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The_Foundations_of_the_Islamic_Belief, page : 212
You may ask, "What then have the good, early generation meant with the saying: `Allah willing, I am
a
believer!'" A qualification implies doubt, and to entertain doubts concerning the veracity of belief
amounts to unbelief. Yet all the good, early generation used to refrain from giving a definite reply
concerning belief, and were extremely careful not to commit themselves.
In this connection Sufyan al-Thawri said, "He who says, `Before Allah I am a believer, is a liar;
and he
who says, `I a really a believer', is an innovator." But how can he be a liar when he himself knows
that
he is a believer? For he who is a believer in himself is a believer before Allah, just as he who is
big and
generous in himself and is aware of this fact, will be big and generous before Allah.
The same is true of him who is likewise glad, or sad, or hearing, or seeing. On the other hand if
man
were asked whether or not he was an animal it would not be fitting for him to reply, "Allah
willing, I am
a
believer!'" A qualification implies doubt, and to entertain doubts concerning the veracity of belief
amounts to unbelief. Yet all the good, early generation used to refrain from giving a definite reply
concerning belief, and were extremely careful not to commit themselves.
In this connection Sufyan al-Thawri said, "He who says, `Before Allah I am a believer, is a liar;
and he
who says, `I a really a believer', is an innovator." But how can he be a liar when he himself knows
that
he is a believer? For he who is a believer in himself is a believer before Allah, just as he who is
big and
generous in himself and is aware of this fact, will be big and generous before Allah.
The same is true of him who is likewise glad, or sad, or hearing, or seeing. On the other hand if
man
were asked whether or not he was an animal it would not be fitting for him to reply, "Allah
willing, I am