both obligatory and voluntary. They described it as doing what Allah has commanded, whether obligatory or voluntary, and refraining from what He has forbidden, whether as a prohibition or as a matter of proper conduct.”

He said: “This was also the position of Abū ‘Alī al-Thaqafī, one of our earlier scholars, and Abū al-‘Abbās al-Qalānisī. Abū ‘Abdillāh ibn Mujāhid also inclined toward this position.” He said: “This is the position of Mālik ibn Anas, imam of the Abode of Emigration, and most of the imams of the early predecessors—may Allah be pleased with them all. They used to say: ‘Faith is knowledge in the heart, acknowledgment with the tongue, and action with the limbs.’

“Some of them adopt the position of the Murji’ah: that faith is affirmation in the heart and on the tongue. Others said: ‘If someone defiantly refuses verbal affirmation, he is a disbeliever according to religious law, even if affirmation and knowledge are present in his heart.’ Abū Ishāq al-Isfarāyīnī held the same view.”

Al-Ansārī said: “I have seen in his writings that a believer is only truly a believer when he gives effect to his faith through righteous deeds, just as a scholar is only truly a scholar when he acts upon his knowledge. He cited the words of Allah Most High:

‘The believers are only those whose hearts tremble when Allah is mentioned, and whose faith increases when His verses are recited to them,’

through to His words:

‘It is they who are truly the believers.’”

Abū Ishāq also said: “The essential meaning of faith in the language is affirmation, and this is only realized through knowledge and obedience to commands. Gesture and submission take the place of verbal expression.”

Abū Ishāq also said in his book al-Asmā’ wa-l-Sifāt (The Names and Attributes): “They agreed that what entitles a person accountable under religious law to be called a believer comprises many qualities and various beliefs, although