and much of it substantive. The leading jurists did not dispute any of the rulings we have mentioned, although some were more knowledgeable about the religion and more steadfast in upholding it than others. Rather, they disputed terminology: whether faith increases and decreases; whether a profession of faith may be qualified; whether deeds form part of faith; and whether a sinful Muslim is a believer whose faith is complete.

What is transmitted from the Companions, the leading scholars of the generation that followed them, and the majority of the early generations—and is the position of the scholars of hadith and the view ascribed to Ahl al-Sunnah—is that faith consists of words and deeds, increasing through obedience and decreasing through disobedience, and that it is permissible to qualify one’s profession of faith. Thus, Umayr ibn Habīb al-Khatmī and other Companions said: “Faith increases and decreases.” He was asked: “How does it increase and decrease?” He replied:

“When we remember Allah, praise Him, and glorify Him, that is its increase. When we become heedless, forget, and neglect our duties, that is its decrease.”

These, then, are the expressions transmitted from the majority of them. Some of them, and many later scholars, would say: “Words, deeds, and intention.” Others would say: “Words, deeds, intention, and following the Sunnah.” Still others would say: “Speech of the tongue, conviction of the heart, and action of the bodily members”—that is, the limbs.

Some transmitted this last formulation as a saying traced back to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), in the collection attributed to Abū al-Salt al-Harawī, from Alī ibn Abī Mūsā al-Ridā. However, it is among the sayings fabricated and falsely attributed to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), according to the agreement of the scholars versed in his hadith.

There is no substantive difference between these expressions. Rather, in the usage of the early generations, the unqualified terms “words” and “deeds” encompass what is affirmed by the heart and spoken by the tongue, as well as the actions of the heart and the limbs. For what is spoken by the tongue