To this it may be replied:

Rather, it indicates the opposite, for these people did not say, “We have submitted”; they said, “We believe.” Allah commanded them to say, “We have submitted.” He then mentioned their being described as having embraced Islam, saying:

“Rather, it is Allah who has conferred a favor upon you by guiding you to faith, if you are truthful”—

that is, truthful in your statement, “We believe.” If Islam were identical to faith, there would have been no need to say, “if you are truthful,” for they would be truthful in saying, “We have submitted,” even though they did not actually say this. Rather, Allah said:

“They consider their acceptance of Islam a favor to you. Say, ‘Do not consider your Islam a favor to me. Rather, it is Allah who has conferred a favor upon you.’”

That is, they consider the Islam they have practiced a favor to you. Allah Most High thus called what they had done Islam, but nothing in this indicates that they themselves called it Islam. They merely said, “We believe.” He then explained that the favor consists in guidance to faith. As for Islam unaccompanied by faith, people would practice it out of fear of the sword, so they cannot claim to have conferred any favor by doing so. If Allah has not bestowed faith upon them, their Islam is like that of the hypocrites, and Allah does not accept it from them.

But if they are truthful in saying, “We believe,” then it is Allah who has conferred upon them the favor of this faith and the Islam it includes. He, glorified be He, initially denied that they had faith, while here He made His bestowal of it upon them conditional on their truthfulness. This indicates that they could be truthful.

It has been said that they became truthful afterward. It may also be said that making something conditional does not entail that the condition is fulfilled. Another explanation is that they possessed some degree of faith. But is this the faith He described subsequently? Rather, they possess a branch of faith.

Muhammad ibn Nasr said:

Allah Most High said:

“They were commanded only to worship Allah, devoting their religion sincerely to Him”—and the rest of the verse.

He also said:

“Indeed, the religion in the sight of Allah is Islam.”

Thus He called the establishment of prayer and the payment of