Is Verbal Declaration of Tawḥīd Enough or Is Heartfelt Belief Also Necessary?
Source: Fatāwā Amonpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amonpuri
Question:
Is it sufficient to declare the Kalimah of Tawḥīd with the tongue, or is belief in the heart also necessary?
Answer:
Without belief in the heart, the verbal declaration of the Kalimah Tawḥīd carries no validity. The hypocrites (munāfiqūn) used to profess the Kalimah outwardly with their tongues but denied it in their hearts, and hence their verbal affirmation held no weight. This is the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamāʿah.
Source: Fatāwā Amonpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amonpuri
Question:
Is it sufficient to declare the Kalimah of Tawḥīd with the tongue, or is belief in the heart also necessary?
Answer:
Without belief in the heart, the verbal declaration of the Kalimah Tawḥīd carries no validity. The hypocrites (munāfiqūn) used to profess the Kalimah outwardly with their tongues but denied it in their hearts, and hence their verbal affirmation held no weight. This is the creed of Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamāʿah.
- Imām al-Nawawī رحمه الله (676H) said:
فيه دلالة لمذهب أهل الحق فى قولهم إن الإقرار باللسان لا ينفع إلا إذا اقترن به الاعتقاد بالقلب خلافا للكرامية وغلاة المرجئة فى قولهم: يكفي الإقرار، وهذا خطأ ظاهر يراه إجماع المسلمين والنصوص فى إكفار المنافقين.
“This proves the view of Ahl al-Ḥaqq, that verbal declaration only benefits if it is accompanied by belief in the heart. In contrast, the Karrāmiyyah and extremist Murjiʾah say that verbal declaration alone suffices. This is a manifest error, refuted by the consensus of Muslims and the explicit texts declaring the hypocrites as disbelievers.”
(Sharḥ Muslim 2/181; al-Tawḍīḥ Ibn al-Mulaqqin 2/648)
