This issue, however, is not our concern here. The purpose is to consider the disparity between the two sins: one consists in abandoning what was commanded, is grave and constitutes disbelief, and was not repented of; the other is minor and was repented of.

The third point:

It is an established tenet of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamā‘ah, as indicated by the Quran and Sunnah, that they do not declare anyone among those who face the qiblah in prayer to be an unbeliever because of a sin, nor regard a deed as expelling him from Islam when it consists in committing something prohibited, such as unlawful sexual intercourse, theft, or drinking wine—unless it entails abandoning faith. If, however, it entails abandoning belief in something Allah has commanded us to believe in—such as belief in Allah, His angels, His Books, His messengers, and resurrection after death—then he becomes an unbeliever thereby. Likewise, he becomes an unbeliever by not believing that the manifest obligations established by mass transmission are obligatory, or that the manifest prohibitions established by mass transmission are forbidden.

If you say, “But sins fall into two categories: neglecting what is commanded and committing what is prohibited,” I reply:

When a servant neglects something commanded, he either believes it to be obligatory or he does not. If he believes it to be obligatory but neglects to perform it, he has not abandoned the obligation entirely. Rather, he has fulfilled part of it—namely, believing in it—and neglected another part—namely, acting