And the causes of forgiveness and punishment have already been explained elsewhere. Likewise, He provides for whomever He wills without measure, and it is known that He may favour whomever He wills with the means of provision. If there are aspects of faith beyond the capacity of many people, with which Allah favours whomever He wills, then these are among the things through which Allah grants them superiority. Others are described as lacking that faith, not by way of blame, but to indicate this distinction, for blame attaches only to neglecting something commanded or doing something forbidden.

On Abū Tālib’s account, however, it would be said that such people are Muslims, not believers, in one respect, while they are believers in another. On this view, someone may be described as lacking faith because he lacks the recommended degree of perfection—indeed, even the perfection that makes one superior to someone who lacks it, though it may lie beyond human capacity. He may even be described as lacking a perfection obligatory for someone else, although it is neither obligatory nor recommended for him. Yet such usage is not known in the Lawgiver’s speech. The only known usage there is that describing someone as lacking faith invariably entails blame; thus, only someone guilty of a sin is described in this way.

It therefore becomes clear that his words, “Or a Muslim,” express a withholding of judgment as to whether that person has fulfilled the inward and outward obligations, as the vast majority have said.

One group says that he may be a hypocrite with no faith whatsoever. These are the people who say that the Bedouins mentioned were hypocrites with no faith whatsoever. This is the view defended by a group including Muhammad ibn Nasr. Most, however, say that these people were not among the hypocrites none of whose deeds are accepted, although they had an element of hypocrisy. Rather, they possessed an assent to the truth that allowed whatever they did for Allah to be accepted from them. This is why He described them as Muslims, and why He said:

“that He has guided you to faith, if you are truthful”

just as