For this reason, the authentic hadiths on intercession state:

“Whoever has an atom’s weight of faith in his heart will come out of the Fire.”

Some versions say, “An atom’s weight of good.” This accords with His words, exalted is He:

“So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.”

That atom’s weight of good is an atom’s weight of faith. These believers—the righteous and the God-fearing—are those who attain complete felicity. They are the people of Paradise who have been promised entry into it without punishment. It is this group that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, referred to when he said:

“Whoever cheats us is not one of us, and whoever takes up arms against us is not one of us.”

Such a person is not one of these; rather, he is among the sinners subject to the threat of punishment, like others of their kind.