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Once it is understood that faith is rooted in the heart, the term “faith” sometimes refers to the heart’s inward affirmations and acts, such as assent, love, reverence, and the like. Outward words and deeds are then its necessary consequences, effects, and signs. At other times, it refers to what is in both the heart and the body, thus including what faith entails and requires within the meaning of the term. This makes clear that outward deeds are called Islam, and that they sometimes fall within the meaning of faith and sometimes do not.

This is because the meaning of a single term varies according to whether it is used alone or alongside another term. Used alone, it may encompass two meanings; when paired with another term, it may denote only one of them. For example, when either “the poor” or “the needy” is used alone, it includes the other; when the two are mentioned together, each denotes a distinct category. Likewise, when “what is right” and “what is wrong” are used without qualification, as in the words of the Most High:

“He enjoins upon them what is right and forbids them what is wrong,”

this includes immorality and transgression. But when “what is wrong” is mentioned alongside either one of these, as in His words:

“Indeed, prayer restrains from immorality and wrongdoing,”

or alongside both, as in the words of the Most High:

“And He forbids immorality, wrongdoing, and transgression,”

then, according to one view, “wrongdoing” is restricted to what falls outside those other categories; according to another, it encompasses them all—depending on