whose statements had already been cited—especially since he knows Ibn al-Jawzī’s severity in his criticism of hadiths, and knows also, Allah willing, that even if his criticism were accepted, it applies only to some of the chains of the hadith that I have presented here.
One of his oddities is that he cited the verse concerning the recitation: “We did not send before you any messenger or prophet except that, when he recited ...,” maintaining that the conjunction indicates a distinction between the two. He then rebutted this by saying: “Such usage occurs frequently in the Quran and the sunnah: one thing is conjoined to another, while the latter is intended to be the same as the former. For example: ‘Indeed, the Muslim men and Muslim women, and the believing men and believing women ...’ Thus, they are differentiated by the conjunction, even though it is known that Muslims are believers and believers are Muslims.”
I say: This is not an established fact; rather, the opposite is correct, as Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah explained in his writings, especially in his book al-Īmān [Faith]. Hence, he said in Mukhtaṣar al-Fatāwā al-Miṣriyyah [Abridgment of the Egyptian Fatwas] (p. 586): “The view held by the majority of the early generations of Muslims is that every believer is a Muslim, but not every Muslim is a believer. Thus, the believer is superior to the Muslim. Allah Most High says, 49:14: ‘The Bedouins say, “We believe.” Say: “You do not believe; rather, say, ‘We have submitted.’”’”
As you see, the verse is proof against him. Its continuation further supports this: “the devoutly obedient men and devoutly obedient women ...” For it is plainly evident that not every Muslim is devoutly obedient.
He then cited another verse which likewise cannot serve as evidence for his position: “Say: Whoever is an enemy to Allah, His angels, His messengers, Gabriel, and Michael ...” He said: “Thus, Gabriel and Michael are conjoined to the angels, although they are among them.” I say: Yes, but this is not a case of conjoining one thing to another while intending