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If it is said:

“What has been stated about how a word’s meaning varies according to whether it is used without qualification or with qualification—in the speech of Allah, His Messenger, and everyone else—is clear, evident, and undeniable. Yet we maintain that the word ‘faith’ refers to deeds figuratively. Thus, the Prophet’s statement, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ‘Faith has sixty-odd or seventy-odd branches, the highest of which is saying “There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah,” and the lowest of which is removing something harmful from the road,’ is figurative. His statement, ‘Faith is to believe in Allah, His angels, His Books, and His Messengers,’ and so forth, is literal.”

This is the central argument of the Murji’ah, the Jahmiyyah, the Karrāmiyyah, and everyone who excludes deeds from what the term “faith” encompasses.

We offer two answers. The first is a general discussion of the terminology (literal and figurative). The second concerns this particular issue: assuming that one of the two usages is figurative, which is literal and which is figurative? Is the literal usage the unqualified one, the qualified one, or are both literal? This must be established to know how the word “faith” is to be understood when used without qualification.

First, we say: Expressions that signify meanings may be classified as “literal and figurative”; the same classification may also be applied to their signification or to the meanings signified, if the terms “literal” and “figurative” are used to describe either the signified meaning or the signification. All these usages may occur in the writings of later scholars. But the prevalent view