but instead states what the Quran and Sunnah indicate: that Islam is distinct from faith. When he answered with al-Zuhrī’s statement, al-Maymūnī related the following exchange:

“I said, ‘Abū ‘Abd Allāh, do you distinguish between Islam and faith?’
He replied, ‘Yes.’
I asked, ‘What evidence do you rely on?’
He replied, ‘The hadiths generally indicate this.’ Then he quoted:

‘An adulterer is not a believer while committing adultery, nor is a thief a believer while stealing.’

He also quoted the words of the Most High:

‘The Bedouins say, “We believe.” Say, “You have not believed; rather, say, ‘We have submitted.’”’

I asked him, ‘So you follow the apparent meaning of the Quran together with the Sunnah reports?’
He replied, ‘Yes.’
I said, ‘What, then, if the Murji’ah say that Islam is verbal profession?’
He replied, ‘They make all this one and the same. They regard him as both a Muslim and a believer without distinction, with faith like Gabriel’s, complete in faith.’
I asked, ‘Is this, then, the basis of our argument against them?’
He replied, ‘Yes.’”

Thus, Ahmad’s answer was that they regard the openly sinful person as a believer whose faith is complete, like Gabriel’s faith. As for his statement, “They regard him as both a Muslim and a believer without distinction,” this is the position of those who say that religion and faith are one and the same. Since Islam is the religion, they make Islam and faith one and the same. Many imams, such as al-Shāfi‘ī, Abū ‘Ubayd and others, attribute this position to the Murji’ah, and it is with those holding it that they debate.

The well-known position of the Murji’ah, however, distinguishes between the terms religion and faith, and between Islam and faith. They say that Islam consists partly of faith and partly of deeds, and that deeds include both obligatory and voluntary acts. But the early generations addressed those statements of the people of innovation that became apparent to them and reached them. You find the same in their discussions of the Jahmiyyah: they sometimes report that the Jahmiyyah say Allah is everywhere. This is the position of one group among them, such as the Najjāriyyah, and it is the position of their common people