does not leave him entirely, for a canopy shades the person beneath it and remains attached and connected to him in some way. But if by its apparent meaning he means what is actually understood from it, as we shall explain, Allah willing, then yes.

The scholars of the early generations generally affirm these hadiths and let them stand as transmitted. They disapprove of interpretations that divert them from the intent of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Disapproval of interpreting the hadiths containing threats of punishment has been reported from Sufyān and Ahmad ibn Hanbal—may Allah be pleased with them—and a great many other scholars. Ahmad explicitly stated that a hadith of this kind must not be interpreted in a way that diverts it from its intended apparent meaning.

Al-Khattābī and others have offered strained interpretations, such as their statement: “Its wording is declarative, but its meaning is prohibitive”—that is, a believer ought not to do such a thing. They also say: “Its purpose is to threaten and deter, not actually to negate faith.” They justify such wording by the resemblance and closeness between his condition and that of someone devoid of faith. They also say: “What is absent is only the perfection and completeness of faith, or its prescribed practices and fruits,” and so forth. The shortcomings of all these interpretations are plain to anyone who examines them closely.

The truth, then, is this: he has not lost the assent that distinguishes him from a disbeliever. Yet had this assent remained unchanged, he would affirm that Allah has forbidden this major sin, that He has threatened severe punishment for it, and that He sees and observes the person committing it. He—glorified and exalted is He—in His greatness, majesty, loftiness and grandeur, detests the person committing this act. If the person truly grasped all this, he could not commit the act. Whenever he commits this sin, therefore, one of “three things” must be present.