for the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, has explained the meaning of these terms so clearly that there is no need to establish it through etymology, examples of Arab usage, or similar evidence. Thus, to determine what these terms denote, one must refer to the explanation given by Allah and His Messenger, for it is fully adequate and sufficient. Indeed, their general meanings are known to scholars and ordinary people alike.

Anyone who considers what the Khawārij and the Murjiʾah say about the meaning of faith knows with undeniable certainty that it contradicts the Messenger’s teaching. One also knows with undeniable certainty that obedience to Allah and His Messenger is part of the completeness of faith, and that the Prophet did not regard everyone who committed a sin as a disbeliever.

One also knows this: suppose a group were to say to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“We believe in our hearts, without any doubt, in what you have brought us, and we profess the two testimonies of faith with our tongues. However, we will not obey any of your commands or prohibitions. We will neither pray nor fast nor perform pilgrimage. We will not speak truthfully, fulfil trusts, keep covenants, maintain ties of kinship, or do any of the good you have commanded. We will drink intoxicants and openly commit illicit intercourse with women forbidden to us in marriage. We will kill whomever we can among your Companions and your community, and seize their wealth. Indeed, we will kill you too and fight against you alongside your enemies.”

Could any rational person imagine that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would say to them:

“You are believers whose faith is complete. You are among those for whom I will intercede on the Day of Resurrection, and there is hope that none of you will enter the Fire”?

Rather, every Muslim knows with undeniable certainty that he would say to them, “You are the most extreme disbelievers in what I have brought,” and would behead them if they did not repent of that.

Likewise, every Muslim knows that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not regard a drinker of intoxicants, a fornicator, one who slanders another’s chastity, or a thief as apostates who must be put to death. Rather, the Quran and the mass-transmitted reports from him make clear that these people have punishments other than the punishment for apostasy from Islam