‘I give to some men and withhold from others who are dearer to me than they are, for fear that they may be cast face down into the Fire.’”

Al-Zuhrī said:

“We therefore consider Islam to be the declaration, and faith to be deeds.”

Muhammad ibn Nasr said:

They also cited ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mas‘ūd’s disapproval of anyone who testified to his own faith by saying, “I am a believer,” without qualification. His companions after him took the same position, as did most of the scholars of Kufa.

They also cited the hadith of Abū Hurayrah:

“Faith leaves him; if he turns back, it returns to him.”

They cited other similar reports, as well as what was related from al-Hasan and Muhammad ibn Sīrīn: both would say “a Muslim” but were reluctant to say “a believer.” They also cited the statement of Abū Ja‘far, which Ishāq ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us: Wahb ibn Jarīr ibn Hāzim informed us: My father narrated to me, from Fudayl ibn Bashshār, from Abū Ja‘far Muhammad ibn ‘Alī, that he was asked about 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.”

Abū Ja‘far said, “This is Islam,” and drew a wide circle. “And this is faith,” and he drew a small circle inside the large one. “When someone commits unlawful sexual intercourse or steals, he leaves faith but remains within Islam. Nothing takes him out of Islam except disbelief in Allah.”

They also cited the report that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“The people embraced Islam, but ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ās attained faith.”

Yahyā ibn Yahyā narrated this to us: Ibn Lahī‘ah narrated to us, from Shurayh ibn Hāni’, from ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Āmir al-Juhanī, that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“The people embraced Islam, but ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ās attained faith.”

He also related that Hammād ibn Zayd used to distinguish between faith and Islam, regarding