Rather, in their view, a declarative acknowledgment is essential: one must acknowledge that he is Allah’s Messenger, just as a person acknowledges the rights he admits to owing. The term “acknowledgment” encompasses both commitment and assent, and both are indispensable. Yet acknowledgment may also mean assent alone, without a commitment to obedience.
The Murji’ah sometimes identify this alone as faith, and sometimes define faith as assent and commitment together. The latter is the acknowledgment that the jurists among the Murji’ah call faith. Otherwise, if someone said, “I obey him, but I do not assent to his being Allah’s Messenger,” or, “I assent to him, but I do not commit myself to obeying him,” he would be neither a Muslim nor a believer in their view.
Ahmad said:
“Alongside this acknowledgment, one must assent, possess knowledge, and assent to what one knows.”
In another report, the wording is:
“Assent to what one acknowledges.”
This entails that inward assent is indispensable. It is possible that, in his usage, the term “assent” encompasses both affirmation and action, as we have already cited examples of the expression, “He affirmed it in word and deed.” In that case, the heart’s assent, in his usage, would mean that, alongside knowing in his heart that he is Allah’s Messenger, a person has humbled himself before him and submitted to him. Thus, he has assented to him through both his heart’s affirmation and its action, in love and reverence. Otherwise, merely knowing in one’s heart that he is Allah’s Messenger, while turning away from submission to him and to what he brought—whether out of envy, arrogance, attachment to one’s own religion that opposes his, or some other reason—does not constitute faith.
Faith necessarily includes both the heart’s knowledge and its action. Thus, by assent Ahmad meant that, alongside knowing him, the heart has come to assent to him, follow him, love him, and revere him. This is indispensable. Whoever denies that this is part of faith is like someone who denies that knowledge is part of faith. This is the more plausible way to