doubt concerning what a person knows of himself. He does, however, doubt whether he has fully performed the deeds he fears he may have left incomplete. Thus, he fears their deficiency without doubting their foundation.
Al-Khallāl said:
Muhammad ibn Abī Hārūn also informed me that Hubaysh ibn Sindī related to them concerning this question. Abū ʿAbd Allāh said:
“The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said when he stood by the graves: ‘We shall indeed join you, if Allah wills.’ Yet he had already been informed of his impending death and knew that he would die. Likewise, in the account of the person in the grave: ‘Upon it you lived, upon it you died, and upon it you will be resurrected, if Allah wills.’ There are also the Prophet’s words, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: ‘I have reserved my supplication, and, if Allah wills, it will reach whoever associates nothing with Allah.’
“A man also asked the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ‘If one of us wakes up in a state of major ritual impurity, may he fast?’ He replied, ‘I do that, and then I fast.’ The man said, ‘You are not like us: Allah has forgiven your past and future sins.’ He replied, ‘By Allah, I do indeed hope to be the most fearful of Allah among you.’
“There are many such examples, all involving certainty.”
He said:
An elderly man came to him and asked him about faith. He told him, “It consists of words and deeds; it increases and decreases.”
The man asked, “Should I say, ‘I am a believer, if Allah wills’?”
He replied, “Yes.”
The man said, “They tell me that I am in doubt.”
He replied, “What an evil thing they have said!”
Then the man left, and he said, “Bring him back.” He asked him, “Do they not say that faith consists of words and deeds, and that it increases and decreases?”
He replied, “Yes.”
He said, “These people themselves make this qualification.”
The man asked, “How so, Abū ʿAbd Allāh?”
He replied, “Tell them: ‘You maintain that faith consists of words and deeds. You have uttered the words, but you have not fulfilled the deeds. This qualification therefore concerns those deeds.’”
He was asked: