and he replied, “Yes.” He was then asked, “Are you among the people of Paradise?” He replied, “I hope so.” Ibn Mas‘ūd said, “Why did he not entrust the first matter to Allah as he did the second?”

Whoever adds this qualification out of fear of declaring himself pure or praising himself, or to make matters conditional upon Allah’s will, has done well. Whoever states with certainty what he knows of the belief within himself is also correct.

The point is that these people’s misconception originated in “qualifying one’s affirmation of faith,” as practised by the people of the frontier town of Ashkelon and its vicinity. Most of these people live near Ashkelon. Many of them then began qualifying their statements about righteous deeds, saying, “I prayed, if Allah wills,” fearing that they might not have performed the prayer as commanded. The people of the frontier wrote a treatise on this. Their shaykh, Ibn Marzūq, did no more than follow these people. Neither he nor any scholar before him refrained from saying of something known to exist, “This definitely exists.”

Some shaykhs have reported that he used this qualification in everything. It seems, however—and Allah knows best—that he used it when speaking about future matters, in accordance with His words [the Exalted] (1):

“You will surely enter the Sacred Mosque, if Allah wills,”

and the Prophet’s words [may Allah bless him and grant him peace] (2):

“And we, if Allah wills, shall join you?”

What is obligatory is to remain in accord with the Muslim community. Saying, “That is definitely so,” is like saying, “I testify to that,” “I am certain of that,” or “I know that.” If someone says, “I testify, but I cannot say definitely,” he is ignorant. An ignorant person must retract his error, not persist in his ignorance or oppose what the Muslim scholars uphold; otherwise, he becomes an ignorant, misguided innovator.