faith, according to you, non-Muslims. This is worse than the position of the Karrāmiyyah. It also follows that the defiantly sinful among those who face the qiblah (direction of prayer) are not Muslims. This is worse than the position of the Kharijites, the Mu‘tazilah and others. Indeed, it would follow that even someone who omits voluntary acts of worship is not a Muslim, since such acts constitute obedience to Allah—if you consider every act of obedience, whether obligatory or voluntary, to be Islam.

Moreover, this contradicts the evidence you yourselves cited: His words to the Bedouins:

“You have not believed; rather, say, ‘We have submitted.’”

He thus affirmed Islam for them while denying them faith. Furthermore, if you exclude the defiantly sinful from the designation of Islam, doing so is more objectionable than excluding them from the designation of faith. You have therefore fallen into the gravest error for which you censured the Mu‘tazilah. For the Quran and Sunnah deny them the designation of faith far more emphatically than they deny them the designation of Islam, and the designation of faith carries greater weight in the Quran and Sunnah.

If, however, you say, “Rather, anyone who performs an act of obedience is called a Muslim,” it follows that someone who performs an act of obedience without uttering the two testimonies of faith is a Muslim. Likewise, someone who affirms the truth in his heart without expressing it with his tongue must, according to you, be a Muslim. For, according to you, faith is Islam, so whoever possesses faith has attained Islam. Thus, according to you, someone who utters the two testimonies of faith without performing any deeds would be a Muslim.

You also cite His words:

“The Bedouins say, ‘We believe.’ Say, ‘You have not believed; rather, say, “We have submitted.”’”

You say, “He denied them faith and affirmed Islam for them.”

The response is: This verse is evidence against you. By affirming Islam for them despite their lack of faith, He showed that faith is not a constituent part of Islam. Were it part of Islam, they could not be Muslims without possessing it.

If you say, “By our statement, ‘He affirmed Islam for them,’ we meant some measure of Islam, for every act of obedience belonging to Islam