of reward if he fears Him to the best of his ability. Allah will not punish him at all, contrary to the determinist Jahmiyyah. He is correct in the sense that he is obedient to Allah, though he may or may not know the actual truth. This is contrary to the Qadariyyah and the Muʿtazilah, who say that everyone who exerts his utmost comes to know the truth. This is false, as explained above. Rather, everyone who exerts his utmost deserves reward.

The same applies to unbelievers: if someone in a land of unbelief receives the call of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and knows that he is Allah’s Messenger, believes in him and in what was revealed to him, and fears Allah to the best of his ability, as al-Najāshī and others did, yet cannot emigrate to the land of Islam or observe all the ordinances of Islam—because he is prevented from emigrating and openly practising his religion, and has no one to teach him all the ordinances of Islam—then he is a believer and one of the people of Paradise.

Such was the believing man from Pharaoh’s household among Pharaoh’s people, and such was Pharaoh’s wife. Indeed, such was Joseph, the man of truth—peace be upon him—among the people of Egypt. They were unbelievers, and he could not put into practice among them everything he knew of the religion of Islam. He called them to worship Allah alone and to believe, but they did not respond to him. Allah Most High relates the words of the believing man from Pharaoh’s household:

“Joseph had already come to you before with clear proofs, yet you remained in doubt about what he brought you, until, when he died, you said, ‘Allah will never send a messenger after him.’”

Likewise, although al-Najāshī was king of the Christians, his people did not obey him in