He outwardly professes Islam while concealing disbelief. If the jurists meant that he shares the same legal ruling, then that is acceptable; otherwise, his original description is as I have mentioned. Al-Nawawi states in Lughāt al-Rawdah: “A zindiq is someone who does not adopt any religion.” Muḥammad b. Maʿn says in al-Tanqīb ʿalā al-Muhadhdhab: “The zanādiqah are dualists who believe in the eternity of the universe and in transmigration of souls.” He adds: “Among the zanādiqah are the Bāṭiniyyah, a group who claim that God first created one being and then from it produced another that now manages the whole universe. They call the two ‘intellect’ and ‘soul,’ sometimes ‘the first intellect’ and ‘the second intellect.’ This merely repeats the dualists’ doctrine of light and darkness, though with different names. They also hold ludicrous views regarding prophethood, distort the verses of revelation, and tamper with the obligatory acts of worship,” and so forth, as the ḥāfiẓ (may Allah have mercy on him) relates. See: Fatḥ al-Bārī, 12/370–371. Imām al-Bukhārī (may Allah have mercy on him) reported: Muḥammad b. ʿAbd-Allāh Abū Jaʿfar al-Baghdādī told us, saying: I heard Abū Zakarīyā Yaḥyā b. Yūsuf al-Zammī say: We were with ʿAbd-Allāh b. Idrīs when a man came and asked, “Abū Muḥammad, what do you say about people who claim that the Quran is created?” He replied, “Are they Jews?” The man said, “No.” “Christians?” “No.” “Magians?” “No.” “Then who are they?” “People of tawḥīd.” He said, “They are not people of tawḥīd; they are zanādiqah. Whoever claims that the Quran is created has claimed that Allah is created. Allah says: Bismi-llāh al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm. ‘Allah’ cannot be created, ‘al-Raḥmān’ cannot be created, and ‘al-Raḥīm’ cannot be created. This is the root of zandaqah; whoever says it is under Allah’s curse. Do not sit with them or marry from them.” Wahb b. Jarīr said: “The Jahmiyyah are zanādiqah; their real aim is to deny that He has established Himself upon the Throne.” Yazīd b. Hārūn swore by Allah, besides whom there is no deity: “Whoever says that the Quran is created is a zindiq; he must be asked to repent, and if he refuses he is to be executed.” Abū Bakr b. ʿAyyāsh was told, “Some people in Baghdad say it is created.” He answered, “Woe to you! Who says that? Upon anyone who claims the Quran is created be the curse of Allah; he is a disbelieving zindiq—have nothing to do with them.” See: Khalq Afʿāl al-ʿIbād, p. 30; also al-Sharīʿah by al-Ājurī, 1/497–500. For a fuller discussion of the term zandaqah, see Ḍuḥā al-Islām by Aḥmad Amīn, 1/146. (1) ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, recited: “Huwa alladhī anzala ʿalayka al-kitāba minhu āyātun muḥkamātun hunna ummu al-kitāb wa-ukharu mutashābihāt. Fa-ammā alladhīna fī qulūbihim zayghun fayattabiʿūna mā tashābaha minhu ibtighāʾa al-fitnah…” “He is the One who has sent down to you the Book; in it are verses that are precise in meaning—they are the foundation of the Book—and others that are ambiguous. Those whose hearts are deviant pursue what is ambiguous therein, seeking discord…”