If it is asked:
“In addition to what you have mentioned, is there any established Sunnah demonstrating that deeds are included in faith in Allah, His angels, His Books, and His messengers?”
The answer is:
“Yes. Prophetic traditions and reports generally attest to this, including the hadith of the delegation of ‘Abd al-Qays.”
He cited the hadith transmitted by Shu‘bah and Qurrah ibn Khālid, from Abū Jamrah, from Ibn ‘Abbās, as mentioned earlier. Its wording is:
“I command you to have faith in Allah alone.”
Then he said:
“Do you know what faith in Allah alone is?”
They replied, “Allah and His Messenger know best.”
He said:
“To testify that none is worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, to establish prayer, to give zakat, to fast Ramadan, and to give one-fifth of the spoils you acquire.”
He also cited many hadiths establishing that deeds are included in faith, such as his words in the hadith of … (1), when he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was asked … (2)
Then Abū ‘Abd Allāh Muhammad ibn Nasr said:
Our companions differed over the interpretation of the Prophet’s saying, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:
“No one who commits unlawful sexual intercourse is a believer at the time he commits it.”
One group said: The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, intended only to withhold from him the designation of believer, without excluding him from Islam or withholding from him the designation of Muslim. They distinguished between faith and Islam, saying: When he commits unlawful sexual intercourse, he is not a believer, but he is a Muslim. To support their distinction between Islam and faith, they cited His words:
“The Bedouins say, ‘We believe,’”
and the rest of the verse. They said: Faith has a narrower scope: the designation of believer is established through deeds together with belief in Allah’s oneness. Islam has a broader scope: the designation of Muslim is established through belief in Allah’s oneness and leaving the religions of disbelief.
They also cited the hadith of Sa‘d ibn Abī Waqqās. He related it from Sa‘d, who reported:
“The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, gave to some men but gave nothing to one of them. I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, you gave to so-and-so and so-and-so, but you did not give to so-and-so, although he is a believer.’
“The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘Or a Muslim.’ He repeated his statement three times, while the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, kept saying, ‘Or a Muslim.’ Then he said: