arms is not one of us.” The first-person pronouns “I,” “we,” and the like refer in such contexts to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the believers with him who possess complete faith, by virtue of which they deserve reward without punishment.

Hence it has been said that a sinful member of the Muslim community may be called a believer in one respect and denied that designation in another. This makes clear that a man may be a Muslim without being a believer or an outright hypocrite. Rather, he may possess the foundation of faith without fulfilling its obligatory requirements. For this reason, Ahmad and other leading scholars rejected the interpretation of the Prophet’s words, “is not one of us,” as meaning “is not like us” or “is not among the best of us.” Ahmad said, “This is the interpretation of the Murji’ah.” They argued that, on this interpretation, if someone did not commit this major sin, he would be like the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Likewise, the interpretation of the Khawārij and Mu‘tazilah—that such a person loses faith altogether and deserves to remain eternally in the Fire—is an objectionable interpretation, as explained earlier. Neither interpretation is correct.

This is further clarified by the well-known fact that knowing what is loved entails loving it, knowing what is revered entails revering it, and knowing what is feared entails fearing it. Thus, knowledge of Allah and affirmation of Him and His most beautiful names and most exalted attributes necessarily give rise to love, reverence, and awe of Him in the heart. This, in turn, necessarily gives rise to the desire to obey Him and an aversion to disobeying Him.

Firm resolve, coupled with ability, necessarily entails the realization of what is intended and the performance of whatever part of it lies within one’s ability. Thus, if a servant intends