the second: that the prophet, peace be upon him, only refers to a believer and not a muslim in such sayings of the prophet, peace be upon him, "or a muslim" because he is not among the special and virtuous believers, as if he is saying: because he is not among the foremost and closest, but among the righteous who are moderate. these are matters on which the majority of scholars have disagreed, and they say: the prophet, peace be upon him, did not say about that man "or a muslim" because he was not among the special and virtuous believers like the foremost and closest. for if this were the case, it would negate the absolute faith from the righteous, moderate, and pious who are promised paradise without punishment if they are among the companions of the right and not among the foremost and closest. but this is not the case; rather, all the companions of the right along with the foremost and closest are all believers promised paradise without punishment, and everyone who is like that is a believer by consensus of the muslims from the people of sunnah and the people of innovation. and if it were permissible to negate faith from a person because someone else is better in faith than him, then faith would be negated from most of Allah's pious allies, and even from many of the prophets, and this is extremely corrupt. this is similar to the saying of those who say: negating the name to negate its recommended perfection. and we have mentioned that such a thing is not found in the words of Allah and His Messenger; rather, this hadith specifies someone about whom it is said "muslim" and not "believer", so he must be lacking in the degree of the righteous, moderate people of paradise, and his faith must be less than the faith of all of these, so he has not brought the faith that was commanded of all these. then if he was able to have that faith and left the obligation, he would be deserving of blame, and if it is assumed that he is not able to have that faith which these have, then he is incapable of having faith like theirs, and this would not be obligatory for him. so he is, even if
وَالثَّانِي:
أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إنَّمَا يُطْلِقُ مُؤْمِنًا دُونَ مُسْلِمٍ فِي مِثْلِ قَوْلِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ
" أو مُسْلِمٌ "
لِكَوْنِهِ لَيْسَ مِنْ خَوَاصِّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَأَفَاضِلِهِمْ كَأَنَّهُ يَقُولُ: لِكَوْنِهِ لَيْسَ مِنْ السَّابِقِينَ الْمُقَرَّبِينَ بَلْ مِنْ الْمُقْتَصِدِينَ الْأَبْرَارِ فَهَذَانِ مِمَّا تَنَازَعَ فِيهِمَا جُمْهُورُ الْعُلَمَاءِ وَيَقُولُونَ: لَمْ يَقُلْ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي ذَلِكَ الرَّجُلِ
" أو مُسْلِمٌ "
لِكَوْنِهِ لَمْ يَكُنْ مِنْ خَوَاصِّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَأَفَاضِلِهِمْ كَالسَّابِقِينَ الْمُقَرَّبِينَ فَإِنَّ هَذَا لَوْ كَانَ كَذَلِكَ لَكَانَ يَنْفِي الْإِيمَانَ الْمُطْلَقَ عَنْ الْأَبْرَارِ الْمُقْتَصِدِينَ الْمُتَّقِينَ الْمَوْعُودِينَ بِالْجَنَّةِ بِلَا عَذَابٍ إذَا كَانُوا مِنْ أَصْحَابِ الْيَمِينِ وَلَمْ يَكُونُوا مِنْ السَّابِقِينَ وَالْمُقَرَّبِينَ؛ وَلَيْسَ الْأَمْرُ كَذَلِكَ بَلْ كُلٌّ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ الْيَمِينِ مَعَ السَّابِقِينَ الْمُقَرِّبِينَ كُلُّهُمْ مُؤْمِنُونَ مَوْعُودُونَ بِالْجَنَّةِ بِلَا عَذَابٍ وَكُلُّ مَنْ كَانَ كَذَلِكَ فَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ بِاتِّفَاقِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ مِنْ أَهْلِ السُّنَّةِ وَأَهْلِ الْبِدَعِ؛
وَلَوْ جَازَ أَنْ يُنْفَى الْإِيمَانُ عَنْ شَخْصٍ لِكَوْنِ غَيْرِهِ أَفْضَلَ مِنْهُ إيمَانًا نُفِيَ الْإِيمَانُ عَنْ أَكْثَرِ أَوْلِيَاءِ اللَّهِ الْمُتَّقِينَ بَلْ وَعَنْ كَثِيرٍ مِنْ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَهَذَا فِي غَايَةِ الْفَسَادِ وَهَذَا مِنْ جِنْسِ قَوْلِ مَنْ يَقُولُ:
نَفْيُ الِاسْمِ لِنَفْيِ كَمَالِهِ الْمُسْتَحَبِّ. وَقَدْ ذَكَرْنَا أَنَّ مِثْلَ هَذَا لَا يُوجَدُ فِي كَلَامِ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ؛ بَلْ هَذَا الْحَدِيثُ خُصَّ مَنْ قِيلَ فِيهِ مُسْلِمٌ وَلَيْسَ بِمُؤْمِنِ فَلَا بُدَّ أَنْ يَكُونَ نَاقِصًا عَنْ دَرَجَةِ الْأَبْرَارِ الْمُقْتَصِدِينَ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ وَيَكُونُ إيمَانُهُ نَاقِصًا عَنْ إيمَانِ هَؤُلَاءِ كُلِّهِمْ فَلَا يَكُونُ قَدْ أَتَى بِالْإِيمَانِ الَّذِي أُمِرَ بِهِ هَؤُلَاءِ كُلِّهِ ثُمَّ إنْ كَانَ قَادِرًا عَلَى ذَلِكَ الْإِيمَانِ وَتَرْكِ الْوَاجِبِ كَانَ مُسْتَحِقًّا لِلذَّمِّ وَإِنْ قَدَرَ أَنَّهُ لَا يَقْدِرُ عَلَى ذَلِكَ الْإِيمَانِ الَّذِي اتَّصَفَ بِهِ هَؤُلَاءِ كَانَ عَاجِزًا عَنْ مِثْلِ إيمَانِهِمْ وَلَا يَكُونُ هَذَا وَجَبَ عَلَيْهِ فَهُوَ وَإِنْ