Mary:

“And she affirmed the words of her Lord and His Books.”

Thus He made affirmation pertain to words and books. Another example is the hadith in the Sahīh collection, in which the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said:

“Allah has given His guarantee to whoever goes out in His cause, motivated solely by faith in Me and affirmation of My words.”

Another version reads, “faith in Me and affirmation of My messengers”; and another, “motivated solely by striving in Allah’s cause and affirmation of His words.” In all these versions, the wording of affirmation pertains to words and messengers. Likewise, the hadith in the Sahīh collection states:

“The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—mentioned lofty stations in Paradise. He was asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, those are stations that none but the prophets can attain.’ He replied, ‘On the contrary! By Him in whose hand is my soul, men who have faith in Allah and affirm the messengers can attain them.’”

One does not now find among the familiar usages in the speech of the early generations such expressions as “I have affirmed Allah,” “So-and-so affirms Allah,” “He affirmed Allah,” and the like, as one finds “So-and-so has faith,” “He has faith in Allah,” “with faith in Allah,” “We have faith in Allah, His angels, His Books, and His messengers,” “We have faith in Allah alone,” and similar expressions. The Quran, hadith, and the speech of both the learned and ordinary people abound in such expressions as “faith in Allah,” “He has faith in Allah,” “We have faith in Allah,” and “O you who have faith.” Yet I know of no instance of “affirmation of Allah,” “They affirmed Allah,” “O you who have affirmed Allah,” or the like—unless there is something that does not come to mind at this moment, though I do not think there is.

The word “faith” is also used in relation to a report, as in:

“Each has faith in Allah,”

meaning that each acknowledges Him. The Messenger is believed insofar as he conveys a report, and one has faith in him insofar as his messengership is among the things he has reported, just as one has faith in Allah, His angels, and His Books. Thus “faith” entails acknowledgment of what he has reported