and ‘Say, He is Allah, One’ on other occasions.” Thus, he would recite passages mentioning faith and submission, or passages mentioning Allah’s oneness and sincere devotion to Him.

According to the view of these scholars, it may be said: Righteous deeds conjoined with faith are included within faith, and their conjunction with it is that of the particular with the general—either to mention something specifically after mentioning it generally, or because its conjunction indicates that it was not included in the general term.

It has also been said: Rather, deeds are not originally part of faith, for the foundation of faith is what resides in the heart. They are, however, necessary consequences of it, so whoever does not perform them has no faith: the absence of a necessary consequence entails the absence of that which necessitates it. Nevertheless, in the Lawgiver’s usage, deeds have come to be included within the term “faith” when it is used without qualification, as previously illustrated by the words of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. When deeds are conjoined with faith, they are mentioned lest anyone imagine that faith alone, without the righteous deeds necessarily entailed by it, secures the promised reward. Their mention therefore singles them out and makes them explicit, so that it may be known that the reward promised in the Hereafter—Paradise without punishment—is only for those who believe and do righteous deeds, not for those who claim faith but do not act.

In more than one passage, Allah, glorified is He, has made clear that anyone who truthfully says, “I believe,” must fulfil what is obligatory. Restricting faith to such people indicates its absence from all others.

The Jahmiyyah raise an objection here, mentioned by Abū al-Hasan in his book al-Mūjaz: the Quran denies faith to anyone other than such people, as in His words:

“The believers are only those whose hearts tremble when Allah is mentioned.”

Yet it does not say that these deeds are part of faith. They say: “We therefore maintain that whoever does not perform these deeds is not a believer, because their absence indicates the absence of knowledge from his heart.”

This may be answered in several ways: