among Muslims—both those who agree with us and those who disagree—that they do not call him God-fearing or scrupulous when he commits wicked deeds. They unanimously agree that the foundation of God-consciousness and scrupulousness remains in him, and that he may add further branches to that foundation, as when he scrupulously avoids forbidden acts. Yet they do not call him God-fearing or scrupulous while he commits certain major sins. Rather, they call him sinful and wicked, despite knowing that he has shown some God-consciousness and scrupulousness. What prevents them from using those designations is that God-consciousness is a designation of praise and commendation, to which Allah has attached the promise of forgiveness and Paradise.

They said:

For this same reason, we do not call him a believer; we call him a sinner who commits unlawful sexual intercourse, even though the foundation of what is called faith remains in his heart. For faith is a designation by which Allah has praised and commended the believers, and to which He has attached the promise of Paradise. Hence we say, “a Muslim,” but do not say, “a believer.”

They said:

If any Muslim who affirms Allah’s oneness could rightly be considered to have neither faith nor Islam in his heart, those who have entered the Fire would be the most deserving of that description. Yet we find that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, tells us that Allah says:

“Bring out of the Fire whoever has an atom’s weight of faith in his heart.”

Thus, it is established that even the worst Muslim has faith in his heart. Moreover, we find that the Muslim community applies to such people the rulings Allah has prescribed for Muslims, neither declaring them disbelievers nor testifying that they will enter Paradise. It is therefore established that they are Muslims, since there is unanimous agreement that the rulings applicable to Muslims are to be applied to them, but that they do not deserve to be called believers. For Islam designates the religion through which a person leaves all other religions: the designations of those religions no longer apply to him, and only the designation of Islam remains. The rulings of Islam apply to him, while the rulings of all other religions cease to apply to him.