بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَّا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا اللّٰہُ ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُہٗ وَرَسُوْلُهٗ
(البخاري: 25، مسلم: 386)
ʾAsh-hadu ʾal laa ʾilaa-ha ʾillal-laa-hu
wa ʾash-hadu ʾanna Muḥammadan ʿab-duhu wa rasoo-luh.
I bear witness/testify that there is no god besides Allāh,
and I bear witness that Muḥammad ﷺ is His servant and messenger.
Undoubtedly, this declaration of one’s faith and beliefs is what identifies a person as a Muslim. This is the foundation of Islām. The scholars state that affirmation with the tongue is a sharṭ (condition) of ʾĪmān.
An important aspect of the declaration of the Islāmic faith is that it will become incumbent on his/her fellow Muslims to deal with him/her as a Muslim. The laws of Islām will apply to this person and Muslims will fulfill their rights towards him/her.
For instance, a man who declares his faith in Islām will be allowed to marry Muslim women and lead Muslims in ṣalāh. Janāzah ṣalāh will be performed upon their demise and they will be buried in the Muslim graveyard, etc.
ʿAllāmah Ibn Humām (رحمه الله) stated that all the scholars agree that if a person believes in the kalimah tawḥīd in his heart but when he is asked to proclaim it, he refuses, then he has committed kufr (disbelief) of obstinance (ʿinād).[1] ʿAllāmah Qāsim ibn Quṭlūbughā (رحمه الله) remarked: “This is undisputed.”[2]
Furthermore, some scholars of ʿaqīdah and fiqh were of the opinion that affirmation with the tongue is a rukn zāʾid (additional pillar) of ʾĪmān. This means that if a person believes within his heart in Allāh Taʿālā and His Messenger ﷺ but does not affirm it with his tongue even though he had the opportunity to do such, then he is not considered a believer even in the eyes of Allāh. They do make an exception that if a person believed within his heart but was unable to declare it due to sudden death or being mute, for instance, then the belief in his heart would be accepted in the sight of Allāh Taʿālā. ʾImām Nawawī (رحمه الله) mentioned something similar in Al-Minhāj. This is one of the opinions narrated from ʾImām Abū Ḥanīfah (رحمه الله). It’s the one deemed correct by ʿAllāmah Al-Bazdawī, ʾImām Al-Sarakhsī, and Qāḍī ʿIyaḍ (رحمهم الله). ʾImām Abū Ḥanīfah, ʾImām Ṭaḥāwī and ʿAllāmah Nasafī (رحمهم الله) have all defined ʾĪmān as: “To affirm (with the tongue) and be convinced (with the heart).”[3]
However, Mullā ʿAlī Al-Qārī (رحمه الله) remarked in his commentary on Al-Fiqhul Akbar: “Conversely, ʾAbul Barakāt ʿAbdullāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Maḥmūd Al-Nasafī (رحمه الله), the author of Al-ʿUmdah[4], explained that affirmation with the tongue is only a condition (sharṭ) for the implementation of the sacred laws and not an integral pillar (rukn) of his faith. This is the favoured opinion of the ʾAshʿarīs and this is also the opinion of ʾAbū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī (رحمه الله).”[5]
Thus, the majority of the theological specialists (muḥaqqiqūn) have established that ʾĪmān is only conviction (taṣdīq) in the heart and the affirmation (ʾiqrār) of the tongue is a requirement (sharṭ) for the application of Islāmic laws [on this person] in this world only.”[6]
This is the other opinion narrated from ʾImām Abū Ḥanīfah (رحمه الله). It has been deemed the correct opinion by Ḥanafī, ʿAshʿāri and Maturīdī research scholars (muḥaqqiqūn).[7]
Reference
- Sayyidunā ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (رضي الله عنه) said: “One day, while we were sitting with the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ, a man appeared before us whose clothes were exceptionally white and whose hair was pitch black. The effects of travelling were not visible on him and none of us recognized him. He then sat by the Prophet ﷺ in such a way that his knees touched his [the Prophet’s ﷺ] knees and he then placed his palms on his [the Messenger of Allāh’s ﷺ] thighs and said: “O Muḥammad! Inform me about Islām.” The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ replied: “Islām is that you testify that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allāh and that Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ)…”[8]
And Allāh Taʿālā Knows best
[1] See: Al-Musāyarah maʿa Al-Musāmarah Pg.647, Al-Ghunaymī ʿalā Al-ʿAqīdah Ṭaḥāwiyyah Pg.98-99, ʾItḥāful Murīd Sharḥ Jawharah Al-Tawḥīd Pg.185, Ḥāshiyah Al-ʾAmīr ʿalā ʾItḥāful Murīd Vol.1 Pg.508, Sharḥ Al-Shifā by Al-Qārī Vol.2 Pg.11, Dr. Ḥāzim’s Dirāsah on Ṭaḥāwiyyah Vol.2 Pg.867
[2] Sharḥ Al-Qāsim ʿalā Al-Musāyarah (maʿa Al-Musāmarah) Pg.182
[3] See: Al-Musāyarah and Al-Musāmarah Pg.647, Al-Minhāj Sharḥ Muslim Vol.2 Pg.18, ʾUṣūlul Bazdawī Pg.150, ʾUṣūlus Sarakhsī Vol.1 Pg.258-260, Al-Tasdīd by Sighnāqī Vol.2 Pg.341-2. Al-Fiqhul Akbar maʿa Sharḥ ʿAlāʾud Dīn Al-Bukhārī Pg.192, Al-ʿAqīdah Ṭaḥāwiyyah, Al-ʿAqāʾid Al-Nasafiyyah Pg.27. Also see commentaries of Al-ʿAqīdah Al-Ṭaḥāwiyah: Al-Ghaznawī Pg.123-4, Maḥmūd Al-Qusṭunṭīnī Pg.107-119, Al-Ghunaymī Pg.98-99, Fawdah Vol.2 Pg.1011-3
[4] Shraḥul ʿUmdah li Al-Nasafī Pg.369-370
[5] Kitābut Tawḥīd by Māturīdī Pg.487-493
[6] Sharḥ Mullā ʿAlī Al-Qārī ʿalā Al-Fiqhul Akbar Pg.252-256 [Translation Pg.173], Iḥyāʾul ʿUlūm by Al-Ghazālī Vol.1 Pg.432-3, Al-Tamhīd by Abul Muʿīn Al-Nasafī Pg.289, Al-Hidāyah by Samarqandī Pg.415, Al-Kifāyah by Ṣābūnī Pg.353, An-Nūr Al-Lāmiʿ by Mankūbaras An-Nāṣirī Pg.509, Al-Qalāʾid by Al-Qūnawī Pg.352-9, Sharḥ Waṣiyatil Imām by Al-Bābartī Pg.59, Kashful Asrār by Bukhārī Vol.1 Pg.185-6, Sharḥul ʿAqāʾid by Al-Taftāzānī Pg.384-9, Ḥāshiyah Al-Dardīr ʿalā Sharḥ Umm Al-Barāhīn Pg.447-8, Ḥāshiyah Al-ʾAmīr ʿalā ʾItḥāful Murīd Vol.1 Pg.507, Ḥāshiyah Al-Bājūrī ʿalā Umm Al-Barāhīn Pg.400, Tuḥfatul Murīd by Al-Bayjūrī Pg.56, Dr. Ḥāzim’s Dirāsah on Ṭaḥāwiyyah Vol.2 Pg.859-874
[7] Sharḥ Al-Fiqhul Akbar by ʿAlāʾud Dīn Al-Bukhārī Pg.192, Al-ʿĀlim wal Mutaʿallim by ʾImām Abū Ḥanīfah Pg.22, ʿAwnul Murīd Vol.1 Pg.245
[8] Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim #8-Ḥadīth Jibrīl