are in Paradise.”

Ahmad ibn Hanbal rejected Ibn ‘Amīrah’s report that ‘Abd Allāh had abandoned the practice of qualifying his profession of faith. For when Ibn Mas‘ūd was told, “Some people say, ‘We are believers,’” he replied, “Why did you not ask them whether they are in Paradise?”

In another version, he said, “Why did they not say, ‘We are the people of Paradise’?” In yet another version, he was told, “This man claims to be a believer.” He replied, “Then ask him whether he is in Paradise or in the Fire.” They asked him, and he answered, “Allah knows best.” ‘Abd Allāh then said to him, “Why did you not leave the first matter to Allah, just as you left the second?”

“Whoever says, ‘I am a believer,’ is an unbeliever; whoever says, ‘I am learned,’ is ignorant; and whoever says that he is in Paradise is in the Fire.” This is narrated from ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb through several disconnected chains, in reports transmitted by Qatādah, Nu‘aym ibn Abī Hind, and others.

The objection that the Murji’ah raise against Ibn Mas‘ūd—and which they say Yazīd ibn ‘Amīrah raised with him until he recanted—is that a person knows his present state but does not know in what state he will die. Because of this objection, many came to say that a believer is someone whom Allah has foreknown would end his life in faith, and an unbeliever is someone whom Allah has foreknown to be an unbeliever, and that no account is taken of his condition before that. This is the basis upon which they qualify their profession of faith. This is one of the two views held by Ahmad’s followers and others, and it is the view of Abū al-Hasan and his followers.

But this was not what Ahmad and the other early scholars intended. Rather, they meant that faith in the unqualified sense includes carrying out what has been commanded. Thus, saying, “I am a believer,” is like saying, “I am a friend of Allah,” “I am a God-fearing believer,” “I am among the righteous,” and similar statements.

Ibn Mas‘ūd, may Allah be pleased with him, was not unaware that Paradise is only for those who die as believers, or that a person does not know in what state he will die.