say:

“O Allah, I seek refuge in You from knowledge that brings no benefit, a soul that is never satisfied, a supplication that goes unheard, and a heart that does not humble itself.”

The Jahmiyyah, however, supposed that knowledge and assent in the heart alone constitute faith, and that whenever revelation indicates that someone is not a believer, this indicates that his heart lacks knowledge. This is among the gravest forms of ignorance, judged by both revelation and reason. In reality, this view entails equating the believer with the disbeliever.

For this reason, Wakī‘ ibn al-Jarrāh, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and other imams pronounced them disbelievers on this account. It is well known that a person may know the truth yet hate it because of some other interest. Not everyone who arrogantly refuses to accept the truth is ignorant of it. Faith, therefore, necessarily includes both the heart’s assent and its action. This is the meaning of the early generations’ statement: “Faith consists of speech and action.”

Furthermore, when the heart truly possesses assent and complete love that entails willing, outward actions necessarily follow. For when firm resolve is accompanied by full ability, what is willed will certainly occur. An action fails to occur only because either the ability or the will is incomplete; when both are complete, voluntary action must follow. Thus, if the heart fully acknowledges that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah and loves him completely, it is impossible for a person not to utter the two testimonies of faith while being able to do so. But if he is unable because of muteness or the like, or because of fear or the like, then he lacks the ability to utter them.