every Muslim is a believer. He said:

This is a thorough explanation that reconciles the various texts concerning faith and Islam, about which those discussing them have so often erred. What we have established accords with the positions of the great majority of scholars, both the scholars of hadith and others.

In response, it may be said:

What he has stated—may Allah have mercy on him—accords with the previously explained statements of the imams and with what the Quran and Sunnah indicate, making it clear that the majority hold that every believer is a Muslim, but not every Muslim is a believer.

His statement that the hadith mentions the foundation of faith and the foundation of Islam may be challenged as follows: the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, answered the questions about faith and Islam by giving what amounts to a definition of each. Thus, what he mentioned corresponds to faith and Islam themselves, not merely to their foundations. Faith, therefore, means believing in what he mentioned, both inwardly and outwardly. However, his description of faith includes Islam, just as excellence in worship includes faith.

As for the statement, “The foundation of submission is outward Islam,” Islam is submission and obedience to Allah, both outwardly and inwardly. This is the religion of Islam with which Allah is pleased, as the texts of the Quran and Sunnah indicate. Whoever submits outwardly but not inwardly is a hypocrite whose outward profession is accepted, for one has not been commanded to cut open people’s hearts.

Furthermore, if Islam encompasses the inward affirmation that constitutes the foundation of faith, it necessarily follows that every Muslim is a believer. This contradicts what has been reported from the majority. Nevertheless, Islam must involve an affirmation through which the foundation of faith is attained; otherwise, a person would not be rewarded for it. Thus, he is