both meanings. It is therefore impermissible to use such wording without qualification when making the profession by which one enters the faith. Moreover, the basic rule is that only future matters are made conditional upon Allah’s will; past and present matters are not. Those who added this qualification did not do so when entering the faith, as explained above. How could they, when they were commanded to say:

“We believe in Allah and what has been revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes.”

Allah Most High also says:

“The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and so have the believers. All have believed in Allah, His angels, His Books, and His messengers.”

Thus, He states that they believed: their faith had certainly come into being, without any qualification.

Everyone must say, “We believe in Allah and what has been revealed to us,” as Allah commanded, without adding any qualification. This is agreed upon among Muslims. None of the early generations ever added such a qualification in a case like this. The discussion concerns only a person describing himself as a believer, just as he might describe himself as righteous and God-fearing. In their understanding, saying to someone, “You are a believer,” is like asking him, “Are you righteous and God-fearing?” If he says, “I am righteous and God-fearing,” he has praised his own purity. Instead, he says, “If Allah wills; I hope to be so.”

This is because complete faith is followed by Allah’s acceptance of it, His rewarding it, and the angel’s recording it. The qualification refers to these matters, not to what the person knows about himself and what has already come into being and become established. It is not valid to make that conditional upon Allah’s will. Rather, one says, “This has come about through Allah’s will, bounty, and kindness.” In this context, saying “if Allah wills” means “since Allah has willed it”: it is an affirmation, not a condition.