aggression and wrongdoing that make him defiantly disobedient or sinful; or he may be mistaken in his interpretation and have his error forgiven. Alongside this, he may possess faith and piety that give him a degree of friendship with Allah commensurate with his faith and piety. This is the first of the two principles.

The second principle:

A statement may constitute disbelief, such as denying the obligation of prayer, zakah, fasting, and pilgrimage, or declaring lawful fornication, wine, gambling, and marriage to women whom one is permanently forbidden to marry. Yet the person who holds such a view may not have received the revealed instruction; in such a case, someone who denies it is not declared a disbeliever on that account. Examples include someone who has only recently embraced Islam or who grew up in a remote desert region where the laws of Islam had not reached him. Such a person is not judged to be a disbeliever for denying something revealed to the Messenger if he does not know that it was revealed to the Messenger. The doctrines of the Jahmiyyah are of this kind, for they deny what is true of the Lord, Most High, and what Allah revealed to His Messenger.

Their doctrines are judged erroneous on three grounds:

First: The texts of the Quran and Sunnah, together with consensus, that contradict their position are exceedingly numerous and well known. They reject them only by distorting their meaning.

Second: The reality of their position is the negation of the Creator, even though some of them do not know that their position necessarily entails negating the Creator. Just as the foundation of faith is acknowledging Allah, the foundation of disbelief is denying Allah.