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Sunday, May 01, 2016

A Murji Principle: The Correctness of al-Emaan Without Action [Part 20]

We have already described the school of the Murji'ah, that they believe that al-Emaan is correct and exists even if one does not practice any deeds. They argue that it is not permitted to declare anybody as an disbeliever on the account of their actions or statements alone. Disbelief can only be ruled upon a person if they have disbelief in their believes (or in their heart). 

All of this equates to the idea that a believer becomes a believer if they correct their inner beliefs, even if they fail to practice any righteous deeds or produce any good statements. This idea has been previously refuted.

Imaam ash-Shaafi'ee [May Allaah have Mercy on him] said, as it appears in the book called 'al-Emaan[1]' of Ibn Taymiyyah, "The Companions and the generation after them and those after them, and all those we have met, had consensus that al-Emaan consists of actions and intentions. It is not sufficient to establish al-Emaan to one without the presence of the other."

Shaykh al-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah [may Allaah have Mercy on him] also said in another place:

Our Salaf did not disagree on this issue, that al-Emaan is not indifferent to action and that actions are part of al-Emaan and that al-Emaan are part of actions. Surely, al-Emaan is a noun which comprises of belief with actions. So those who believe with their tongues and believe in their hearts and their actions testify to this, then this is the trustworthy handhold that they have grasped onto which can never brake (cf. 2:256 and 31:22).

Those who display al-Emaan on their tongues but it is not recognised in their hearts or their deeds do no testify to it, then this person is a from the worst of losers in the Aakhirah. This point is affirmed from more than one of the scholars of the Salaf and those who came after them. End quote[2].
Shaykh al-Islaam also narrated that Muhammad bin Nasr [may Allaah have Mercy on him] stated that the Ummah as a whole are agreed that a believer can only be classified as a believer after accepting the definition to al-Emaan given by the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon] that al-Emaan is conviction in the heart, as it appears in the Hadeeth of Jibreel, and that al-Islaam refer to the outter deeds. Without either, one cannot be labelled as a believer. End quote[3].

Shaykh al-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah also said:

Based on all of this, the mistakes of Jahm bin Safwaan and those who followed him is the idea that al-Emaan is merely belief in the heart, without any need for actions or statements to be made apparent and that such a aperson will benefit from it in the Aakhirah. This belief is in acuality impossible. End quote[4].[5]



[1] Kitaab al-Emaan (Pg. 197).
[2] Majmoo' al-Fataawaa (7/296).
[3] Majmoo' al-Fataawaa (7/336).
[4] Majmoo' al-Fataawaa (7/553)
[5] TN: The beliefs of the Jahmiyyah sect have already been discussed in our nineteen-part series of  “ar-Rudd ala al-Jahmiyyah” of Imaam Ahmad with Shaykh Sa’d’s explanation: http://ahledhikr.blogspot.com/search/label/Rudd%20ala%20al-Jahmiyyah%20Series?updated-max=2015-02-05T10:50:00%2B03:00&max-results=20&start=18&by-date=false

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