Yasir Qadhi – Saying You’re Muslim vs Being a Muslim

			Today inshallah shortened perhaps inshallah a bit of an academic clutter, I recited sort of audio
lots and there is a verse sort of gerat that created a lot of discussion amongst our odema and the
other groups as well. In fact, it led to a big theological dispute amongst our ummah. Allah says in
surah gerat that Allah Tala Abu Amana, the Bedouins have said, we have Iman or LEM took me know
while I can call you, a slum now, say you don't have Iman, but say you have accepted Islam. wallum
Yoda Holan Emma no fear Kuru become a man has not yet entered your hearts. You have Islam, you don't
have Iman, this is what the verse allegedly saying, again, we're going to discuss some of these
		

			controversies today. They said we have Imaan Allah says you don't have Iman, you have Islam, and
Eman has not yet entered your heart. But as long as you obey Allah and His Messenger, your good
deeds will not go to waste, you shall be rewarded for your good deeds, and the verses go on. Now,
this verse has led to, as we said, a lot of discussion not just within our own tradition, and as
soon as Sunni but also outside of our tradition. Because what then is the relationship between Islam
and Iman, when Allah is saying, you can have Islam without Iman? And yet, think about it from us. If
you ask an average Muslim, you must have some Eman to have Islam. I mean, why did you accept Islam
		

			if you don't have any Iman? And in the hadith of Djibouti, a man is defined as believing in the six
pillars Correct? How can you have Islam without believing in the six pillars? You understand this
this point as well, right? So what then does it mean that you have Islam, but you don't have Iman.
		

			And the man has not yet entered your heart. This is actually, as we said, one of the most complex
questions of our Islamic history and theology. And in fact, interestingly, this was the first
controversy of our app either historically speaking, or actually you can say second, because if you
wanted to go the first would be the Khilafah. And you know the difference between the two main
strands, you can say that goes back a little bit, but the largest controversy that occurred in the
first century of Islam was over this issue. What does it mean to be a Muslim? What does it mean to
be a movement? What is the definition of Islam and Iman, and this controversy, as you know, led to
		

			an actual split within within our Ummah, you had the Haughty giants on one side, and then you have
others and many others formed as well. Today we're going to summarize a little bit so that you have
an idea so that we have shall a better understanding of our intellectual history. Now, first point
we need to know is that even within our tradition of Sunni Roma people differ over this verse, Imam
Ahmed Behati embeddable Makati use this verse to make his case that Islam and Eman is actually the
same thing. 100% the same? And he reason and this is in the chapter headings of his Sahaba that you
can't have Islam without Iman and you can't have Iman without Islam. And he looked at the hadith of
		

			God, not as a three tiered like you begin with Islam then you go to Iman, they go to a son, you know
we are taught that Iman is higher than Islam, your son is higher than Iman. This is not the mambo
Hadees opinion, Imam nobody was a flat in this regard, he reasoned, which is again, very logical.
Islam Imagine if sun must coexist in the heart at the same time.
		

			You have to have Islam and Eman and your son all at the same time. And that's what makes you a
believer. That's what makes you a Muslim movement I'm not saying it's all at the same time he didn't
look at it as okay you go rise up higher you get Imani rise up higher you get Exxon said it doesn't
make any sense. You have to have a man at level one. How can you be a Muslim without having Iman? So
Imam Al Bukhari How do you understand this verse? How do you understand this verse that we have
Islam, but we don't have Imam Imam Al Bukhari said Ah, look at the technical language of the Quran.
Look at the technical language. Allah negates that they were, they had Iman, but Allah says you have
		

			outwardly accepted Islam. Imam Al Bukhari says these are the hypocrites. A slum now does not mean
you are Muslim to fit a slum now means you have said we have embraced Islam. So remember Bacardi
said this verse, call it out Abu. This verse while Mohammed Eman is talking about the Manasa clean.
And then when I 15 outwardly said, we have Islam, Allah says that's what you're saying. You have
politically said we are. We are the people of Islam, but you are
		

			are not Muslim, this woman according to Islam, now, you have embraced Islam verbally, but you don't
have Iman in your hearts. So Imam Al Hadi said this verse is actually not for the believers is for
the hypocrites.
		

			Other scholars said. So if you're under 30, Zoho, the others they said, Islam is the profession of
entering the faith. And Eman is the deeds that show that you have entered the faith. So they said
Islam is the profession of the Kadima, La Ilaha, illallah, Muhammad Rasulullah and Eman. It is you
show that Islam with your deeds and actions. So they said Iman is the Iman that shows that you have
Islam.
		

			Others said Islam is the outer function. And Iman is the inner belief. And this is the common, you
know, understanding many of us have as well because the Afghan and Islam or deeds, prayer and Zakah
and fasting and hajj what is this deeds, and even to say the shahada, it's a deed of action and
Eman? What is the six to believe in Allah to believe in the messengers to believe and so this is
something internal. So there's a very common understanding many, many of us have this as well, Islam
as the actions and Eman is the theology. And this is again an opinion actually it is the majority
opinion that's why it is so common as well. Then we also have this interpretation that actually
		

			there's two types of iman.
		

			And sometimes when Allah says Eman, he means Islam. Yeah, he will live in Amman, who means or people
of Islam. So sometimes when Allah says Eman, he means Islam. Yeah, you will have either Amanu. And
sometimes when Allah says Iman, he means a higher level. And this is inserted he rots, you are level
one, a slum now you haven't reached Level Two Armineh. Right. And this concept of Eman being a
higher level. Again, you can find verses for this. For example, Allah praises the believers for
doing deeds that maybe the Muslim is struggling to do that level one, right. So the movement is the
one when Allah is mentioned his hearts tremble. The movement is the one when they hear Allah and His
		

			mission, they respond immediately. The movement is the one who prays regularly, right. So when Allah
talks about the movement, there's always an extra push, not just the basic level. So one
interpretation therefore, and this is I would say the predominant or the majority one is that the
word imam in the Quran and the Sunnah, has two meanings. And you have to look at the context to
decide which meaning the first meaning Eman and Islam are synonymous like Imam Al Hadi said, So when
Allah says yeah, you will live in harmony, for example, he means old people of Islam. And the second
meaning is that it is a higher level. And this higher level is an indication that not only have you
		

			submitted, but you have at some level perfected at some level brought about much higher than simply
accepting Islam. Now, this controversy within our tradition, spilled to outside of our tradition,
and other Muslim groups claiming to be Muslim had very interesting interpretations. So for example,
the first group known as the hottie giants, the group that broke away from it rhodiola, one, the
first group to actually physically break away, that's something which is the first controversy. If
you say, for Sunni, Shia, I don't like saying these terms. But here's what it is. In reality, there
was no actual split physical split, for Sunni Shia out at least for another, you know, 50 years
		

			after this. So actual split occurred way afterwards. But if you say hi to giants, there was an
actual split. But if you look at historically, then the roots of the division of Sunni Shia go back
to obviously, when the process and passed away. And if you look at historically, the first physical
split, it is the heart of giants. So it depends on how you want to view it. So today's talk, we want
to talk about how to dice because the other controversy is not related to us hostages, and what is
it about? It's about this misunderstanding, Islam and Iman, and the definition of Islam, and what it
means to be a Muslim. They said that when Allah has said in the Quran, don't do something, and a
		

			person does it. Well, then this means that this person has left belief in Allah. How can a person
believe in Allah, and then Allah is saying, Don't lie, don't cheat, don't steal, don't drink
alcohol, and then they do it. This means they don't have belief. And they applied this verdict
against the Sahaba themselves. When I do the law one and why we did the law and they agreed to a
arbitration
		

			They agreed to an arbitration. The hydrojet said this arbitration is against the Quran. Because the
Quran says you must judge by Allah not judged by men. Because you have disobeyed the Quran, you have
gone against the Quran, you have left the fold of Islam,
		

			this level of fanaticism, then it spread and many groups amongst them form the basic premise they
had. Understand this principle, to be a Muslim, you must obey the Quran 100%. Now, it sounds
alluring to the average person, right? If you say it that way, how can you be a Muslim and not
follow the Quran? I mean, it sounds very interesting. That was their slogan, we want the Quran that
is the slogan of the Hutterites by the way. Sometimes the slogan sounds good, but the meaning is
wrong. We want the Quran. Now, the problem that comes when this is that they took these types of
verses that mentioned to be a movement, you have to do these things. They said if you don't do them,
		

			you're not a movement. And it makes sense from their perspective, right? But they forgot an entire
other series of verses, the series of verses that Allah forgives, and the reality that the Sahaba
even some of the prophets like our father, Adam alayhis, salam, they slipped, and they did think
they should not have done. So the reality therefore is Iman, and
		

			doing deeds and committing sins is a very complex topic, not as simplistic as the cottage writes.
And we the Sunni Muslims said that Islam and Iman, the definitions of them are that Islam you have
accepted by the shahada and Eman is that you follow up that acceptance by demonstrating you believe
in a law, you say the shahada, and you do good deeds. Now here, then another controversy happened?
What is the minimal level of good deeds that you must do to be a Muslim? What is the minimal level
somebody says he was born a Muslim, he was born in a Muslim family, but he never does anything. They
were praised. Never fast, never does any things. I'm a Muslim, but no action. Because it logically
		

			there's four scenarios. Let's take a step back. Logically, there's four scenarios. Number one,
inside your heart, you have faith, and you're acting outside. This is the reality of most of us
Inshallah, number two, inside your heart, you have nothing and you're not acting. This is cool for
your caffeine. Number three, you're acting, but you have nothing inside your heart. What is this
called?
		

			What is this called?
		

			If UK, hip hop hypocrisy, this is a phenomenon The Quran mentions clear. So so far, all of these
three, we have them clearly a Muslim clearly a coffin number three. Number four, you have faith but
you have no actions. Is this a possibility or not?
		

			Can you say? Or is it possible that a person says, Oh, I have in my hearts, I believe, but then
there's no follow up. This is one of the most controversial issues of Islamic theology. And you find
discussions in every book of theology. And even within Satanism, you find many opinions in this
regard, actually, you find six opinions, which we're not going to go into today within. As for
without another six, you can add much hundreds of articles. This is one of those very controversial
topics, but to give you a sample, and then I'm going to conclude on a practical note, Inshallah, to
give you a sample, one And subhanAllah here's the point brothers and sisters Wallahi SubhanAllah.
		

			The more you study, the more humble you become that other people's positions, I see where they're
coming from, even if I disagree. Every one of these groups is using evidence and is using Quranic
verses and is using a Hadith of the Prophet system. It's not as if they're coming out of thin air.
The more you study, the more open minded you become, Oh, I see where you're coming from, even if I
disagree, but I understand you have a you have a wheel we call it you have a way of doing it. One
group within our tradition. It is said that Mr. Mahama has had one of the opinions with this.
		

			One group said and this is one of the strictest opinions. To be a Muslim. You must practice all the
pillars of Islam.
		

			If you don't fast, forget Salah if you don't give zakat, if you don't go for hygiene, you're able to
go for Hajj, you are not even a Muslim. And they reasoned very logically. What is a raccoon or can
except a fundamental inside integral pillar. So very simple evidence right? When the Prophet has
said Islam is built on five pillars, if you don't have a pillar, you don't even have the building.
If this is a pillar, a rockin by definition for QuickBooks, a raccoon is that which if you don't
have it, you don't have the deed. One of the cans of soda is to stand to face the kibble or to well
that's the show but to say the fat out
		

			If you don't recite the Fatiha and you're praying on your own, all the muda hips say you haven't
done a recon there is no Salah. So by definition when you say Islam has five Arcann then means you
must have everything. It was a very strict position and it is held by some people. Another opinion
is that actually the Hajj because Allah subhanaw taala made an exception and what we cannot put it
in there, so let's put everything else in there. So it's the Salah and Zika and fasting Ramadan.
Another opinion is that well no fasting and Hajj we cannot monitor, but we can monitor Salah and
Zika. So we must pray and give Zika and we are Muslim otherwise, if a person does not give Zika out
		

			of laziness, many aroma said this person is not a Muslim. And they reasoned, the Quran says and over
70 verses Allah azza wa jal not 17 This kisser 30 verses Allah combines praying and fasting
Alladhina up Munna salata, tunas Zeca, Allah always mentions and when Allah talks about the pagans
of Makkah embracing Islam, Allah says, For in taboo, will accommo salata will Arthur was the cutter
for why no confit Deen if they reject their idolatry, and they pray and give zakah they shall be
your brother in in faith means if they don't, they're not your brother in in faith. And what
happened at the time of ovoca sued, the groups began snot givings occur. What did Abubaker consider
		

			them?
		

			He considered them outside the fold of Islam. And he said, I'm going to wage war against them
because they don't give Zika and Omar Hatami himself said, yeah, how can you fight them and they
pray? What did oh Booker say? I swear I will fight the one who differentiates between Salah and
Zika.
		

			We can say this tension of what what is the middle level of human we have it right now between
Armada now I walk out of the lower? It's not an easy question. There is a gray area here, even on
whatever the hot tub is saying how can you consider them outside when they are praying? And I will
worker says, if they differentiate between Salah and Zika and Allah has not differentiated, Allah
has said you have to pray and give Zika if they separate and Allah has not separated, they're
outside the fold for me. So that is an opinion as well. Another opinion, we're just kind of giving a
quick list another opinion is that no, no, this is not a part of the integral part of being a
		

			Muslim. You're coming to major sin if you don't give Sikka but Salah is necessary. And this opinion
is fairly mainstream, Ibn Taymiyyah I am one of the positions in my mind. So Fionna 30. A lot of
great scholars held this opinion. And this is to this day, the humbly opinion out of the Medina,
Hibbs, Danbury school holds this, that if you do not pray, you are not considered a Muslim out of
laziness. And many evidence of Nakai wrote an entire book, in which he lists 22 evidences and he
says the one who abandons the salah out of laziness, his profession of Islam means nothing, and they
have a lot of evidences, the probably the easiest one for us to just deal with today. I will
		

			prophesy as Adam said Hadith in Sahih Muslim, our Prophet says that I'm said that the treaty that I
have with my people is the salah. Whoever abandons the salah factor, the kafir man Taraka whoever
abandons the salah has committed Kufa so they have their evidences in this regard. Now, within this
opinion, there's another opinion, Abraham's opinion was that the one who never prays, and they also
have a very simple evidence and that is the evidence of a police. A police isn't evidence here how
so?
		

			If he was told to do one Sajida and he said no.
		

			How about the one that will tell you um, says he is called to do at least 32 searches a day or 34
stages a day. And he refuses over and over and over again, because 78 records the minimum, right, so
17 records the minimum and he continues to say, no, no, no, no. How can he not to be and they have
another evidence from a police as well by the police becomes a icon study. They say a bliss is a
case example of an entity who knows Allah is the rub.
		

			And who knows that Allah sends prophets, yet it believes is not a believer. So mere knowledge is not
enough. This is what this group says. mere knowledge and they also mentioned the example of they say
Abu Talib knew but did not accept and they mentioned the example of who else Can anybody give me
another example of knowing and not accepting there's in the Quran multiple examples by the way.
		

			Who
		

			I can't hear you.
		

			What do you little hero we don't know if he knew or not
		

			Heraclius the Emperor of Rome Heraclius the famous story, he knew another category, the whole Quran
the category Allah says, yeah, the foreigner who come out you're gonna have a knock on
		

			the hood of Medina, specifically the Medina. They know him, but they reject Him. So this group says,
notice, Allah affirms that they know the truth knowing the truth does not make them Muslim.
		

			And that's a very valid point if you look at it from their perspective right. Within this you have
an even more mashallah hardline because even Acharya said this is the one who abandons the salah
completely no Juma? I know we're eating or whatnot. By the way that applies to a lot of people we
know there's the reality according to this madhhab according to them, their their fatwa is I'm not
giving this photo I'm saying you should know of it I don't agree with this photo but their photos if
you know somebody like this no janazah over that person and no burial the Muslim graveyard and and
that's the verdict and okay, we respect it. It's good to mention these types of things and salatu
		

			Alhamdulillah guys are all fajr prayer mutual all pray five times a day for the slaughter Juma?
Obviously not everybody's praying five times a day, we mentioned this Hey, guys know there is an
opinion there that says if you don't pray you have left the fold of Islam. Yes, this is good to
mention. But when it comes to practical realities, obviously if you know somebody like this, you're
not going to not pray janazah you're not going to avoid the Muslim graveyard or whatever in this
regard that you have within this and even more, mashallah, and your Hardline, and that is not just
to abandon the entirety of Salah to abandon one Salah makes you outside the fold of Islam. In fact,
		

			one of the scholars said in our times, if you set your alarm at night, for after fajr
		

			knowing you're going to oversleep Fajr you have left the fold of Islam, you have to take your
shahada again,
		

			it's good to code these things to know that there's reputable arrma who hold this view and they have
their evidences, right. Whoever leaves the sada has committed Cofer and Allah mentioning that what
caused you to enter Jahannam Paulo masala coffee Saqqara Kalu lambda communal Musa lien it's in the
Quran the number one reason we did not choose to pray. So they have their interpretation in this
regard. And then you have another school within shamanism who said the following they said all of
these deeds of Salah and Zika and Hajj and whatnot. No doubt they are important and we should not
trivialize but if a person says the Kalima and doesn't do any of this. He has the bare minimum level
		

			of Eman. That means he has the yoke of the Muslim and he might be punished for being lazy. But
eventually if he said the Kadima eventually they will enter Jana, as long as he said the Kadima and
this group points out you know, beliefs and abota them and Heraclius they did not say the Kalima.
They did not say the Kadima but the one who says the Kenema and says I'm a Muslim, and identifies
with Islam. They say this group, even if they don't do any of these deeds, then they are just within
the fold, even if they're on the fringe, but they're within the fold. And they also point out this
group, that practically speaking, this is the default position of the OMA in terms of practice.
		

			How many are the people who have not prayed in Islamic history and the footsie? 100 ama did not make
that verdict on their Janaza people it's to know this is what happens. You don't question when the
Janaza comes? Did he prays that God every year did he first Ramadan? You assume he lived his life
saying he's a Muslim? He had the Kadima, you leave is it fair to Allah subhanho wa Taala and when
they also mentioned other things and that is
		

			the reality of for example,
		

			the Joshi and the Joshi interesting case study, if one group brings the case study of Heraclius. The
other book brings the case study of Natasha, what is the case study of an A Joshi. Now Joshi
accepted Islam with the tongue did he say the Colombo know, in his heart, in his heart, he accepted.
He never prayed. He never fasted. He never went for Hajj.
		

			And he remained the Emperor. In fact, even even Tamia by the way, in another separate section, it
goes it is, you know, confirmed that the Joshua did not pray. And he did not do any of the outward
rituals and yet the prophets of Salaam, prayed janazah over him and he said, a righteous man, a
brother of yours has died. So what does this mean? They say this group
		

			It means if you identify even internally with Islam, even if nobody knows now, in this case, the
prophecies of knew that Natasha identified, right. If we didn't know, we treat him as a non Muslim,
but because he identified as a Muslim, he said he's a Muslim internally, right? And Allah knows
this. And the process of knew this, because who told him, he's considered a Muslim? Now, in the end
of the day, this is a very technical theological aspect. It's interesting. It's also, you know, each
one has its its positions and whatnot, and SubhanAllah. What we find from all of this is that
sometimes those who go too deep in these issues, they kind of disconnect from the reality to say
		

			that it is cool for to not pray, which is a mainstream opinion. It might be interesting to use it in
a heartbeat. But as I said, historically, realistically, this verdict has never been actually
applied. Never in once in Islamic history, has somebody been executed for not praying. In fact,
there's a famous alleged debate you should know it's allegedly between Imam Shafi Muhammad, it's not
actually historically true, probably between a Shafi scholar and the humbly scholar and then he got
attributed to the founders. Right. So the humbly scholar allegedly Imam Muhammad himself, but this
historically most likely did not happen. That shopper is older than humble in terms of age, and that
		

			was a student, the alleged conversation the shaft he said to Ahmed, I heard that you say the one who
doesn't praise a kafir Imam Ahmed said yes, allegedly, again, realistically is probably two
scholars. Yes. A shocker. He says I don't think so. He's a Muslim.
		

			So a shaft theory and again, this is in the books of the shaft theories. So it shows this group one
that group that's why it's a bit historically a little bit, because again, this type of debate
wouldn't take place. But anyway, so Imam Shafi allegedly asked him I heard
		

			you say, the one who doesn't pray the Salah becomes a Kaffir. What must he do to be forgiven? So he
says he must make up that Salah immediately.
		

			He must make up that Salah immediately, Mr. Machete said but you've just called him a Kaffir. And
the salah of the kaffir is not acceptable. If a Kaffir stands up and praise is not acceptable. So
how can the gaffer pray and then be forgiven for that prayer when he's a Kafir? You see the
contradiction here? Right? So this shows according to him, I'm sure he's actually a Muslim. And when
you say he must pray to be forgiven, this indicates he's committed a sin and not committed. Gopher,
again, this is the technical debate in the end of the day, Shall we finish with this point? This
controversy of what is the minimal level of Eman? It's a very important one. It's a very, there is
		

			some pragmatic, obviously, you know, because we all know people who, you know, they're on the very
fringe and whatnot. My position to you is whatever academic position you follow, in reality, given
the circumstances of our own mind, what not accept anybody who simply says they're Muslim, treat
them as Muslims and make dua for them. Right. And reminds me of a famous anecdote with this. We
conclude. One of the scholars of our times passed away like 2030 years ago, great item, you all know
his name.
		

			He was asked chef, this controversy over who is a Muslim? Do you have to pray or not? What is the
verdict on the one who abandons the salah? Do tell us your opinion. And the sheriff said my verdict
on the one who abandons the Salah is you go to his house, hold on to his hand and take him to the
masjid. That's my verdict. This whole controversy, who's a man who's Muslim was Kafir. That's good
for the books in real life. You have to have some compassion and some Rama and help people pray. May
Allah subhana wa Tada all make us of those who have Iman and Islam. May Allah subhanho wa Taala
alaria or Eman to be perfected? May Allah azza wa jal forgive our sins and make us of those who
		

			establish the salah and this was Salam Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh in
		

			get the whole us one
		

			yeah
		

			water he wants to remove this NEMA
		

			in Kalinina you know Allah wants to
		

			do Nia or laughing or auntie
		

			mother them movie in
		

			what levena You do? Meanie know whether the movie Mina TV a while at MCC that several phone calls.
		

			Oh, man movie Nina