such as Mālik, al-Shāfi‘ī, Ahmad, and others. Some of their followers came to present this disagreement as applying to all adherents of religious innovation and to their remaining eternally in the Fire, even going so far as to maintain that every particular individual they considered an innovator would remain there forever. This involves countless errors. At the opposite extreme, others came to think that no adherent of deviant inclinations could be declared an unbeliever, even if they espoused heresy and the doctrines of those who deny the divine attributes and those who teach union between Creator and creation.

The correct understanding of this matter is as follows:

A statement may constitute unbelief—as with the doctrines of the Jahmiyyah, who said that Allah does not speak and will not be seen in the Hereafter—yet some people may not realize that it constitutes unbelief. A general declaration is made that whoever utters it is an unbeliever, as the early generations said:

“Whoever says, ‘The Quran is created,’ is an unbeliever, and whoever says, ‘Allah will not be seen in the Hereafter,’ is an unbeliever.”

Yet a particular individual is not judged an unbeliever until the proof has been established against him, as explained earlier. This is like someone who, on the basis of an interpretation, denies the obligation of prayer and zakat or considers wine and illicit sexual intercourse lawful. These rulings are far more widely known among Muslims than the doctrinal matters just mentioned. If someone whose interpretation of those rulings is mistaken is not judged an unbeliever until the matter has been explained to him and he has been called upon to repent—as the Companions did with the group who considered wine lawful—then this applies all the more to other matters.

This is also the basis for understanding the authentic hadith about the man who said:

“When I die, burn me, then grind me to powder in the sea. By Allah, if Allah has power over me, He will punish me as He has punished no one in all creation.”

Allah forgave this man despite his doubt about Allah’s power and His restoring him to life if they burned him. These matters are discussed at length elsewhere.