Know—may Allah have mercy on us and on you—that faith consists of assent in the heart, profession by the tongue, and action by the limbs. The scholars do not disagree that if a man were to say, ‘I testify that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is One, and that what the messengers brought is true,’ and acknowledge all the prescribed laws, but then say, ‘My heart holds none of this as true, and I do not believe it,’ he would not be a Muslim. Likewise, if he were to say, ‘The Messiah is Allah,’ and repudiate Islam, then say, ‘My heart holds none of that as true,’ he would be a disbeliever by openly declaring this, and not a believer.
Thus, neither profession without assent nor assent without profession makes a person a believer: he must assent in his heart and profess with his tongue. When there is assent in the heart and profession by the tongue, they regard him as a believer. Some of them, however, hold that he is not a believer unless action accompanies assent; he becomes a believer when these things are combined.
Since they denied that faith consists of one thing alone, and said that it consists of two things according to some, and three according to others, a person could only be a believer through all three things, concerning which they agreed. For when he fulfils all three, they all testify that he is a believer. We therefore adopted what they agreed upon: assent in the heart, profession by the tongue, and action by the limbs.
As for the group that held that action is not part of faith, they are asked: What did Allah want from His servants when He said to them, ‘Establish prayer and give zakah’: acknowledgment of this, or acknowledgment and action?
If they say, ‘Allah wanted acknowledgment but did not want action,’ then, according to the scholars, they have disbelieved (like someone who says, ‘Allah did not want His servants to pray or give zakah’?
If they say, ‘He wanted acknowledgment from them,’ they are told: ‘If, then, He wanted both things from them,