an obligatory element of Hajj that is not a pillar, and fails to compensate for it with the sacrificial offering he owes, still has a valid Hajj and is not required to repeat it. Likewise, the majority of the early Muslims and scholars of hadith maintain that whoever omits one of faith’s obligations, where its omission does not contradict the foundations of faith, must remedy the deficiency in his faith through either repentance or good deeds that expiate sins. Major sins require repentance, while minor sins are expiated by prayer, fasting, charity, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong. If he does not do so, his faith is not nullified altogether.

Their underlying principle is that faith has constituent parts: some may be lost while others remain, as indicated by the Prophet’s words, peace and blessings be upon him:

“Whoever has an atom’s weight of faith in his heart will come out of the Fire.”

Thus, they hold that faith varies in degree and has constituent parts. This is the position of Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, Ahmad, and others.

As for those who denied that faith has constituent parts or varies in degree, it is as though they said: If any part of it is lost, all the rest is lost as well. They then divided into two groups. The Khārijites and the Muʿtazila said: Performing obligations and abstaining from forbidden acts are part of faith; if any of that is lost, all faith is lost. Thus, a sinful person possesses no faith whatsoever.

The Khārijites then said that he is a disbeliever, whereas the Muʿtazila said that he is neither a disbeliever nor a believer. Rather, he is a sinful person whom we place in an intermediate position between the two. They therefore differed with the Khārijites over his designation but agreed with them regarding his fate, saying that he will remain in the Fire forever and will not come out of it