Resurrection.” His words, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, “and I hope to be,” are like his words:
“I hope that I am the most fearful of Allah among you and the most knowledgeable of His limits.”
There is no doubt that he is the most fearful of Allah in this community and the most knowledgeable of His limits. Likewise, he said:
“I have reserved my supplication as intercession for my community on the Day of Resurrection. It will reach, if Allah wills, whoever dies without associating anything with Allah.”
He also said:
“I hope that you will constitute half the people of Paradise.”
Ahmad and others used these and similar texts as evidence for using a conditional qualification when affirming one’s faith, as we shall discuss in its proper place.
The point is that the best of the believers occupy the highest ranks of Paradise, while the hypocrites occupy the lowest depths of the Fire, even though they were outwardly Muslims in this world and subject to the outward rulings of Islam.
Thus, someone who possesses both faith and hypocrisy is called a Muslim, for he is no worse than a complete hypocrite. If his hypocrisy predominates, he does not deserve the designation of believer; rather, the designation of hypocrite is more fitting for him. Something containing both white and black, but more black than white, is more rightly called black than white. As Allah Most High says:
“That day they were nearer to disbelief than to faith.”
If, however, his faith predominates, but he also possesses hypocrisy for which he deserves the threatened punishment, he is likewise not among the believers promised Paradise. This supports what Muhammad ibn Nasr reported from Ahmad, although I myself have not found it in the statements of Ahmad that have reached me, nor was it mentioned by al-Khallāl or others like him.
Muhammad ibn Nasr said:
“Others besides these reported that Ahmad said: ‘Whoever commits any of these four acts—unlawful sexual intercourse, theft, drinking wine, and plundering that draws people’s eyes to him—or comparable or graver acts, is a Muslim, but I do not call him