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The second error of the Murji’ah is their assumption that faith in the heart consists solely of affirmation, excluding deeds of the heart, as discussed earlier concerning the Jahmiyyah among the Murji’ah.

Their third error is their assumption that faith in the heart can be complete without any deeds. Thus, they regard deeds as the fruit and outcome of faith, relating the two as cause and effect, but do not regard deeds as inseparable from faith. The truth, however, is that complete faith in the heart necessarily entails corresponding outward action. It is impossible for complete faith to reside in the heart without outward action.

Consequently, they posit situations that cannot occur, because they fail to grasp the connection between the body and the heart. For example, they posit a man whose heart contains faith equal to that in the hearts of Abū Bakr and ‘Umar, yet who never prostrates to Allah even once, does not fast Ramadan, commits incest with his mother and sister, and drinks wine during the daytime in Ramadan. They say, “This is a believer whose faith is complete.” All other believers reject this in the strongest terms.

Ahmad ibn Hanbal said:

Khalaf ibn Hayyān narrated to us: Ma‘qil ibn ‘Ubayd Allāh al-‘Absī narrated to us, saying: “Sālim al-Aftas came to us with the doctrine of the Murji’ah, and our companions recoiled strongly from him. Among them were Maymūn ibn Mihrān and ‘Abd al-Karīm ibn Mālik. The latter had pledged to Allah that